The history of the development of astronautics is a story about people with extraordinary minds, about the desire to understand the laws of the Universe and about the desire to surpass the familiar and possible. The exploration of outer space, which began in the last century, has given the world many discoveries. They concern both objects in distant galaxies and completely terrestrial processes. The development of astronautics contributed to the improvement of technology and led to discoveries in a variety of fields of knowledge, from physics to medicine. However, this process took a lot of time.
Lost Labor
The development of astronautics in Russia and abroad began long before the appearance of the first scientific developments in this regard were only theoretical and substantiated the very possibility of space flights. In our country, one of the pioneers of astronautics at the tip of his pen was Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. “One of” - because he was ahead of him by Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich, who was sentenced to death for the assassination attempt on Alexander II and, a few days before his hanging, developed a project for an apparatus capable of delivering a person into space. This was in 1881, but Kibalchich’s project was not published until 1918.
Village teacher
Tsiolkovsky, whose article on the theoretical foundations of space flight was published in 1903, did not know about Kibalchich’s work. At that time he taught arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga School. His famous scientific article “Exploration of world spaces using rocket instruments” touched upon the possibilities of using rockets in space. The development of astronautics in Russia, then still tsarist, began precisely with Tsiolkovsky. He developed a project for the construction of a rocket capable of carrying a person to the stars, defended the idea of diversity of life in the Universe, and spoke about the need to construct artificial satellites and orbital stations.
In parallel, theoretical cosmonautics developed abroad. However, there were practically no connections between scientists either at the beginning of the century or later, in the 1930s. Robert Goddard, Hermann Oberth and Esnault-Peltry, an American, a German and a Frenchman respectively, who worked on similar problems, knew nothing about Tsiolkovsky’s work for a long time. Even then, the disunity of peoples affected the pace of development of the new industry.
Pre-war years and the Great Patriotic War
The development of astronautics continued in the 20-40s with the help of the Gas Dynamics Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Research Groups, and then the Jet Research Institute. The best engineering minds of the country worked within the walls of scientific institutions, including F.A. Tsander, M.K. Tikhonravov and S.P. Korolev. In the laboratories they worked on the creation of the first jet vehicles using liquid and solid fuel, and the theoretical basis of astronautics was developed.
In the pre-war years and during the Second World War, jet engines and rocket planes were designed and created. During this period, for obvious reasons, much attention was paid to the development of cruise missiles and unguided rockets.
Korolev and V-2
The first modern combat missile in history was created in Germany during the war under the leadership of Wernher von Braun. Then the V-2, or V-2, caused a lot of trouble. After the defeat of Germany, von Braun was sent to America, where he began working on new projects, including the development of rockets for space flights.
In 1945, after the end of the war, a group of Soviet engineers arrived in Germany to study the V-2. Among them was Korolev. He was appointed chief engineering and technical director of the Nordhausen Institute, formed in Germany in the same year. In addition to studying German missiles, Korolev and his colleagues were developing new projects. In the 50s, the design bureau under his leadership created the R-7. This two-stage rocket was able to develop the first and ensure the launch of multi-ton vehicles into low-Earth orbit.
Stages of development of astronautics
The advantage of the Americans in the preparation of space exploration devices, associated with the work of von Braun, became a thing of the past when the USSR launched the first satellite on October 4, 1957. From that moment on, the development of astronautics went faster. In the 50s and 60s, several experiments were carried out with animals. Dogs and monkeys have been in space.
As a result, scientists collected invaluable information that made it possible for a person to comfortably stay in space. At the beginning of 1959, it was possible to achieve the second escape velocity.
The advanced development of domestic cosmonautics was accepted throughout the world when Yuri Gagarin took to the skies. Without exaggeration, this great event took place in 1961. From this day on, man began to penetrate into the vast expanses surrounding the Earth.
- October 12, 1964 - a device with several people on board was launched into orbit (USSR);
- March 18, 1965 - first (USSR);
- February 3, 1966 - first landing of a vehicle on the Moon (USSR);
- December 24, 1968 - the first launch of a manned spacecraft into Earth satellite orbit (USA);
- July 20, 1969 - day (USA);
- April 19, 1971 - the orbital station was launched for the first time (USSR);
- July 17, 1975 - the first docking of two ships (Soviet and American) occurred;
- April 12, 1981 - the first Space Shuttle (USA) went into space.
Development of modern astronautics
Today, space exploration continues. The successes of the past have borne fruit - man has already visited the Moon and is preparing for direct acquaintance with Mars. However, manned flight programs are now developing less than projects of automatic interplanetary stations. The current state of astronautics is such that the devices being created are capable of transmitting information about distant Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto to Earth, visiting Mercury and even exploring meteorites.
At the same time, space tourism is developing. International contacts are of great importance today. gradually comes to the idea that great breakthroughs and discoveries happen faster and more often if we combine the efforts and capabilities of different countries.
From the translator
On Mars, at a point with coordinates 19°20′ N. latitude, 33°33′w. d., covered with sand, there is a small self-propelled vehicle. And not far from it there is a monument to the man whose book you are now holding in your hands. This is the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. In July 1997, she delivered the self-propelled rover Pathfinder here, and then transmitted images from its video camera to Earth for almost three months. In reality, Pathfinder's journey across the surface of the red planet turned out to be much more modest than the plan that Sagan had in mind, but he guessed correctly the level of public interest in this mission. That summer, reports from Mars were a fixture on the evening television news. But Sagan himself did not live to see this idea realized.
