Ten Quick Questions with Ann Druyan
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.
Q: Why was Cosmos subtitled "A Personal Journey"?
A: Many of the subjects that we covered were ideas that Carl had raised early in his life. For a scientist to say, "I want to study life on other planets" -- "serious" scientists don't go there. But Carl refused to be confined by that kind of prejudice. He had gotten so much criticism from colleagues, but they wouldn't take such violent issue with what he was saying if we called it "A Personal Journey." It's not the definitive view, but [Carl's] view.
Q: Did you both have a favorite episode of Cosmos?
A:Our favorite episode is Episode 2; it's about life. That episode was the most successful at conveying scientific information as well as the emotional and spiritual aspect of it.
Q: What do you do to keep Carl's memory alive?
A: I don't feel like I have to work too hard to keep Carl's memory alive. People with a variety of scientific experiences come to me and ask about him. And I love to talk about Carl and write about him.
Q: What do you think about the turn that the U.S. has taken in terms of science?
A: I think about how far back we've moved in terms of thinking about science in our society -- I think Carl would've been a voice in the public debate about scientific reality. When Carl was alive, you could say what you can't say anymore. You could question the idea that candidates could be taken seriously who don't believe in evolution. I think it makes the hunger for a voice like Carl's -- a voice that was fearless, kind, wonderful, yet completely courageous. Carl is alive in spirit because no one has come along to fill his ecological mind -- unafraid to lose their invitation to the White House. It's been so long since we've done something cutting edge in science, maybe because there isn't a Carl out there at the moment to command our attention.
Q: You're now involved in a project called Solar Sailing. Can you talk a little about it?
A: Solar Sailing is a way of moving through space at 10 times the 38,000 mph of the Voyager spacecraft, using reflective sails that look like Mylar. There are six pointed 60-foot-long sails; they're huge and very thin. Once they open, if we can prove they're powered by photons from the sun, we will have had a Wright Brothers moment. The sail will move five-tenths or one-half the speed of light. By the time it gets to another solar system, it will be one-tenth the speed of light.
Q: What would you want to take away from the experience?
A: It will be mythic - we'll learn how to ride the light. It will also be a new way to move through the cosmos, because it will also involve interstellar travel in a human timescale. It's a real cool thing; it would be a naked-eye object that we could see the world over. We have some of the most experienced scientists working for nothing so they can be part of an amazing opportunity to do something no one has ever done before. And the price is only $4 million, which is nothing for space travel. For the price of a so-so apartment in Manhattan, we could have a signal flare for hope. A win for the human species.
