Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving.

Intelligence is most widely studied in humans, but has also been observed in animals and plants. Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines or the simulation of intelligence in machines.

Numerous definitions of and hypotheses about intelligence have been proposed since before the twentieth century, with no consensus reached by scholars. Within the discipline of psychology, various approaches to human intelligence have been adopted. The psychometric approach is especially familiar to the general public, as well as being the most researched and by far the most widely used in practical settings.

History of the term

Intelligence derives from the Latin verb ''intelligere'' which derives from inter-legere meaning to "pick out" or discern. A form of this verb, ''intellectus'', became the medieval technical term for understanding, and a translation for the Greek philosophical term ''nous''. This term was however strongly linked to the metaphysical and cosmological theories of teleological scholasticism, including theories of the immortality of the soul, and the concept of the Active Intellect (also known as the Active Intelligence). This entire approach to the study of nature was strongly rejected by the early modern philosophers such as Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and David Hume, all of whom preferred the word "understanding" in their English philosophical works. Hobbes for example, in his Latin ''De Corpore'', used "''intellectus intelligit''" (translated in the English version as "the understanding understandeth") as a typical example of a logical absurdity. The term "intelligence" has therefore become less common in English language philosophy, but it has later been taken up (without the scholastic theories which it once implied) in more contemporary psychology.

Definitions

How to define intelligence is controversial. Groups of scientists have stated the following:

1. from "Mainstream Science on Intelligence" (1994), an editorial statement by fifty-two researchers: }}
2. from "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" (1995), a report published by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association: }}

Besides the foregoing definitions, these psychology and learning researchers also have defined intelligence as:

Researcher	! Quotation
Alfred Binet	Judgment, otherwise called "good sense," "practical sense," "initiative," the faculty of adapting one's self to circumstances ... auto-critique.
David Wechsler	The aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment.
Lloyd Humphreys	"...the resultant of the process of acquiring, storing in memory, retrieving, combining, comparing, and using in new contexts information and conceptual skills."
Cyril Burt	Innate general cognitive ability
Howard Gardner	To my mind, a human intellectual competence must entail a set of skills of problem solving — enabling the individual to resolve genuine problems or difficulties that he or she encounters and, when appropriate, to create an effective product — and must also entail the potential for finding or creating problems — and thereby laying the groundwork for the acquisition of new knowledge.
Linda Gottfredson	The ability to deal with cognitive complexity.
Reuven Feuerstein	The theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability describes intelligence as "the unique propensity of human beings to change or modify the structure of their cognitive functioning to adapt to the changing demands of a life situation."

What is considered intelligent varies with culture. For example, when asked to sort, the Kpelle people take a functional approach. A Kpelle participant stated "the knife goes with the orange because it cuts it." When asked how a fool would sort, they sorted linguistically, putting the knife with other implements and the orange with other foods, which is the style considered intelligent in other cultures.

Human intelligence

Psychometrics

The approach to understanding intelligence with the most supporters and published research over the longest period of time is based on psychometric testing. It is also by far the most widely used in practical settings. Intelligence quotient (IQ) tests include the Stanford-Binet, Raven's Progressive Matrices, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children. There are also psychometric tests that are not intended to measure intelligence itself but some closely related construct such as scholastic aptitude. In the United States examples include the SSAT, the SAT, the ACT, the GRE, the MCAT, the LSAT, and the GMAT.

Intelligence tests are widely used in educational, business, and military settings due to their efficacy in predicting behavior. IQ and ''g'' (discussed in the next section) are correlated with many important social outcomes—individuals with low IQs are more likely to be divorced, have a child out of marriage, be incarcerated, and need long-term welfare support, while individuals with high IQs are associated with more years of education, higher status jobs and higher income. Intelligence is significantly correlated with successful training and performance outcomes, and IQ/''g'' is the single best predictor of successful job performance.

General intelligence factor or ''g''

There are many different kinds of IQ tests using a wide variety of test tasks. Some tests consist of a single type of task, others rely on a broad collection of tasks with different contents (visual-spatial, verbal, numerical) and asking for different cognitive processes (e.g., reasoning, memory, rapid decisions, visual comparisons, spatial imagery, reading, and retrieval of general knowledge). The psychologist Charles Spearman early in the 20th century carried out the first formal factor analysis of correlations between various test tasks. He found a trend for all such tests to correlate positively with each other, which is called a ''positive manifold''. Spearman found that a single common factor explained the positive correlations among test. Spearman named it ''g'' for "general intelligence factor". He interpreted it as the core of human intelligence that, to a larger or smaller degree, influences success in all cognitive tasks and thereby creates the positive manifold. This interpretation of ''g'' as a common cause of test performance is still dominant in psychometrics. An alternative interpretation was recently advanced by van der Maas and colleagues. Their ''mutualism model'' assumes that intelligence depends on several independent mechanisms, none of which influences performance on all cognitive tests. These mechanisms support each other so that efficient operation of one of them makes efficient operation of the others more likely, thereby creating the positive manifold.