The monument on Mars is far from the only remarkable fact associated with the name of a man who can safely be called the most famous popularizer of science in the 20th century. Sagan intricately combined the strict realism of a scientist and the charismatic intensity of emotions of an irrepressible romantic. His irreconcilable struggle against pseudoscience and superstition, mysticism and dogmatism resulted in reproaches from his opponents, not without certain grounds, that he was turning science itself into an object of religious worship. At the same time, tireless popularization activities and the desire to talk about the most complex scientific problems in an accessible language, without fail, attracted reproaches from conservative colleagues who believed that it was not appropriate for a real scientist to speak so emotionally on night talk shows and that it was generally better to stay away from attention of the “uninitiated” public. Largely because of this, Sagan was voted out of the elections to the National Academy of Sciences. It is curious that the same Academy subsequently presented him with its most prestigious award - a medal for outstanding achievements in the application of science for the benefit of society. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Carl Edward Sagan was born in New York on November 9, 1934. As a child, he read science fiction. The question of the existence of life and intelligence outside the Earth excited his imagination. By the age of 12, he had already firmly decided to be an astronomer and was quickly moving towards his goal. In 1951, at the age of 16, he entered the University of Chicago, at the age of 19 he received a bachelor's degree, and by the age of 25 he became a doctor of astronomy and astrophysics. Having set out to search for extraterrestrial life, Sagan does not forget about biology. During his student years, he worked as a laboratory assistant for Nobel Prize laureate geneticist G. Möller. Here his ideas about biological evolution are formed. Sagan’s scientific level in the field of biological sciences is evidenced by the fact that it was him who was commissioned by the Encyclopedia Britannica to write the article “Life.”
In the 1960s, Sagan worked at the York and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatories and taught astronomy at Harvard University. Since 1968, he has become a professor of astronomy and space research at Cornell University. Here he creates a laboratory for the study of planets, in which he works until the end of his life.
Sagan has repeatedly emphasized that he was lucky to live in an era when humanity began to explore space. From the very beginning of the American space program, he has been involved in NASA projects to explore the planets of the solar system in the hope of discovering traces of life on them. With his direct participation, the mystery of high temperatures on Venus was solved, the reasons for seasonal changes on the surface of Mars were understood, and the color of Titan's atmosphere was explained. All this is described in the book “Cosmos”.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has always been tinged with romance, but Sagan is not attracted to the easy path of self-indulgence that ufologists take. He approaches the question of the existence of life on other planets as an extremely important, interesting, complex, but strictly scientific problem.
Modern science examines the history of our world from the point of view of the well-known theory of relativity in the general form of the authorship of Albert Einstein. It is on the concepts created by the great scientist that the idea of the model and evolution of the Universe is based, which modern researchers actively use in order to better understand themselves and what surrounds us. Let's also look into this in more detail.
Everything that now exists originated from one zero point, where enormous energy was concentrated, indicators of which, such as, for example, temperature, pressure and density, were incredibly high. This state, which took place about 13 billion years ago, is called a “singularity.” But at some point - Planck time - the Big Bang occurs, and then a small Universe appears, whose dimensions are measured in just a couple of microns.
The physical characteristics of the world that had just begun to exist were unsuitable for the emergence of life.
The main types of interaction - gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong - were part of one force due to the high temperature, as a result of which none of the potentially existing but not materialized particles had mass as such. All symmetrical space at that time was filled with absolutely ideal gas, created from virtual particles that were still then virtual.
Subsequently, the symmetry is broken, and gravity is separated from other interaction forces. Approximately then, the first particles - bosons - acquire mass, but then almost immediately decay into quarks, neutrinos, electrons, muons, etc. Nuclear interaction appears. The size of the universe reaches 10 centimeters.
Development
Electrons and positrons, like particles and antiparticles, as well as bosons and some other particles, such as neutralinos, when colliding with each other, cause the process of annihilation, during which photons are formed. Their number even then significantly exceeded the number of all quarks existing at that time. At approximately the same time, all particles reach equilibrium with each other.
The Evolution of the Universe: A Brief Overview
The universe continues to cool. Its temperature reaches almost 10*15K, and its dimensions become truly impressive - up to a billion kilometers. Another violation of symmetry occurs, and, as a consequence, all four types of interaction become separate forces. The thermodynamic equilibrium of bosons was disrupted, and those particles that previously did not have their own mass gained it.
The Universe continues to expand, and its temperature and energy levels continue to fall. Stable baryons (neutrons, protons) appear, which are formed from quarks and form baryonic matter, that is, the one from which we and almost everything that surrounds us are made. The production of photons continues due to annihilation. At the moment, these particles have cooled quite significantly (down to 2.7K) and are part of the microwave background in space - cosmic microwave background radiation, which was discovered by scientists relatively recently - in 1964. This roughly ends the first second of the existence of the Universe.
What is CMB radiation?
Its frequency range is from 500 MHz to 500 GHz. The length of the largest wave is 60 centimeters, and the smallest is 0.6 millimeters. Having such parameters, the cosmic microwave background radiation - also known as the microwave extragalactic background - carries a huge amount of information about how the evolution of the Universe took place before galaxies and quasars, as well as many other objects, began to form.
As the study of isotropy has shown, the source of radiation is neither certain points, nor the center of galaxies, nor any place in the Solar System, from which it was concluded that it is of extragalactic origin. This fact, by the way, confirmed the “hot Universe” hypothesis, which allows us to develop the theory of evolution, as it was accepted, further.
After the first second
The density of particles decreases significantly, and, as a result, the frequency of interactions with neutrinos decreases, and the thermodynamic equilibrium of the latter with others becomes impossible. For reasons arising from this fact, the neutrino cosmic microwave background radiation was never discovered.
