Renowned astronomer the late Carl Sagan, who died in December 1996, was probably most familiar to the public through his COSMOS series on PBS. He was also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a professor of astronomy and space science and director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. Sagan served as an adviser and consultant to NASA, and played a major role in the establishment of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). To celebrate his legacy on the 75th anniversary of his birth a unique, all-day event will take place on Sat., Nov. 7, 2009, from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Broward College A. Hugh Adams Central Campus, 3501 SW Davie Rd. in Davie. It is co-sponsored by the college, the Center for Inquiry Fort Lauderdale, the Center for Inquiry on Campus, Florida Atheists and Secular Humanists, and the James Randi Educational Foundation. Free-of-charge, except for the Planetarium programs, and open to the public, the event features keynote speaker James Randi. Randi, a magician and escape artist and a tireless investigator and debunker of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims will speak at 7 p.m. Additional keynote speakers are Dr. Phil Plait, “the bad astronomer” and David Morrison from NASA.
The program includes teacher workshops, children’s activities, showings of episodes from the COSMOS series, magic shows, displays, telescope workshops, games, door prizes, star-gazing, and many surprises. The two planetarium programs, for which there is a charge, are Max's Flying Saucer at 1:30 p.m. and Galaxies at 3 p.m.
A pre-event dinner with the guest speakers will take place on Friday evening, November 6, at 6:30 p.m. on Broward College's Judson A. Samuels South Campus in Pembroke Pines, with a requested donation of $125 and a reception, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. with a requested donation of $10.
Details, including the schedule of events and speakers, are available on the event website at www.carlsaganday.com. |
