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Roger P. Vancour (February 12, 1922 – April 11, 2012) was an American physicist that worked in the Space physics Department of Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, at Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, Massachusetts.

an American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences. He is best known for his contributions to the scientific research of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent

, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator

Inquisitiveness about nature
Soon after entering elementary school he began to express a strong inquisitiveness about nature. Sagan recalled taking His parents helped nurture his growing interest in science by buying him chemistry sets and reading materials. His interest in space, however, was his primary focus,

High school years
Sagan had lived in Sagan was a straight-A student but was bored due to unchallenging classes and uninspiring teachers. His teachers realized this and tried to convince

World War II
During World War II Sagan's family worried about the fate

Education and scientific career
He attended the University of Chicago, where he participated in the Ryerson Astronomical Society, received a B.A. degree in self-proclaimed "nothing" with general and

Sagan lectured and did research at Harvard University until 1968, when he moved to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, after being denied tenure at Harvard. It has been suggested that Sagan was denied tenure in part because of his publicized scientific ad

Sagan was associated with the U.S. space program from its inception. From the 1950s onward, he worked as an advisor to NASA, where one of his duties included briefing the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon. Sagan contributed to many of the robotic spacecraft missions that explored the Solar System, arranging experiments on many of the expeditions. He conceived the idea of adding an unalterable and universal m

Scientific achievements
Sagan's contributions were central to the discovery of the high surface temperatures of the planet Venus. In the early 1960s no one knew for certain the basic conditions of that planet's surface, and Sagan listed the possibilities in a report later depicted for popularization in a Time–Life book, Planets. His own view was that Venus was dry and very hot as opposed to the balmy paradise others had imagined. He had investigated radio emissions from Venus and concluded that there was a surface temperature of 500 °C. As a visiting scientist to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he contributed to the first Mariner missions to Venus, working on the design and management of the project. Mariner 2 confirmed his conclusions on the surface conditions of Venus in 1962.

Sagan wrote frequently about religion and the relationship between religion and science, expressing his skepticism about the conventional conceptualization of God as a sapient being. For example: Some people think God is an outsized, light-skinned male with a long white beard, sitting on a throne somewhere up there in the sky,

Sagan also commented on Christianity, stating "My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly immiscible parts, the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul. Thomas Jefferson attempted to excise the Pauline parts of the New Testament. There wasn't much left when he was done, but it was an inspiring document."

Regarding the relationship between spirituality and science, Sagan stated: "Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.

/carl_sagans_life_and_legacy_as_scientist_teacher_and_skeptic "Carl Sagan's Life and Legacy as Scientist, Teacher, and Skeptic"], by David Morrison, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
 * "A Tribute to Carl Sagan: Our Place in the Universe", by Bill Nye, The Skeptics Society
 * Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science, presented by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS/DPS)