Positrons and electrons cease to be constantly formed. The universe becomes completely electrically neutral.
One hundred seconds after the Explosion, the first chemical elements with light nuclei (hydrogen, lithium, helium, deuterium) begin to appear due to the fusion of neutrons and protons. Excess particles disintegrate. This is how primary nucleosynthesis occurs.
300,000 years later
The temperature drops to 10,000 K. The size of the Universe exceeds tens of millions of light years in diameter. Electron shells appear at the nuclei, due to which the first light atoms like helium and hydrogen appear. Around the same time, the phenomenon of cosmic microwave background radiation began its history. The space finally became visible, not transparent as it was in the beginning. Gravity begins to pull matter together. All this and much more contributes to the appearance of the first stars, and then galaxies.
What's next?
There are several main scenarios according to which the further evolution of the Universe will occur. Naturally, the expansion process will continue to occur, so if it is sufficiently uniform, the energy will sooner or later be exhausted, which, according to scientists' predictions, will lead to thermal death.
Another option is the Big Rip, that is, the disintegration of everything that has already been created as a result of the Big Bang. This will happen as the expansion of the Universe accelerates.
There is also a scenario that involves the so-called Big Crunch, which will occur if the expansion slows down and then disappears altogether.
Nobody knows exactly how everything will happen. There are only some guesses, hypotheses and theories, but only one thing remains known: time will definitely tell how our Universe will develop further.
Current page: 1 (book has 26 pages total) [available reading passage: 18 pages]
Carl Sagan
Space. Evolution of the Universe, life and civilization
The story of cosmic evolution, science and civilization
The publisher would like to thank Carl Sagan Production Inc. for granting the rights to publish the book
© 2002 by The Estate of Carl Sagan
© Publication in Russian, translation into Russian, design. LLC "Trade and Publishing House "Amphora", 2015
* * *
From the translator
On Mars, at a point with coordinates 19°20′ N. latitude, 33°33′w. d., covered with sand, there is a small self-propelled vehicle. And not far from it there is a monument to the man whose book you are now holding in your hands. This is the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. In July 1997, she delivered the self-propelled rover Pathfinder here, and then transmitted images from its video camera to Earth for almost three months. In reality, Pathfinder's journey across the surface of the red planet turned out to be much more modest than the plan that Sagan had in mind, but he guessed correctly the level of public interest in this mission. That summer, reports from Mars were a fixture on the evening television news. But Sagan himself did not live to see this idea realized.
The monument on Mars is far from the only remarkable fact associated with the name of a man who can safely be called the most famous popularizer of science in the 20th century. Sagan intricately combined the strict realism of a scientist and the charismatic intensity of emotions of an irrepressible romantic. His irreconcilable struggle against pseudoscience and superstition, mysticism and dogmatism resulted in reproaches from his opponents, not without certain grounds, that he was turning science itself into an object of religious worship. At the same time, tireless popularization activities and the desire to talk about the most complex scientific problems in an accessible language, without fail, attracted reproaches from conservative colleagues who believed that it was not appropriate for a real scientist to speak so emotionally on night talk shows and that it was generally better to stay away from attention of the “uninitiated” public. Largely because of this, Sagan was voted out of election to the US National Academy of Sciences. It is curious that the same Academy subsequently presented him with its most prestigious award - a medal for outstanding achievements in the application of science for the benefit of society. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Carl Edward Sagan was born in New York on November 9, 1934. As a child, he read science fiction. The question of the existence of life and intelligence outside the Earth excited his imagination. By the age of 12, he had already firmly decided to be an astronomer and was quickly moving towards his goal. In 1951, at the age of 16, he entered the University of Chicago, at the age of 19 he received a bachelor's degree, and by the age of 25 he became a doctor of astronomy and astrophysics. Having set out to search for extraterrestrial life, Sagan does not forget about biology. During his student years, he worked as a laboratory assistant for Nobel Prize laureate geneticist G. Möller. Here his ideas about biological evolution are formed. Sagan’s scientific level in the field of biological sciences is evidenced by the fact that it was him who was commissioned by the Encyclopedia Britannica to write the article “Life.”
In the 1960s, Sagan worked at the York and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatories and taught astronomy at Harvard University. Since 1968, he has become a professor of astronomy and space research at Cornell University. Here he creates a laboratory for the study of planets, in which he works until the end of his life.
Sagan has repeatedly emphasized that he was lucky to live in an era when humanity began to explore space. From the very beginning of the American space program, he has been involved in NASA projects to explore the planets of the solar system in the hope of discovering traces of life on them. With his direct participation, the mystery of high temperatures on Venus was solved, the reasons for seasonal changes on the surface of Mars were understood, and the color of Titan's atmosphere was explained. All this is described in the book “Cosmos”.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has always been tinged with romance, but Sagan is not attracted to the easy path of self-indulgence that ufologists take. He approaches the question of the existence of life on other planets as an extremely important, interesting, complex, but strictly scientific problem. He invested a huge amount of effort into the SETI program, the first scientific project to search for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. And even Sagan considers the criterion that a civilization has reached a high level of technological development not to be space exploration or the development of nuclear energy, but the discovery of radio astronomy.
