Numerous scientists have important ideas, some even more profound than Sagan's; yet he is probably the most famous astronomer since Hoyle or even Hubble. The Cosmic Connection shows why: His speculations provoke and stimulate on truly arresting topics, described in fluent prose, sprinkled with wit and sarcasm. Although his syntax is straightforward, his articulation easily rivals that of Asimov or Clark. In the art of making science understandable and enjoyable for specialist and lay person alike, he is a modern James Jeans.

This book's 39 brief chapters, delivered like fireside sermonettes, center on their author's principal professional interests—exploration of the solar system and search for extraterrestrial life. Sagan weds these pursuits as well as disparate disciplines, including astronomy, biology, chemistry and anthropology. Then he wisely steps back and appraises the synthesis, thereby perceiving mankind's symbiotic relationship with the whole. How we exist because of the arduous processes of stellar, chemical, and biological evolution and, reciprocally, how we affect the universe. Voila, the cosmic connection!…

Sagan warns that "although I am not by training a philosopher or sociologist or historian, I have not hesitated to draw philosophical or social or historical implications of astronomy and space exploration." That he does, opening himself to potential criticism. His forceful defense of space exploration, for instance, will inform and touch almost any reader, but it probably will not convince the thoughtful skeptic.

Sagan points out that the fraction of the gross national products of the United States and the Soviet Union being spent on manned space programs is comparable to that spent by 16th century England and France on exploration by ships; but some social historians would argue that the fraction is too high, now or then. Similarly, he shows that large planetary programs cost less than the over-runs on certain military projects; but he fails to note that these same planetary programs cost far more than many space or ground-based astronomy projects and vastly more than most artistic or cultural endeavors. (p. 47)

The space program, Sagan argues, is to us what the pyramids were to Pharaonic Egypt or ziggurats were to Sumeria. But should the public pay for such monuments to pride, today or in the past?

I prefer to liken modern space research to the Renaissance, with its ennobling spirit, which left a legacy of art, music and architecture. Sagan's thesis here, however, surely must be valid: "The cost of space exploration seems very modest compared with its potential returns."

A traditional textbook this is not. Rather, The Cosmic Connection comprises a farrago of facts, opinions and bizarre speculations, uncritically blended. The result, nonetheless, becomes probably the most mind-expanding scientific treatise available for general readers. Here we have an engrossing tale of the moons of Barsoom (Edgar Rice Burrough's name for Mars), including a one-person baseball game on Phobos; a systems analysis of the Santa Claus hypothesis; and humorous anecdotes about reactions to the famous Pioneer 10 plaque. Sagan's droll wit permeates and enlivens. (pp. 47-8)

Even though the wit of the scientist's Russell Baker marks the book, the book's principal strengths are the grandeur of its topic and the eloquence of its prose. Generally, the ideas sparkle and the language entrances, but there are lapses into rhetorical overkill, sometimes distorting the facts.

Some serious scientists doubtlessly will fault this book for its poetic language, fanciful speculations, and imprecise detail. But readers on the non-scientific side of C. P. Snow's dichotomy will praise its simplicity, verve, and mind-boggling perspectives. As Sagan himself says, "The virtue of thinking about life elsewhere is that it forces us to stretch our imagination."

Although I too would prefer less flamboyance, this book's importance does not depend upon its similarity to fact-laden tomes but on its synthesis and exuberance, on its reminder even to scientists that the study of nature consists of more than equations and equipment, and on its lesson that we are all one with the cosmos. (p. 48)