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http://www.facebook.com/AstronomyMagazine6 ASTRONOMY • APRIL 2020FROM THE EDITOR
In my youth, I had the pleasure of
starting and publishing a small
magazine about observing galaxies
and nebulae. Called Deep Sky Monthly, it was
initially produced on my dad’s chemistry
office mimeograph machine, and spread in
popularity due to the growth of larger scopes
and amateur astronomers’ knowledge of
targets they could see from their backyards.
This enterprise led me to contact many
people in the astronomy field, and among
them was Cornell University professor Carl
Sagan. This was before Cosmos, when Carl was a feature on the
Johnny Carson show, but hadn’t yet broken through to superstar-
dom. Carl sent me letters of advice on my career, and much to my
delight, when Cosmos premiered, dispatched an inscribed copy of
the Cosmos book, to “Dave Eicher, Friend of the Cosmos.”
Now we live in the world that Carl was afraid of, wherein fact and
fantasy are interchangeable to many. Science, reason, and empirical
thinking are no longer moving forward as the touchstones of reality,
at least in the minds of many, who listen to opinions of those they
trust and blindly follow along. This is just what happened in the
Middle Ages, and in some ways and some sectors of our population,
we seem to have retreated to a time of reasoning that is no more
sophisticated than the 12th century.
When I was growing up, science was moving forward as the
preeminent way through which we should view the world in an
accurate, truthful, repeatable way. Now, a new Dark Age of partisan
camps, unsupported opinions, pseudoscience, and outright lies
often dominates some otherwise pretty smart people’s takes on
various subjects. To me, it’s astonishing. If truth and reason and
science were home, we as a society have, in some ways, left home.
This issue features an interview I conducted recently with Ann
Druyan, the creator and executive producer of Cosmos, which pre-
mieres a new season on the National Geographic Channel on
March 9. Ann is also Carl’s widow and co-author of many of their
most important works. I think you will enjoy the story, in which
Ann describes her lofty goals for Cosmos.
I hope you’ll tune into Cosmos and think carefully about Ann’s
word s. We ne ed more r at iona l, sc ient i f ic t h i n kers i n a n i nc re a si ng ly
disturbing and dangerous world. I hope that you and your friends
will make the journey home.Yo u r s t r u l y,David J. Eicher
EditorCarl Sagan and
finding our way home
Editor David J. Eicher
Design Director LuAnn Williams Belter
EDITORIAL
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year, payable in U.S. funds, drawn on a U.S. bank. BN 12271 3209 RT. Not responsible for unsolicited materials.Back in the day,
nothing made me
more proud than
receiving, from Carl
Sagan, an inscribed
copy of Cosmos, for
a “friend of the
Cosmos.” Carl Sagan
is greatly missed in
this world. DAVID J. EICHERFollow the
Dave’s Universe blog:
http://www.Astronomy.
com/davesuniverse
Follow Dave Eicher
on Twitter:
@deicherstar