One of Carl Sagan's first popular science books was called Intelligent Life in the Universe. It was written in 1966 in collaboration with the founder of the Soviet school of stellar astrophysics and an ardent supporter of the SETI program I. S. Shklovsky, whose book “The Universe, Life, Mind” was published in Russian several years earlier. Interestingly, Shklovsky eventually became disillusioned with his early romantic beliefs and in 1976 published an article in the journal “Problems of Philosophy” under the pessimistic title “On the possible uniqueness of intelligent life in the Universe.” Sagan, on the contrary, until his last days hoped that extraterrestrial signals were about to be discovered. In 1985, he wrote the science fiction novel Contact, which was made into a film of the same name in 1997 at Warner Brothers. The Planetary Society, founded by Sagan in 1980, continues to support the large-scale SETI@Home project, in which anyone can take part, even now, after NASA has officially closed the SETI program.
Over time, popularization activities occupy more and more space in Sagan’s life; his new books are published almost every year. These are not just stories about scientific research, presented in accessible language, of which many have been written. His works are literature in the full sense of the word. Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for his book Dragons of Eden: Reflections on the Evolution of the Human Mind. Sagan's literary talent is in no way inferior to his artistic abilities and oratory. This is evidenced by the Grammy Award for an audio cassette on which he reads his book “Pale Blue Dot”, dedicated to the cosmic future of mankind.
Sagan’s author’s style is characterized by a special impressionistic manner. He does not pose the question, but creates, as it were, a series of images. Sometimes it seems that there is a gap in the narrative, the author’s thought, like a flashlight in the dark, suddenly illuminates another object. But rest assured, in the end, like in a good detective story, these fragments will form a complete picture. Such techniques allow Sagan not only to convey to the reader the essence of scientific knowledge, but also to show the development of science as a huge, exciting plot, which differs from ordinary fiction in that, if desired, anyone can become a participant in the events described. “Each of us begins as a scientist,” said Sagan.
He believed that the survival of our civilization required that the public begin to understand and appreciate science. But for this, the story about it must be clear and exciting. And Sagan is ready to use any available means and channels for popularization: books, articles, numerous interviews, appearances as an expert in television talk shows, his own popular science program on the BBC television channel. “My only secret that allows me to speak clearly about science,” he said in an interview with Playboy magazine, “is the memory that I once myself did not understand anything about what I am now talking about.”
When describing scientific research, Sagan never allows himself to limit himself to a simple statement of facts. He makes assessments, draws parallels, compares the results obtained with the hopes and expectations that served as the motives for scientific research. He knows very well the axiom of scientific popularization: the history of ideas is most acutely perceived through the life conflicts of the people involved in it. Thus, a sad illustration from Japanese history makes the idea of artificial selection extremely clear, convincing and unforgettable (Chapter II). The tragic fate of Hypatia gives a particularly poignant resonance to the history of the Library of Alexandria, with which this book begins and ends. In general, the theme of the library - ordinary, genetic, galactic - runs through the entire book. The image of the dying Library of Alexandria becomes a warning to our entire civilization - so far the only known manifestation of self-awareness in the Universe.
The television series Cosmos and this book brought Sagan worldwide fame. He devoted more than three years to working on them, from 1976 to 1980. But along with public attention, the level of criticism has also increased. Many opponents note that in his books Sagan goes much further than the masterly popularization of science, implicitly offering the reader his own metaphysical concept. You should be careful to distinguish when the author speaks about objective scientific facts, predictions and hypotheses, and when he moves on to value, moral and ethical judgments that reflect his personal point of view.
Sagan's philosophical position can be characterized as distinctly positivist - he is a realist, ready to accept any fact if it is reliably demonstrated, but rejects artificial speculative constructions that do not help to systematize and explain observed facts. At the same time, it should be emphasized that Sagan was completely open to the consideration of any facts, observations, or theories. Any scientist without a shadow of a doubt will call the scandalous writings of Immanuel Velikovsky delusional. However, Sagan unexpectedly chose this particular example to remind: every scientific concept deserves to be examined on its merits (Chapter IV). And only by making such a reservation does he subject Velikovsky’s system to devastating criticism.
As long as we remain within the framework of the natural sciences, Sagan's philosophical position is unchallenged. The problems begin when he begins to criticize religion from the same point of view. Citing historical examples well known to us from Soviet textbooks, he demonstrates how religious institutions and dogmas came into conflict with science and individual scientists, preventing the uncompromising search for knowledge, the value of which for Sagan is paramount. Hence the conclusion is drawn about the anti-intellectual and anti-scientific nature of any religion. Unfortunately, this completely ignores equally numerous examples of how religion contributed to the preservation and development of scientific knowledge. No less often, the development of science was hampered by completely different factors - social, economic, political. Finally, in the scientific communities themselves, the competition of ideas does not always follow the rules of a fair fight.
Misunderstandings and abuses are common to all human institutions, but nevertheless each of them has its own function, inaccessible to others. In particular, the competence of religion, or, more precisely, metaphysics, includes questions about the meaning of life and values, morality and ethics. Positivist science cannot include them in its circle of responsibility, since in this area the empirical method is powerless. Therefore, any atheistic system, except, perhaps, total nihilism, must develop some kind of its own metaphysics. And Sagan offers a rather beautiful and harmonious system. He declares the highest meaning to be self-knowledge of the world, carried out through intelligent beings. This gives rise to a moral imperative: being a creature of the cosmos, we are indebted to it and cannot allow its self-knowledge to stop through our fault. Humanity must make every effort to survive, prevent self-destruction, and, as far as possible, establish contact with other islands of intelligence in the Universe.