IQ tasks and tests can be ranked by how highly they load on the ''g'' factor. Tests with high ''g''-loadings are those that correlate highly with most other tests. One comprehensive study investigating the correlations between a large collection of tests and tasks has found that the Raven's Progressive Matrices have a particularly high correlation with most other tests and tasks. The ''Raven's'' is a test of inductive reasoning with abstract visual material. It consists of a series of problems, sorted approximately by increasing difficulty. Each problem presents a 3 x 3 matrix of abstract designs with one empty cell; the matrix is constructed according to a rule, and the person must find out the rule to determine which of 8 alternatives fits into the empty cell. Because of its high correlation with other tests, the Raven's Progressive Matrices are generally acknowledged as a good indicator of general intelligence. This is problematic, however, because there are substantial gender differences on the ''Raven's'', which are not found when ''g'' is measured directly by computing the general factor from a broad collection of tests.

Historical psychometric theories

Several different theories of intelligence have historically been important. Often they emphasized more factors than a single one like in ''g''

Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory

Many of the broad, recent IQ tests have been greatly influenced by the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory. It is argued to reflect much of what is known about intelligence from research. A hierarchy of factors is used. ''g'' is at the top. Under it there are 10 broad abilities that in turn are subdivided into 70 narrow abilities. The broad abilities are:

Fluid Intelligence (Gf): includes the broad ability to reason, form concepts, and solve problems using unfamiliar information or novel procedures.

Crystallized Intelligence (Gc): includes the breadth and depth of a person's acquired knowledge, the ability to communicate one's knowledge, and the ability to reason using previously learned experiences or procedures.

Quantitative Reasoning (Gq): the ability to comprehend quantitative concepts and relationships and to manipulate numerical symbols.

Reading & Writing Ability (Grw): includes basic reading and writing skills.

Short-Term Memory (Gsm): is the ability to apprehend and hold information in immediate awareness and then use it within a few seconds.

Long-Term Storage and Retrieval (Glr): is the ability to store information and fluently retrieve it later in the process of thinking.

Visual Processing (Gv): is the ability to perceive, analyze, synthesize, and think with visual patterns, including the ability to store and recall visual representations.

Auditory Processing (Ga): is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and discriminate auditory stimuli, including the ability to process and discriminate speech sounds that may be presented under distorted conditions.

Processing Speed (Gs): is the ability to perform automatic cognitive tasks, particularly when measured under pressure to maintain focused attention.

Decision/Reaction Time/Speed (Gt): reflect the immediacy with which an individual can react to stimuli or a task (typically measured in seconds or fractions of seconds; not to be confused with Gs, which typically is measured in intervals of 2–3 minutes). See Mental chronometry.

Modern tests do not necessarily measure of all of these broad abilities. For example, Gq and Grw may be seen as measures of school achievement and not IQ. Gt may be difficult to measure without special equipment.

''g'' was earlier often subdivided into only Gf and Gc which were though to correspond to the Nonverbal or Performance subtests and Verbal subtests in earlier versions of the popular Wechsler IQ test. More recent research has shown the situation to be more complex.

Controversies

While not necessarily a dispute about the psychometric approach itself, there are several controversies regarding the results from psychometric research. Examples are the role of genetics vs. environment, the causes of average group differences, or the Flynn effect.

One criticism has been against the early research such as craniometry. A reply has been that drawing conclusions from early intelligence research is like condemning the auto industry by criticizing the performance of the Model T.

Several critics, such as Stephen Jay Gould, have been critical of ''g'', seeing it as a statistical artifact, and that IQ tests instead measure a number of unrelated abilities. The American Psychological Association's report "Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns" stated that IQ tests do correlate and that the view that ''g'' is a statistical artifact is a minority one.

Other theories

There are critics of IQ, who do not dispute the stability of IQ test scores or the fact that they predict certain forms of achievement rather effectively. They do argue, however, that to base a concept of intelligence on IQ test scores alone is to ignore many important aspects of mental ability.

On the other hand, Linda S. Gottfredson (2006) has argued that the results of thousands of studies support the importance of IQ for school and job performance (see also the work of Schmidt & Hunter, 2004). IQ also predicts or correlates with numerous other life outcomes. In contrast, empirical support for non-''g'' intelligences is lacking or very poor. She argued that despite this the ideas of multiple non-''g'' intelligences are very attractive to many due to the suggestion that everyone can be smart in some way.

