Carl Edward Sagan (New York, 9 November of 1934 — Seattle, December 20 of 1996) was a scientist, astrobiologist, astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, a writer and popularizer American. [2] Sagan is the author of more than 600 publicaçõescientíficas[3] , and also the author of over 20 books of science and science fiction. It was during his life a great advocate of skepticismand the use of the scientific method, promoted the search for extraterrestrial intelligence through the SETI project and established sending messages aboard space probes, designed to inform possible extraterrestrial civilizations about human existence. Through his observations of the atmosphere of Venus, was one of the first scientists to study the greenhouse effect on a planetary scale. He also founded the non-governmental organization Planetary Society and pioneered the exobiologybranch of science.

Sagan spent much of his career as a professor at Cornell University, where he was Director of the laboratory for planetary studies. In 1960 he obtained the title of doctor by the University of Chicago.

Sagan is best known for his books of scientific dissemination and the award-winning 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, he narrated and co-wrote[4] . The Cosmos book has been published to complement the series. Sagan wrote the novel Contact, the basis for a film of the same name by 1997. In 1978, won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-literature ficçãopelo his book the Dragons of Eden. Died at the age of 62 years, of pneumonia, after a two-year battle with a rare and severe disease in bone marrow (myelodysplasia).

Throughout his life, Sagan has received numerous prizes and awards for his scientific work. Sagan is considered one of the most charismatic and influential scientific advisers in history, thanks to his ability to transmit the scientific ideas and cultural aspects to the non-specialist public.