Carl Sagan continues to influence the minds of generations through his legacy. But what books influenced Sagan, igniting his passion for astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics, and astrobiology? Thanks to the Library of Congress’ Carl Sagan Archive, we have accessed approximately forty titles from the no doubt voluminous collection of reading material he had digested throughout his education.
You can see the original handwritten version below:
(Scroll down for the typed copy)
Sagan wrote this reading list in 1954, as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. On it he identifies the books to be read, whether wholly, partially, or as a part of his coursework:
In Whole
- The Immoralist – Andre Gide
- Death, Be Not Proud – John Gunther
- Outline of Abnormal Psychology – Gardner Murphy
- Who Speaks For Man – Norman Cousins
- Astronomy – Robert Baker
- Observational Approach to Cosmology – Robert Hubble
- Cancer
- Quantitative Aspects of Carcinogenic Radiation – Harold Thayer Davis
- Star Short Science Fiction Novels #1
- New Biology #15
- Young Archimedes – Aldous Huxley
- Julius Caesar – Shakespeare
- Symposium – Plato
- Autobiography of An Uneducated Man – Hutchins
- Timaeus – Plato
In Part
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions – Charles MacKay
- But We Were Born Free – Elmer Davis
- Readings In Philosophy
- History of Western Philosophy – W.T. Jones
- The Greek Reader – W.H. Auden
- In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- The Berlitz German Self-Teacher
- Sigma Galaxies
- The Uses of the Past – Herbert J. Muller
- Short Stories for Study
- The Republic – Plato
- The Bible – Anonymous
- Several Scientific Americans
Course Readings:
- Heat and Thermodynamics – Mark Waldo Zemansky
- Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory, Statistical Theory – Francis W. Sears
- Kinetic Theory of Gases – E.H. Kennard
- Thermodynamics: An Advanced Treatment – E.A. Guggenheim
- Electricity and Electromagnetism – Hornwell
- Theory of Functions (5 Volumes) – Konrad Knopp
- Advanced Calculus (in part) – Wilfred Kaplan
- Complex Analysis – Lars Ahlfors
- Vol. II, Differential and Integral Calculus – Richard Courant (Author)
- Electric Fields – Rugers
- Electromagnetics – John Daniel Kraus
- Communication Circuit Fundamentals – Carl Edwin Smith
Source: Open Culture
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