Is it possible to object to such a construction? Everyone decides for themselves. It is only important to realize that Sagan consistently and persistently promotes his metaphysics and, unfortunately, does not separate it from scientific popularization itself. It is even more important that Sagan gives assessments of historical events and personalities precisely from the standpoint of his metaphysics, seeing the meaning of history in the unlimited progress of knowledge. In addition, he clearly underestimates the irrational motives of behavior of people, especially large groups, suggesting that if everyone knew and understood scientific truth, they would certainly act in the best way. All this leads to a simplified interpretation of the logic of historical development, especially of ancient societies, causing skepticism among historians.
Sagan’s criticism of astrology deserves special note. From a modern perspective, this criticism may not look entirely convincing. Trying to maintain a scientific appearance, astrology tries to acquire all the possible attributes of a real science. Thus, today, outside the professional scientific community, it is astrologers, and, for example, not amateurs of astronomy, who are the main consumers of astronomical ephemerides. Sagan's reproaches can no longer be addressed to them for not understanding precession and refraction or not taking into account recently discovered astronomical objects in their calculations. Today, effective criticism of astrology can only be based on an analysis of its methodology as opposed to the methods of empirical science. The last book written by Sagan, “A World Full of Demons,” published in 1996, is devoted to the topic of combating pseudoscience and superstition. In “Cosmos” this theme has not yet received full development.
If this book had been translated into Russian soon after publication, it would hardly have been necessary to write such a preface to it. At that time, official Soviet philosophy was very close to Sagan's position. However, Sagan’s books were almost never published in the USSR, and his name, famous throughout the world, was little known. And this despite the fact that Sagan openly advocated the reduction of nuclear weapons and sharply criticized President Reagan for the Star Wars program. Three times he ignored an invitation to the White House for a presidential dinner, and once was even arrested in Nevada for participating in protests against nuclear testing. Now everyone knows that the most catastrophic consequence of a full-scale nuclear conflict will not be the destruction of cities and the death of people, or even numerous mutations, but global climate change - nuclear winter. For the first time, Soviet scientists began to talk about this, but it was thanks to the efforts of Carl Sagan that the image of nuclear winter as an inevitable consequence of a nuclear war, which deprives any reasoning about victory in a nuclear conflict, was cemented in the minds of the Western public.
But despite the fact that Sagan’s philosophical and political position was in many ways close to Soviet ideological guidelines, he was very critical of the USSR. Sympathizing with our country for its atheistic propaganda and the fight against superstitions and pseudoscience, he was well aware of Stalin’s repressions and falsification of history and believed that he should make his contribution to countering the totalitarian system. True, he did this in a rather unique way, for a number of years (until the end of the 1980s) regularly sending copies of Leon Trotsky’s book “The History of the Russian Revolution” to the USSR. This choice is determined by an almost literal reading of George Orwell’s novel “1984”: many literary critics considered Trotsky to be the prototype of Goldstein, the main associate of Big Brother, who became his symbolic main enemy. Sagan believed that in order to restore historical justice, it was necessary to give the floor to the other side.
More than three decades have passed since Cosmos was written. For a popular science book, this is a huge period of time. Since then, some theories have been refined, many assumptions have been tested or removed from the agenda. A number of space missions conceived by Sagan were carried out, and numerous planets were found around other stars. And of course, with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR, the geopolitical situation in the world changed dramatically.
In those cases where modern science has more accurate factual information than Sagan provides, this edition contains translator's notes. However, when, as a result of the development of science, there was a noticeable adjustment to the picture of events as a whole, as, for example, in Chapter XII, which describes the structure and evolution of the Universe, it was decided not to give notes, since they would actually pretend to replace the author's text.
In some places, notes explain socio-political circumstances relating to the time of the book's writing, with which the modern reader may be unfamiliar. However, references to some realities of that time (for example, Soviet Central Asia) are usually left without comment. This also applies to time intervals counted from the moment of the first publication of the book in 1980. An example is the reference to the creation of the special theory of relativity 75 years ago, that is, in 1905.
It is very difficult to unambiguously characterize the role that this book should play in the modern Russian cultural context. On a number of issues, such as the origin and evolution of life, the structure of the solar system, the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, in the popular science aspect it remains quite relevant. However, some topics, such as cosmology or geopolitics, have been developed in such a way that the book here is rather an important and interesting document of its era. In any case, it will give you several evenings of fascinating reading.
But, perhaps, the main value of this book is the spirit of realism, rationalism and humanism that permeates all of Sagan’s works. After a series of troubled years that Russia experienced, when public interest in the natural sciences fell almost to zero, now is the time to once again be inoculated with a scientific worldview. And it is especially valuable that we receive it from a person whose beliefs were formed in the heroic era, when our civilization with one leap went into space, mastered nuclear energy, created computers, deciphered the genome and made the first attempts to find brothers in mind, from a person who is not alien to history of our country, from the bright romantic Carl Sagan, to whom a monument was erected on Mars.
Alexander Sergeev
Dedicated to Ann Druyan
In the vastness of space and the infinity of time, I am glad to share a planet and an era with Annie.
Preface
The time will come when careful and lengthy research will shed light on things that are still hidden from us. One life, even one completely devoted to heaven, is not enough to study such a vast subject ‹…› This knowledge will be revealed only after many centuries. And the time will come when our descendants will be surprised that we did not know things that were completely obvious to them ‹…› Many discoveries are postponed until future centuries, when the memory of us will be erased. Our world will turn out to be a pathetic misunderstanding if every age does not find something to explore in it ‹…› Nature does not reveal its secrets immediately and forever.
Seneca.
Natural questions. Book 7. I century.