Multiple intelligences

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences is based on studies not only of normal children and adults but also by studies of gifted individuals (including so-called "savants"), of persons who have suffered brain damage, of experts and virtuosos, and of individuals from diverse cultures. This led Gardner to break intelligence down into at least eight different components: logical, linguistic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist and existential intelligences. He argues that psychometric tests address only linguistic and logical plus some aspects of spatial intelligence. A major criticism of Gardner's theory is that it has never been tested, or subjected to peer review, by Gardner or anyone else, and indeed that it is unfalsifiable. Others (e.g. Locke, 2005) have suggested that recognizing many specific forms of intelligence (specific aptitude theory) implies a political—rather than scientific—agenda, intended to appreciate the uniqueness in all individuals, rather than recognizing potentially true and meaningful differences in individual capacities. Schmidt and Hunter (2004) suggest that the predictive validity of specific aptitudes over and above that of general mental ability, or "g", has not received empirical support.

Howard Gardner mentions in his Multiple Intelligences The Theory in Practice book, briefly about his main seven intelligences he introduced. In his book, he starts off telling describing Linguistic and Logical Intelligence because he believed in society, we have put the two subjects on a pedestal. However, Gardner believes every of the intelligences he found has equality. Note: At the time of the publication of Gardner's book Multiple Intelligences The Theory in Practice, naturalist and existential were not mentioned.

Linguistic Intelligence: The kind of ability exhibited in its fullest form, perhaps, by poets.

Logical-Mathematics Intelligence: Is logical and mathematical ability, as well as scientific ability. Howard Gardner believed Jean Piaget may have thought he was studying all intelligence, but in truth, Piaget was really only focusing on the logical mathematical intelligence.

Spatial Intelligence: The ability to form a mental model of a spatial world and to be able to maneuver and operate using that model.

Musical Intelligence: Leonard Bernstein had lots of it; Mozart, presumably, had even more.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: The ability to solve problems or to fashion products using one's whole body, or parts of the body. For example, dancers, athletes, surgeons, craftspeople, etc.

Interpersonal Intelligence: The ability to understand people. People who are well in interpersonal are most likely teachers, politicians, clinicians, religious leaders, etc.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: A correlative ability, turned inward. It is a capacity to form an accurate, veridical model of oneself and to be able to use that model to operate effectively in life.

Triarchic theory of intelligence

Robert Sternberg proposed the triarchic theory of intelligence to provide a more comprehensive description of intellectual competence than traditional differential or cognitive theories of human ability. The triarchic theory describes three fundamental aspects of intelligence. Analytic intelligence comprises the mental processes through which intelligence is expressed. Creative intelligence is necessary when an individual is confronted with a challenge that is nearly, but not entirely, novel or when an individual is engaged in automatizing the performance of a task. Practical intelligence is bound in a sociocultural milieu and involves adaptation to, selection of, and shaping of the environment to maximize fit in the context. The triarchic theory does not argue against the validity of a general intelligence factor; instead, the theory posits that general intelligence is part of analytic intelligence, and only by considering all three aspects of intelligence can the full range of intellectual functioning be fully understood.

More recently, the triarchic theory has been updated and renamed the Theory of Successful Intelligence by Sternberg. Intelligence is defined as an individual's assessment of success in life by the individual's own (idiographic) standards and within the individual's sociocultural context. Success is achieved by using combinations of analytical, creative, and practical intelligence. The three aspects of intelligence are referred to as processing skills. The processing skills are applied to the pursuit of success through what were the three elements of practical intelligence: adapting to, shaping of, and selecting of one's environments. The mechanisms that employ the processing skills to achieve success include utilizing one's strengths and compensating or correcting for one's weaknesses.

Sternberg's theories and research on intelligence remain contentious within the scientific community.

Piaget's theory and Neo-Piagetian theories

In Piaget's theory of cognitive development the focus is not on mental abilities but rather on a child's mental models of the world. As a child develops, increasingly more accurate models of the world are developed which enable the child to interact with the world better. One example being object permanence where the child develops a model where objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched.

Piaget's theory described four main stages and many sub-stages in the development. Degree of progress through these is correlated with but is not identical with psychometric IQ.

Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development expand Piaget's theory in various ways such as also considering psychometric-like factors such as processing speed and working memory, "hypercognitive" factors like self-monitoring, more stages, and more consideration on how progress may vary in different domains such as spatial or social.

