54 pages 1 hour read

Carl Sagan

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1994

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Essay Topics

1.

Choose a world besides Earth. What measures would need to be taken for humans to be able to settle that world? What technologies would need to be invented and what would life be like there?

2.

Choose one of the technologies that Sagan refers to as necessary for the next stage of space exploration: robotics, machine intelligence, virtual reality, terraforming, or one not mentioned here. How has this technology progressed since the book was published in 1994? In what ways has this technology met or not met Sagan’s expectations?

3.

Find a passage in Pale Blue Dot that makes you feel a sense of wonder. How would you define “wonder” in this context, and how does Sagan use wonder to advance his argument?