In ancient times, customs and everyday speech connected the most ordinary earthly affairs with the greatest cosmic events. An example of this is a spell against a worm, which the Assyrians believed in 1000 BC to cause toothache. The spell begins with the origin of the world and ends with the cure of toothache:
Then Anu created the sky,
And heaven created the earth,
And the earth created rivers,
And the rivers created channels,
And the canals created swamps,
And the swamps created the worm.
The worm, crying, appeared before Shamash,
His tears flowed before Ea:
“What will you give me for food,
What will you give me to drink?”
"I'll give you dried figs
And apricots."
“What do I need dried figs?
And apricots!
Lift me up and between your teeth
And let me dwell with my gums!..”
And because you said it, oh worm,
Let Ea strike you with strength
Your own hand!(Spell against toothache)
Application:
second-grade mash... and mix the oil together;
Read the spell three times over them and apply the medicine to the tooth.
Our ancestors persistently sought to understand the universe, but simply could not find the right approach. They imagined a neat, graceful, small world where the main power was gods such as Anu, Ea or Shamash 1
Anu, Ea, Shamash- Mesopotamian deities. – Ed.
In this world, man played an important, if not central, role. The closest connections connected us with the rest of nature. The treatment of toothache with second-rate mash was rooted in the deepest cosmological mysteries.
Today we have discovered a powerful and elegant tool for understanding the universe, a method called science. He revealed to us a Universe so ancient and vast that, at first glance, human affairs cannot have any bearing on it. We grew up far from Space 2
The word Cosmos, included in the title of the book, is written by Sagan in the text with a capital letter, putting into it the meaning of “Universe,” “everything that exists,” “the universal order of things.” In such cases, the word “Cosmos” is also capitalized in translation. But if we are talking about outer space and its study using the methods of astronomy and cosmonautics, then the word “space” is written with a lowercase letter. As a rule, in such cases Sagan uses the word space. – Per.
It seems distant and alien to everyday life. But science has discovered not only the amazing grandeur of the whirling Universe, not only its accessibility to human understanding, but also that we, in the most literal and deepest sense, are part of the Cosmos, born of it and our destiny is closely connected with it. The most important events for a person, like the simplest ones, return us to the Universe and its origin. This book is dedicated to exploring this cosmic perspective.
In the summer and fall of 1976, as part of a team that processed images obtained by the Viking landers, I, along with hundreds of colleagues, studied the planet Mars. For the first time in human history, we landed two spacecraft on the surface of another world. 3
Here Sagan does not consider the numerous previous landings on the Moon and a number of unsuccessful landings on Mars made by Soviet interplanetary stations, in particular the Mars-3 probe, which reached the surface of the planet, but failed to transmit scientific information. – Per.
Impressive results were obtained, which are described more fully in Chapter V. The historical significance of the mission is quite obvious. And yet the general public knows virtually nothing about this great event. The press did not pay much attention to him; television almost completely ignored the mission. When it became clear that a definite answer to the question of the existence of life on Mars could not be obtained, interest almost disappeared. The person does not tolerate ambiguity well. When we discovered that the sky on Mars was pinkish-yellow rather than blue, as the first erroneous report suggested, the news was greeted with good-natured boos from the assembled reporters - they wanted Mars to be like Earth in this respect too. They believed that each new difference would cool the interest of the audience. Yet the Martian landscapes are stunning, the vistas breathtaking. I knew for sure from my own experience that throughout the world there was enormous interest in the study of planets and many related scientific questions: the origin of life, the Earth and Space, the search for extraterrestrial civilizations, our connections with the Universe. And I was sure that this interest could be fueled through the most powerful means of communication - television.
My sentiments were echoed by B. Gentry Lee, Director of Data Analysis and Planning for Project Viking, a man of outstanding organizational skills. We decided to do something at our own risk to solve this problem. Lee proposed starting a production company that would present scientific information in an entertaining and accessible way. In the following months we looked at many projects. However, the most interesting was the proposal from KCET, a cable broadcasting company in Los Angeles. We eventually agreed to create a thirteen-episode television program, mainly devoted to astronomy, but touching on a wide range of humanitarian issues. It was aimed at an unprepared audience and required stunning visuals and music to capture hearts as well as minds. We negotiated with the insurers, hired an executive producer, and found ourselves embroiled in a three-year project called Space. At the time of this writing, its global audience is estimated at 140 million people, or 3 percent of the entire population of planet Earth. It was created on the assumption that the public is much smarter than is commonly believed, that the deepest scientific questions about the nature and origin of the world arouse curiosity and enthusiasm among huge numbers of people. The modern era is the most important crossroads in the development of our civilization and, perhaps, our species. Whatever path we choose, our destiny is inextricably linked with science. That is why understanding science is so important for us; in fact, it is a matter of survival. Besides, science is truly enjoyable. Evolution is designed in such a way that we enjoy learning—those who know are more likely to survive. The Cosmos television series and this book represent a promising experiment in bringing to the public some of the ideas, methods and successes of science.
This book and the television series developed together. In a sense they build on each other. However, books and television programs are intended for different audiences and take different approaches. One of the great advantages of the printed word is that the reader can go back and re-read an unclear or difficult passage; For television, such a possibility has only been outlined by the development of VCR and video disc technology. When writing a book chapter, the author enjoys much greater freedom to choose the volume and depth of presentation than when creating an episode with the rigid format of a non-commercial television program - 58 minutes 30 seconds. Many topics in this book are discussed much more deeply than in television programs. Some of the issues raised in it were not addressed at all in the programs, and vice versa. For example, you will not find here a description of the cosmic calendar, which has become an iconic part of the television series. It is omitted in part because the cosmic calendar is discussed in my other book, Dragons of Eden. For a similar reason, I do not go into detail about the life of Robert Goddard, who is the subject of a chapter in Broca's Brain. However, each episode of the television series follows very closely the corresponding chapter of this book, and, I hope, the pleasure of getting to know them will be enhanced by cross-reciprocal connections.