Piaget's theory has been criticized for the age of appearance of a new model of the world, such as object permanence, being dependent on how the testing is done (see the article on object permanence). More generally, the theory may be very difficult to test empirically due to the difficulty of proving or not proving that a mental model is the explanation for the results of the testing.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is an argued ability, capacity, skill or, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Different models have been proposed for the definition of emotional intelligence and there is disagreement about how the term should be used. The concept is controversial (Locke, 2005), with some seeing it as a skill or form of personality rather than intelligence, and its predicative ability, especially after controlling for the effects of IQ and the Big Five personality traits, is disputed.

Latent inhibition

Latent inhibition has been related to elements of intelligence, namely creativity and genius.

Evolution of intelligence

Our hominid and human ancestors evolved large and complex brains exhibiting an ever-increasing intelligence through a long evolutionary process. Many different explanations have been proposed.

Improving intelligence

Eugenics is a social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary traits through various forms of intervention. Conscious efforts to influence intelligence raise ethical issues. Eugenics has variously been regarded as meritorious or deplorable in different periods of history, falling greatly into disrepute after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Neuroethics considers the ethical, legal and social implications of neuroscience, and deals with issues such as the difference between treating a human neurological disease and enhancing the human brain, and how wealth impacts access to neurotechnology. Neuroethical issues interact with the ethics of human genetic engineering.

Because intelligence appears to be at least partly dependent on brain structure and the genes shaping brain development, it has been proposed that genetic engineering could be used to enhance the intelligence, a process sometimes called biological uplift in science fiction. Experiments on mice have demonstrated superior ability in learning and memory in various behavioral tasks.

Transhumanist theorists study the possibilities and consequences of developing and using techniques to enhance human abilities and aptitudes, and individuals ameliorating what they regard as undesirable and unnecessary aspects of the human condition.

Animal and plant intelligence

Although humans have been the primary focus of intelligence researchers, scientists have also attempted to investigate animal intelligence, or more broadly, animal cognition. These researchers are interested in studying both mental ability in a particular species, and comparing abilities between species. They study various measures of problem solving, as well as mathematical and language abilities. Some challenges in this area are defining intelligence so that it means the same thing across species (e.g. comparing intelligence between literate humans and illiterate animals), and then operationalizing a measure that accurately compares mental ability across different species and contexts.

Wolfgang Köhler's pioneering research on the intelligence of apes is a classic example of research in this area. Stanley Coren's book, ''The Intelligence of Dogs'' is a notable popular book on the topic. Nonhuman animals particularly noted and studied for their intelligence include chimpanzees, bonobos (notably the language-using Kanzi) and other great apes, dolphins, elephants and to some extent parrots and ravens. Controversy exists over the extent to which these judgments of intelligence are accurate.

Cephalopod intelligence also provides important comparative study. Cephalopods appear to exhibit characteristics of significant intelligence, yet their nervous systems differ radically from those of most other notably intelligent life-forms (mammals and birds).

It has been argued that plants should also be classified as being intelligent based on their ability to sense the environment and adjust their morphology, physiology and phenotype accordingly.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (or AI) is both the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it, through "the study and design of intelligent agents" or "rational agents", where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions which maximize its chances of success. Achievements in artificial intelligence include constrained and well-defined problems such as games, crossword-solving and optical character recognition. General intelligence or strong AI has not yet been achieved and is a long-term goal of AI research.

Among the traits that researchers hope machines will exhibit are reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception, and the ability to move and manipulate objects. In the field of artificial intelligence there is no consensus on how closely the brain should be simulated.

See also

Active intellect

Downing effect

Educational psychology

History of the race and intelligence controversy

Individual differences psychology

Intellectual giftedness

Knowledge

Malleable intelligence

Passive intellect

Systems intelligence

References

Further reading

External links

APA Task Force Examines the Knowns and Unknowns of Intelligence - ''American Psychological Association'', Press release

The cognitive-psychology approach vs. psychometric approach to intelligence - ''American Scientist'' magazine

History of Influences in the Development of Intelligence Theory and Testing - Developed by Jonathan Plucker at Indiana University

Scholarly journals and societies

''Intelligence'' (journal homepage)

International Society for Intelligence Research (homepage)

