When I was much younger I came across a battered edition of Carl Sagan's 1980 book Cosmos in the public library. I didn't know at the time that it was a companion to a television series and I wouldn't see an episode of the series for many years. And even though I don't remember much of the book now, I credit it with sparking my interest in science, particularly astronomy and cosmology. Sagan had a marvelous way of getting across the wonder of it all without getting too sappy.
I came across an autotuned song version of some of Sagan's lines from the Cosmos TV series on Cosmic Variance the other day. It's tight and I think that somehow, oddly enough, it captures the spirit of Sagan's efforts to make science not only accessible but wonderful. Also, it's got some Hawking action.
For me it was Asimov who kindled my love for science. Looking back, I do think he was a little too optimistic about science's capacity to answer humanity's problems.
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