Pale Blue Dot
A Vision of the Human Future in Space
By Carl Sagan
Where is humanity going to be in the future? Indeed, does humanity have a future? If so, will it be a future worth living in? In Sagan's book, he tells us that if we wish to be masters of out fate, the time to do so is now while we still have the time, energy, and resources to apply outselves towards building a grand future. To continue in our current apathy is to surrender to extinction.

This book is crammed full of brilliant, colorful pictures of space; from Earth and her Moon, to the planets and their satellites, to galaxies and nebula. And amonst it all, the pale blue dot--- Earth, rendered as a single pixel in a vast photograph of cosmos. This book puts human existance into its proper perspective: that of significance only to ourselves, not to the universe or anything / anyone else. It is truely up to humanity to grow up and decide where we want to go and how we're going to get there. Pale Blue Dot was published in 1995 by Random House. It is 429 pages, including index. The writing is clear and unambiguous: vintage Sagan. ISBN 0-679-76486-0

Explored in this book is humanity's history of its beliefs about where it stood in the cosmic order. The majority of that belief, for the majority of humanity's time here on Earth, has been utterly wrong. Human conceit is boundless. Pale Blue Dot corrects this conceit.

After that exploration, Sagan imagines humanity in the future. What we could achieve, when we can achieve it, and how, are all discussed. Also discussed is why we would wish to achieve the goals Sagan suggests. The chief goal is, obviously, the survival of Humanity--- all our eggs are in one basket (Earth), and one asteroid, or one push of the nuclear button, could render that basket unlivable.

Throughout the book, Sagan urges caution and humility when humanity seeks its self-architectured destiny. We can achieve stupendous goals that no other known life form can even imagine: yet we must always be humble and remember our origin: a tiny pale, blue dot in a vast cosmic sea.

On the Shy David Book Review Scale from one to six stars (six being best), I think this book deserves five stars.

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