Critical Analysis for "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Cosmos by Carl Sagan is a book which has the main idea that the universe is very complex, but humans are beginning to understand more and more about it.
This is a theme very evident in the book. For example, in the text it says "We will have the will and the resources and the technical knowledge to go to the stars". In this statement, the author is saying that although we don't currently have the technology to go to other worlds, we will eventually be able to. Another example of this is when the author writes "Will we ever come to an end in our understanding of the nature of matter, or is there an infinite regression into more and more fundamental particles? This is one of the great unsolved problems in science". When the author wrote this, he is showing to the reader that humans do not know everything about the universe- in fact, we still have a ton of things to learn. We are beginning to understand some of it, but not even close to all of it. One final example is when the author talks about elements. He talks about the 94 stable elements, but notes that there are still many elements that are yet to be discovered. This shows humans' partial understanding of our universe. We know some, if not many, elements, but there are still more to be discovered.

When the author wrote the book, I think he intended for the audience to be amazed at the vastness and complexity of the universe, but also amazed at how far humans have come. One technique the author uses is images, with captions. One image the author shows is of a painting of the Milky Way Galaxy. Although it is just a painting, it seems extremely realistic, and has the same effect- it shows how big, and powerful-looking, the universe is. It makes the reader amazed at the size of it. Another technique used by the author is the use of diagrams. Diagrams are especially helpful in this book for understanding concepts visually. One example of a diagram of Kepler's second law: All areas a planet travels between take the planet equal times to travel. In the context of the book, it may be difficult to understand. But with the diagram (3 equidistant pairs of points, with a line from each point to the sun, and shading inside the lines), and the caption (which says that the shaded areas are equal and the travel time between the pairs of points are equal), it is very easy to understand. This also shows the complexity of the universe, but it is simplified by the diagram to be easily understood.

When I read the book, I thought about how interesting the universe really is. I thought about how it isn't just stars and planets, it is individual atoms making up giant stars and even us, and the human race is becoming more knowledgeable on the subject, and doing more things to learn more about the universe we live in. I think the book really promotes that idea.