For clarity, I introduce many ideas more than once: briefly the first time, and then gradually go deeper into the discussion. This technique is used, for example, in Chapter I when describing space objects, which are later discussed in much more detail; or in the discussion of mutations, enzymes, and nucleic acids in Chapter II. In some cases, ideas are presented out of chronological order. For example, the concepts of ancient Greek scientists presented in Chapter VII are discussed after the work of Johannes Kepler, which is the subject of Chapter III. However, I believe that we can only truly appreciate the Greeks after we see the opportunities they missed.
Since science is inseparable from the rest of human life, it cannot be discussed without touching - sometimes superficially, sometimes quite deeply - on a number of social, political, religious and philosophical issues. Even while filming television programs about science, our work was interfered with by the military activity that was sweeping the entire world. While we were simulating Mars exploration in the Mojave Desert using a full-scale model of the Viking lander, our work was repeatedly interrupted by US Air Force aircraft bombing a nearby test site. In Egypt, in Alexandria, every day from nine to eleven in the morning, Egyptian Air Force planes flew low over our hotel. In Samos, Greece, we were not allowed to film until the last moment due to NATO maneuvers and the ongoing construction of underground and ground positions for artillery and tanks. In Czechoslovakia, the use of walkie-talkies to facilitate communication while filming on a rural road attracted the attention of Czech Air Force fighters, who circled us until they were satisfied that nothing was happening that threatened Czech national security. In Greece, Egypt and Czechoslovakia, our film crew was accompanied everywhere by state security agents. Preliminary inquiries about the possibility of filming in Kaluga, in the USSR, for a planned story about the life of Russian astronautical pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky were rejected, as we later learned, because of the trial of dissidents taking place there. Our film crew received a very kind welcome in all the countries we visited, but the ubiquitous presence of the military and the fear lurking in the hearts of the people was noticeable everywhere. This experience strengthened my decision to address social issues whenever possible in my programs and in my books.
The essence of science lies in its ability to self-correct. New experimental results and original ideas solve old mysteries time after time. For example, Chapter IX discusses the fact that the Sun produces too few elusive particles called neutrinos. Several proposed explanations are listed. In Chapter X we ask the question of whether there is enough matter in the Universe to eventually stop the retreat of distant galaxies, and whether the universe is infinitely old and therefore uncreated. Recent experiments by Frederick Rains of the University of California may shed some light on both of these questions. He claims to have discovered: a) neutrinos can exist in three different states, of which only one is detected by neutrino telescopes studying the Sun; b) neutrinos, unlike light, have mass, so the gravity of all neutrinos emitted into space can prevent the eternal expansion of the Cosmos. Future experiments will show whether these ideas are correct 4
Experiments carried out at the Japanese neutrino telescope Superkamiokande and the Canadian Sudbury neutrino telescope confirmed in 2001 the correctness of both of these assumptions. The mystery of solar neutrinos was thus resolved, but the neutrino mass turned out to be so small that it does not have a significant effect on the evolution of the Universe. – Per.
However, they illustrate the continuous and courageous re-evaluation of acquired knowledge, which is fundamental to all science.
In a project of this magnitude, it is impossible to thank everyone who contributed to it. However, I first want to express my gratitude to B. Gentry Lee and all the people who worked on the production of the Cosmos programs, the KCET administration, and the guarantors and co-producers of this television series.
My deepest gratitude goes to the Cornell administration for granting me two years of leave to pursue this project, my colleagues and students, and my colleagues at NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Voyager imaging team.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my Cosmos co-creators, Ann Druyan and Steven Sauter. They have done a lot to develop the main ideas, relationships and intellectual structure of the episodes, as well as a successful overall style. I am very grateful to them for their careful critical proofreading of early versions of this book, for their constructive and creative suggestions for correction of many parts of the manuscript, and for their enormous contributions to the texts of television programs, which influenced the content of this book in many ways.
Carl Sagan
Space: Evolution of the Universe, Life and Civilization
From the translator
On Mars, at a point with coordinates 19°20′ N. latitude, 33°33′w. d., covered with sand, there is a small self-propelled vehicle. And not far from it there is a monument to the man whose book you are now holding in your hands. This is the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. In July 1997, she delivered the self-propelled rover Pathfinder here, and then transmitted images from its video camera to Earth for almost three months. In reality, Pathfinder's journey across the surface of the red planet turned out to be much more modest than the plan that Sagan had in mind, but he guessed correctly the level of public interest in this mission. That summer, reports from Mars were a fixture on the evening television news. But Sagan himself did not live to see this idea realized.