Category:Educational psychology Category:Developmental psychology Category:Psychological testing

ar:ذكاء az:İntellekt (psixologiya) bs:Inteligencija bg:Интелект ca:Intel·ligència cs:Inteligence da:Intelligens de:Intelligenz et:Intelligentsus es:Inteligencia eo:Intelekto fa:هوش#تیزهوشی fr:Intelligence gl:Intelixencia ko:지능 hr:Inteligencija id:Kecerdasan ia:Intelligentia it:Intelligenza he:אינטליגנציה ka:ინტელექტი la:Intellegentia lv:Intelekts lt:Intelektas mr:बुद्धिमत्ता nl:Intelligentie new:मेधावी ja:知能 no:Intelligens oc:Intelligéncia pl:Inteligencja (psychologia) pt:Inteligência ro:Inteligență ru:Интеллект sq:Mençuria scn:Babbasuni simple:Intelligence sk:Inteligencia ckb:ژیری sr:Интелигенција fi:Älykkyys sv:Intelligens tl:Katalinuhan ta:நுண்ணறிவு tg:Тезҳушӣ tr:Zekâ uk:Інтелект ur:ذہانت vec:Intełigensa yi:אינטעלעקט zh:智力

name	Beck
background	solo_singer
birth name	Bek David Campbell
birth date	July 08, 1970
birth place	Los Angeles, California, US
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
genre	Alternative rock, anti-folk
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, sitar, banjo, slide guitar, twelve-string guitar, glockenspiel, vocoder, kalimba, melodica, beatboxing
years active	1988–present
label	DGC, Interscope, Geffen, XL, Bong Load|
associated acts	The Flaming Lips, Devendra Banhart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The White Stripes, JSBX, Thurston Moore
website
notable instruments	1962 Silvertone Danelectro Danelectro Dano Pro }}

Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

The four-time platinum artist rose to underground popularity with his early works, which combined social criticism (as in "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" and "Deep Fried Love") with musical and lyrical experimentation. He first earned wider public attention for his breakthrough single "Loser", a 1994 hit.

Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings are ''Odelay'' (1996) and ''Sea Change'' (2002). ''Odelay'' was awarded Album of the Year by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone'' and by UK publications ''NME'' and ''Mojo''. ''Odelay'' also received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Both ''Odelay'' and ''Sea Change'' appeared on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Early life

Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell, a Canadian musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol "star". His maternal grandfather was Al Hansen, a visual collage artist of the Fluxus school of art. Beck's paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, while his matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish; Beck's mother also has Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by the city's diverse musical offerings—everything from hip hop to Latin music and his mother's art scene—all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.

Career

Early performing and first releases (1985–1993)

After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck traveled to Europe and developed his musical talent as a street musician. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather Al Hansen. The late 1980s found him in New York City, involved in the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.

In 1988, Beck recorded a cassette entitled ''Banjo Story'', which has since become available in bootleg form. He returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade. He lived in a shed and took a variety of low-paying, dead-end jobs (at one point working as a leaf blower operator), all the while continuing to develop his music. Beck also sought out (or sneaked onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops and playing on the streets. During this time, he met Chris Ballew (founder of The Presidents of the United States of America). They performed on the streets as a duo for a while.

In 1993 Beck released his first studio album, ''Golden Feelings'', on Peter Hughes's Sonic Enemy label. It was initially released only on cassette (though later on CD in limited quantities). It has been estimated that only between 500 and 750 copies were made, making it a rare artifact. AllMusic.com would later describe the album as "an extremely interesting, entertaining, and humorous document that proves that from the start, Beck had his heart set on making experimentation his only gimmick".

"Loser", ''Mellow Gold'', and independent albums (1993–1995)

1993 saw Bong Load Custom Records (owned by Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, and Bradshaw Lambert) sign Beck to their fledgling label. His first release for Bong Load was "Loser", a collaboration between hip hop nuance producer Carl Stephenson and Beck. The song created a sensation when radio host Chris Douridas played the song on ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'', the flagship music program from Santa Monica College radio station KCRW. That exposure and a subsequent live performance on the show July 23, 1993, led to a bidding war among labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract. Of all the record labels to offer Beck a contract, Geffen offered him the least amount of money, but the greatest amount of creative freedom.

On February 22, 1994, Flipside Records released ''Stereopathetic Soulmanure''. A sprawling 25-track album, it contained the fan favorites "Satan Gave Me a Taco", "Rowboat", and "Thunderpeel", as well nonsensical spoken tracks, noise (such as leafblowers), and live recordings. Johnny Cash would later record "Rowboat" and include it on his 1996 album ''Unchained''. Cash later said that the song "sounded like something I might have written or might have done in the [1960s, when] I was kinda going through some weird times." "Satan Gave Me a Taco" was acknowledged by Allen Ginsberg to be one of his favorite contemporary works of pop poetry.

In March 1994, Geffen released Beck's major label debut, ''Mellow Gold''. The album, created with Bong Load's Rothrock and Schnapf, as well as Carl Stephenson, turned Beck into a mainstream success. The record received the best ratings possible from ''Spin'', Robert Christgau, ''Rolling Stone's Album Guide'' and AllMusic.

