Anita's Notebook

Carl Sagan always said that one of the major turning points in his life happened when he was around five years old, when his parents took him to spend the day at the 1939 World’s Fair.

All the futuristic exhibits captured his imagination and brought science to life in a way that he’d never seen before. Summing up the experiences of that that day he said ‘Plainly, the world held wonders of a kind I had never guessed…’

Going to the World’s Fair kickstarted an intense love of science which would determine the course of the rest of his life, but there was also something else that happened that day which had a huge impact on who he would become.

It started off with something as simple as a leftover apple… here’s the story told in his own words:

—–

I remember the end of a long ago perfect day in 1939—a day that powerfully influenced my thinking, a day when my parents introduced me to the wonders of the New York World’s Fair.

It was late, well past my bedtime. Safely perched on my father’s shoulders, holding onto his ears, my mother reassuringly at my side, I turned to see the great Trylon and Perisphere, the architectural icons of the fair, illuminated in shimmering blue pastels. We were abandoning the future, the “World of Tomorrow,” for the BMT subway train.

As we paused to rearrange our possessions, my father got to talking with a small, tired man carrying a tray around his neck. He was selling pencils. My father reached into the crumpled brown paper bag that held the remains of our lunches, withdrew an apple, and handed it to the pencil man.

I let out a loud wail. I disliked apples then, and had refused this on both at lunch and at dinner. But I had, nevertheless, a proprietary interest in it. It was my apple, and my father had just given it away to a funny-looking stranger — who, to compound my anguish, was now glaring unsympathetically in my direction.

Although my father was a person of nearly limitless patience and tenderness, I could see he was disappointed in me. He swept me up and hugged me tight to him.

“He’s a poor stiff, out of work,” he said to me, too quietly for the man to hear. “He hasn’t eaten all day. We have enough. We can give him an apple.”

I reconsidered, stifled my sobs, took another wishful glance at the World of Tomorrow, and gratefully fell asleep in his arms.

—–

Sagan’s worldwide success and impact are often attributed to his passion for science but I think there was another crucial element involved. He genuinely cared about people and wanted to help the public through all the platforms available to him, whether it be writing or tv or whatever.

His compassion for people helped him communicate on a level that eludes so many who set out to do what he did, this no doubt had deep roots in what his father had taught him.

He not only looked to the sky and ‘the world of tomorrow’ but also never forgot to to see and understand people in the here and now.