The monument on Mars is far from the only remarkable fact associated with the name of a man who can safely be called the most famous popularizer of science in the 20th century. Sagan intricately combined the strict realism of a scientist and the charismatic intensity of emotions of an irrepressible romantic. His irreconcilable struggle against pseudoscience and superstition, mysticism and dogmatism resulted in reproaches from his opponents, not without certain grounds, that he was turning science itself into an object of religious worship. At the same time, tireless popularization activities and the desire to talk about the most complex scientific problems in an accessible language, without fail, attracted reproaches from conservative colleagues who believed that it was not appropriate for a real scientist to speak so emotionally on night talk shows and that it was generally better to stay away from attention of the “uninitiated” public. Largely because of this, Sagan was voted out of the elections to the National Academy of Sciences. It is curious that the same Academy subsequently presented him with its most prestigious award - a medal for outstanding achievements in the application of science for the benefit of society. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Carl Edward Sagan was born in New York on November 9, 1934. As a child, he read science fiction. The question of the existence of life and intelligence outside the Earth excited his imagination. By the age of 12, he had already firmly decided to be an astronomer and was quickly moving towards his goal. In 1951, at the age of 16, he entered the University of Chicago, at the age of 19 he received a bachelor's degree, and by the age of 25 he became a doctor of astronomy and astrophysics. Having set out to search for extraterrestrial life, Sagan does not forget about biology. During his student years, he worked as a laboratory assistant for Nobel Prize laureate geneticist G. Möller. Here his ideas about biological evolution are formed. Sagan’s scientific level in the field of biological sciences is evidenced by the fact that it was him who was commissioned by the Encyclopedia Britannica to write the article “Life.”
In the 1960s, Sagan worked at the York and Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatories and taught astronomy at Harvard University. Since 1968, he has become a professor of astronomy and space research at Cornell University. Here he creates a laboratory for the study of planets, in which he works until the end of his life.
Sagan has repeatedly emphasized that he was lucky to live in an era when humanity began to explore space. From the very beginning of the American space program, he has been involved in NASA projects to explore the planets of the solar system in the hope of discovering traces of life on them. With his direct participation, the mystery of high temperatures on Venus was solved, the reasons for seasonal changes on the surface of Mars were understood, and the color of Titan's atmosphere was explained. All this is described in the book “Cosmos”.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence has always been tinged with romance, but Sagan is not attracted to the easy path of self-indulgence that ufologists take. He approaches the question of the existence of life on other planets as an extremely important, interesting, complex, but strictly scientific problem. He invested a huge amount of effort into the SETI program - the first scientific project to search for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. And even Sagan considers the criterion that a civilization has reached a high level of technological development not to be space exploration or the development of nuclear energy, but the discovery of radio astronomy.
One of Carl Sagan's first popular science books was called Intelligent Life in the Universe. It was written in 1966 in collaboration with the founder of the Soviet school of stellar astrophysics and an ardent supporter of the SETI program I. S. Shklovsky, whose book “The Universe, Life, Mind” was published in Russian several years earlier. Interestingly, Shklovsky eventually became disillusioned with his early romantic beliefs and in 1976 published an article in the journal “Problems of Philosophy” under the pessimistic title “On the possible uniqueness of intelligent life in the Universe.” Sagan, on the contrary, until his last days hoped that extraterrestrial signals were about to be discovered. In 1985, he wrote the science fiction novel Contact, which was made into a film of the same name in 1994 at Warner Brothers. The Planetary Society, founded by Sagan in 1980, and now, after NASA has officially closed the SETI program, continues to support a large-scale project in which anyone can take part. Over time, popularization activities occupy more and more space in Sagan’s life; his new books are published almost every year. These are not just stories about scientific research, presented in accessible language, of which many have been written. His works are literature in the full sense of the word. Sagan received the Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for his book Dragons of Eden: Reflections on the Evolution of the Human Mind. Sagan's literary talent is in no way inferior to his artistic abilities and oratory. This is evidenced by the Grammy Award for an audio cassette on which he reads his book “Pale Blue Dot”, dedicated to the cosmic future of mankind.
Sagan’s author’s style is characterized by a special impressionistic manner. He does not pose the question, but creates, as it were, a series of images. Sometimes it seems that there is a gap in the narrative, the author’s thought, like a flashlight in the dark, suddenly illuminates another object. But rest assured, in the end, like in a good detective story, these fragments will form a complete picture. Such techniques allow Sagan not only to convey to the reader the essence of scientific knowledge, but also to show the development of science as a huge, exciting plot, which differs from ordinary fiction in that, if desired, anyone can become a participant in the events described. “Each of us begins as a scientist,” said Sagan.
He believed that the survival of our civilization required that the public begin to understand and appreciate science. But for this, the story about it must be clear and exciting. And Sagan is ready to use any available means and channels for popularization: books, articles, numerous interviews, appearances as an expert in television talk shows, his own popular science program on the BBC television channel. “My only secret that allows me to speak clearly about science,” he says in an interview with Playboy magazine, “is the memory that once I myself did not understand anything about what I am now talking about.”
When describing scientific research, Sagan never allows himself to limit himself to a simple statement of facts. He makes assessments, draws parallels, compares the results obtained with the hopes and expectations that served as the motives for scientific research. He knows very well the axiom of scientific popularization: the history of ideas is most acutely perceived through the life conflicts of the people involved in it. Thus, a sad illustration from Japanese history makes the idea of artificial selection extremely clear, convincing and unforgettable (Chapter II). The tragic fate of Hypatia gives a particularly poignant resonance to the history of the Library of Alexandria, with which this book begins and ends. In general, the theme of the library - ordinary, genetic, galactic - runs through the entire book. The image of the dying Library of Alexandria becomes a warning to our entire civilization - so far the only known manifestation of self-awareness in the Universe.
The television series Cosmos and this book brought Sagan worldwide fame. He devoted more than three years to working on them, from 1976 to 1980. But along with public attention, the level of criticism has also increased. Many opponents note that in his books Sagan goes much further than the masterly popularization of science, implicitly offering the reader his own metaphysical concept. You should be careful to distinguish when the author speaks about objective scientific facts, predictions and hypotheses, and when he moves on to value, moral and ethical judgments that reflect his personal point of view.