On June 27, Olympia, Washington–based independent label K Records released Beck's third album of 1994, ''One Foot in the Grave''. The recording featured a number of notable musicians from the independent music scene, including Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, The Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew, and Built to Spill members Scott Plouf and James Bertram.

Beck took his act on the road in 1994 with a worldwide tour, followed by a spot on the main stage of the 1995 Lollapalooza tour.

''Odelay'' (1996–1997)

When the time came to record his follow-up to ''Mellow Gold'', Beck enlisted Rothrock and Schnapf as producers and began recording an album of moody, low-key acoustic numbers to showcase his songwriting. Eventually, Beck shelved the album and pursued a more upbeat approach. Beck was introduced to the Dust Brothers, producers of the Beastie Boys' album ''Paul's Boutique,'' whose cut-and-paste, sample-heavy production suited Beck's vision of a more fun, accessible album.

The result, 1996's ''Odelay,'' would put the "one-hit wonder" criticisms to rest. The lead single, "Where It's At", received much airplay, and its video was in heavy rotation on MTV. Within the year ''Odelay'' received praise from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, appeared on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for "Album of the Year"), and earned a number of industry awards, including two Grammys. Besides "Where It's At", three other singles were released from the album: "Devils Haircut", "Jack-Ass" and "The New Pollution".

Beginning in 1993, Beck contributed to Forest for the Trees, an experimental trip hop project by collaborator Carl Stephenson. The project released a self-titled record in 1997, followed by an EP in 1999. Beck added spoken word, harmonica, and various other instruments.

''Mutations'' and ''Midnite Vultures'' (1998–2001)

''Odelay'' was followed in 1998 by the release of ''Mutations''. Though the album was originally slated for release by Bong Load Records, Geffen intervened and issued the record against Beck's wishes. The artist then sought to void his contracts with both record labels, and in turn the labels sued him for breach of contract. The litigation went on for years and it remains unclear to this day if it has ever been completely resolved. ''Mutations'' was produced by Beck and Nigel Godrich (frequent producer and collaborator with Radiohead) and is believed to have been intended as a stopgap measure before the proper next album. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced fourteen songs. ''Mutations'' was a departure from the electronic density of ''Odelay'' and shows heavy folk and blues influences. Tracks on the album consisted of older songs, some dating back as early as 1994.

In 1999, Beck was awarded Best Alternative Music Performance for ''Mutations'' at the 42nd Grammy Awards.

In November, Geffen released the much-anticipated ''Midnite Vultures'', which was supported by an extensive world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza. The live stage set included a red bed that descended from the ceiling for the song "Debra", and the touring band was complemented by a brass section. ''Midnite Vultures'' was nominated for Best Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. Beck released a number of B-sides and soundtrack-only songs as well, including "Deadweight" from the ''A Life Less Ordinary'' soundtrack, "Midnite Vultures" (curiously, not on the album of the same name), David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" from ''Moulin Rouge!'', and a cover of The Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", which appeared in two memory-alteration-themed productions: the 2004 movie ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' and the last episode of the first season of ''Dollhouse''. He is also credited on the French band Air’s 2001 album ''10 000 Hz Legend'' for vocals on the songs "Don't Be Light" and "The Vagabond" (as well as harmonica on the latter). He sang a duet with Emmylou Harris on ''Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons'', performing "Sin City".

''Sea Change'' (2002–2003)

In 2001, the ''Beck'' EP, which consists of B-sides from the ''Midnite Vultures'' era, was released. The EP was only available from Beck's website, and only 10,000 copies were printed.

In 2002, Beck released ''Sea Change'', which, like ''Mutations'', was produced by Nigel Godrich. It became Beck's first US Top 10 album, reaching #8. The album also received critical acclaim, earning five stars from ''Rolling Stone'' (the magazine's highest rating) and placing second in the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 2002. ''Sea Change'' was conceptualized around one unifying theme: the end of a relationship. The album featured string arrangements by Beck's father, David Campbell, and a sonically dense mix reminiscent of ''Mutations''. Although some radio singles were released, no commercial singles were made available to the public. In August 2002, prior to the release of ''Sea Change'', Beck embarked on a solo acoustic tour of small theaters and halls, during which he played several songs from the forthcoming album. The post-release ''Sea Change'' tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band.

A song Beck co-wrote with William Orbit, "Feel Good Time", was recorded by pop singer Pink for inclusion on the soundtrack of the 2003 film ''Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''. Beck also covered the Bruce Haack song titled "Funky Lil Song" for Dimension Mix, a tribute album dedicated to the music of electronic music pioneer Haack and his Dimension 5 Records, which his long time friend and collaborator Ross Harris produced to benefit Cure Autism Now.

