Archive for the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ Category

Eleven years ago today Carl Sagan died. I have owned three copies of Demon Haunted World, all of which have disappeared to interested students. Who will be the beacon of science in our crazy world of intelligent design and – gasp! – creation science? I have a video to show my enrichment students as we work to develop our museum for global warming – Pale Blue Dot. Now I need to go get the book…and I have to read Cosmos – probably need to get the series on Netflix.

The images remind me of December of 1968 – a year my generation wondered if we would ever survive – from the capture of the Pueblo, to Martin Luther King being shot, to Bobby Kennedy, to Czechoslovakia, to riots, to Tet and Vietnam – the year ending with the world as seen from space by Apollo 8. We are so insignificant, and the children I see every day have to survive in this larger world and maybe make the decisions that will save the planet. Quite a challenge.