Ann Druyan is a writer (A Famous Broken Heart; Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) and the CEO of Cosmos Studios, a production company based out of Ithaca, N.Y. Ms. Druyan is also the widow of Carl Sagan, whom she collaborated with on both the Voyager Golden Record and the epic series, Cosmos. Here, she talks about what it was like to work on the series, her husband's contributions to the scientific community and beyond, and her own legacy with the Solar Sail.
Q: Did you know that you would still be talking about Cosmos almost 30 years after its debut?
A: Actually we did. That first day, Carl gathered us all -- grips, production assistants, producers -- and pushed the many tables together to make one. He asked, "What is the most significant thing that you want to come out of this project?" People poured out their hearts. It made such a difference.
Q: It sounds like it was an unusual project.
A: It was really an unusual undertaking -- a combination of both science reality and a great story. What he did was such a gift to the scientific community and our society. If you've seen all 13 episodes of Cosmos, then you are scientifically literate.
Q: That's a good point about it being a great story. That's critical to getting people to understand and learn.
A: Cosmos is about scientific tradition that began around the campfire. I think it is a tragedy that science is not taught that way. I know brilliant kids who hate science. The way I would want it to be taught would begin in preschool, when these beautiful little minds would hear, "Shhh -- it's time for you to become members of a generation of searchers." And it would be a story of searching for who we are and what we are.
Q: What was it about Carl Sagan that captured the public's imagination?
A: It was a couple of things -- his completely infinite curiosity -- a passion to know about things and a passion for being alive. He was literally in love with life and wanted to learn everything about it. It was also this unprecedented marriage of skepticism and wonder; he wanted to know how the world was put together with a zeal that was religious. He had a wonder he was able to communicate -- a brilliant perception and formidable gifts of observation.
Some people would say, "I don't want to know what makes a rainbow. It would ruin it for me." But with Carl, the more you knew, the more beautiful it became. He was a kind and ethical person -- a terrific teacher. I had this sense of everything I did with Carl had some sacred aspect.