''Guero'' and ''The Information'' (2004–2007)

In 2004, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label studio album. The record, ''Guero'', was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to ''Odelay''-era sound. The album was released in March 2005 and enjoyed critical acclaim from most mainstream press, earning four of five stars from ''Rolling Stone'', as well as a "Critic's Choice" recognition from ''The New York Times''. The album received a less enthusiastic response from ''Pitchfork Media'', which ran a lukewarm and disappointed 6.6 out of 10 review; it was also given poor reviews by ''Q'' magazine, ''Dusted'' and ''Mojo''. The album debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' charts, pushing 162,000 copies in the first week and giving Beck his best week ever in terms of commercial sales and chart position. Since the release of ''Guero'', the album's first single, "E-Pro" (which samples the drum track from the Beastie Boys hit "So What'cha Want"), has been well received by the mainstream rock community, receiving significant play time on mainstream radio. The second single, "Girl", received decent play time on mainstream radio and heavy airplay on college and independent radio. The third and final single of the album was "Hell Yes." The deluxe edition DVD version of the album featured more than 100 videos. Viewers could use the two additional video streams and four subpicture streams to create their own visual remixes for each track. The DVD package was so advanced that a small percentage of DVD players were unable to access certain tracks, due to the complicated nature of the technology used by video artists D-Fuse.

On February 1, 2005, Beck released an EP featuring four remixes of songs from ''Guero'' by independent artists who use sounds from various early 8-bit video game devices like the Game Boy. The EP, ''GameBoy Variations'', featured "Ghettochip Malfunction" [Hell Yes] and "GameBoy/Homeboy" [Que' Onda Guero], both remixed by the band 8-Bit, and also had "Bad Cartridge" [E-Pro] and "Bit Rate Variation in B-Flat" [Girl], the last two being remixed by Paza {The X-Dump}. The EP cover art shows a long-haired person headbanging to his Game Boy, which is plugged into an amplifier like an electric guitar. This EP was featured in an issue of ''Nintendo Power''. A music video for "Gameboy/Homeboy" was made by Wyld File. Also at this time, Beck released ''A Brief Overview'', a promotional retrospective album featuring tracks from ''Guero'', ''Sea Change'', ''Mutations'', ''Midnite Vultures'' and ''Odelay''. This compilation also features "Ghettochip Malfunction" and two versions of "E-Pro," the lead single from ''Guero''.

Beck performed at the music and arts festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee on June 17, 2006, with a set that featured many songs from ''Guero''. In addition to his band, Beck was accompanied by a group of puppets, dressed as him and members of his band. Live video feed of the puppets' performance was broadcast on video screens to the audience. The puppet show was included throughout his 2006 world tour. On December 6, 2005, the remix album Guerolito was released, featuring the entire Guero album remixed by acclaimed musicians as well as cover art by Marcel Dzama.

Beck's seventh major-label studio album, ''The Information'', which again reunited him with Nigel Godrich, was released on October 3, 2006. The release marked the first time in seven years that Beck released studio albums in consecutive years. The album reportedly took more than three years to make and has been described as "quasi hip-hop". It came with a sheet of stickers, which were to be used to "make your own album cover." Because of this, ''The Information'' was disqualified by the Official Chart Company from entering the UK Albums Chart, but in the US it gave Beck his third straight Top 10 studio album peak on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #7. The lead US single, "Nausea," officially went to radio on September 5, 2006. In the UK, the first single was "Cellphone's Dead".

A non-album single, "Timebomb", was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that "Timebomb" had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

''Modern Guilt'' and ''Scott Pilgrim'' soundtrack (2008–present)

In February 2008, Beck stated in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' that he had been working on a new album "with an unnamed producer" and that he expected it to be released by the end of the year. In early March 2008, the unnamed producer was revealed to be Danger Mouse. The new album ''Modern Guilt'' was released on Interscope in North America and on XL Records in the rest of the world. The single "Chemtrails" was made available on Beck's MySpace and website. In early June, Beck performed several songs from the new album at The Echo in Los Angeles. ''Modern Guilt'' was released in July 2008. A complete acoustic version of ''Modern Guilt'', recorded in Japan, was featured as videos on Beck's website in 2009.

In an August 2010 interview with Pitchfork Media, Beck revealed that he wanted to release at least a song by the end of the summer. That culminated in Beck-written songs for fictionalized band Sex Bob-omb on the ''Scott Pilgrim'' movie soundtrack.

On December 13, 2010, RCRD LBL premiered a Beck remix of Lykke Li's "Get Some."

Collaborations and contributions

On June 18, 2009, Beck announced that he was starting an experiment called Record Club, in which he and other musicians would record cover versions of entire albums in one day. The first album covered by Beck's Record Club was ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Starting on June 18, the club began posting covers of songs from the album on Thursday evenings, each with its own video. On September 4, 2009, Beck announced the second Record Club album, ''Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Contributors included MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. In the third Record Club venture, Wilco, Feist, Jamie Lidell and James Gadson joined Beck to cover Skip Spence's ''Oar''. The first song, "Little Hands", was posted on Beck's website on November 12, 2009. The Record Club has since covered albums by INXS and Yanni

On June 19, 2009, Beck announced Planned Obsolescence, a weekly DJ set put together by Beck or guest DJs. Soon after, on July 7, Beck announced that his website would be featuring "extended informal conversations with musicians, artists, filmmakers, and other various persons" in a section called Irrelevant Topics. Then, on July 12, he added a section called Videotheque, which he said would contain "promotional videos from each album, as well as live clips, tv show appearances and other rarities".

Also in 2009, Beck collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg on her album ''IRM'', which was released in January 2010. Beck wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics, and produced and mixed the album. The lead single, "Heaven Can Wait", is a duet by Beck and Gainsbourg.

In late February 2010, it was announced that electronic artist Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow had collaborated with Beck on two songs, "Fresh Hex" and "Grape Aerosmith", on his upcoming album ''Maniac Meat''. Tobacco revealed that in making the album, Beck sent the vocal parts to him, and that they had never actually met.

In March 2010, Beck revealed that he had produced songs for the new Jamie Lidell album, ''Compass''.

In the summer of 2010, Beck contributed songs to both ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack, with "Let's Get Lost" (a duet with Bat for Lashes), and ''True Blood (HBO Original Series Soundtrack, Vol. 2)'', with "Bad Blood". He also contributed songs to soundtrack of the movie ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'', which was released in August 2010. Two of the songs that Beck specifically wrote for the film appeared in its theatrical trailer.

In 2011, he collaborated with Seu Jorge on a track entitled Tropicália (Mario C. 2011 Remix) for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. He also contributed on the song "Attracted to Us" on Turtleneck & Chain, the newest album from The Lonely Island.

Also in 2011, Beck produced a solo album by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth called ''Demolished Thoughts''. An album he produced for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, ''Mirror Traffic'', was released in August 2011.

Musical style

Beck's musical style has been considered alternative and indie. He has been known to play many of the instruments in his music himself. He has also done some remixes for fellow artists, notably David Bowie and Björk. Beck has been known to synthesize several musical elements together in his music, including folk, Latin, hip hop, funk, many types of rock and blues. He has also taken music from Los Angeles as a reference point in his songs.

Pitchfork Media applauded ''Midnite Vultures'', saying, "Beck wonderfully blends Prince, Talking Heads, ''Paul's Boutique'', 'Shake Your Bon-Bon', and Mathlete on ''Midnite Vultures'', his most consistent and playful album yet." The review continued to comment on Beck, saying that his mix of goofy piety and ambiguous intent helped the album. '' A Beck song called "Harry Partch," a tribute to the composer and his "Corporeal" music, employs Partch's 43-tone scale.

Art career

During 1998, Beck's art collaborations with his grandfather Al Hansen were featured in an exhibition entitled "Beck & Al Hansen: Playing With Matches", which showcased solo and collaborative collage, assemblage, drawing and poetry works. The show toured from the Santa Monica Museum of Art to galleries in New York City and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. A catalog of the show was published by Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press.

Personal life

From 1991 to 2000, Beck was in a relationship with designer Leigh Limon. Their breakup is said to have inspired his 2002 album, ''Sea Change''. He wrote most of the songs for the album in one week after the breakup. Beck married actress Marissa Ribisi, the twin sister of actor Giovanni Ribisi, in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri. Ribisi gave birth to their daughter, Tuesday, in 2007.

Scientology

Beck has been involved in Scientology for most of his life; his wife, Marissa, is also a second-generation Scientologist. Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe. Beck publicly acknowledged his affiliation with Scientology for the first time in an interview published in ''The New York Times Magazine'' on March 6, 2005. Further confirmation came in an interview with the Irish ''Sunday Tribune's'' ''i Magazine'' on June 11, 2005, where he was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I'm a Scientologist. My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied:

}}

Appearances in media

The 1986 punk rock musical ''Population: 1'' features a young Beck in a small nonspeaking role alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers. Beck also appeared in ''Southlander'' (2001), an American independent film by Steve Hanft and Ross Harris.

Beck has performed on ''Saturday Night Live'' six times; these shows were hosted by Kevin Spacey, Bill Paxton, Christina Ricci, Jennifer Garner, Tom Brady and Hugh Laurie. During his 2006 performance in the Hugh Laurie episode, Beck was accompanied by the puppets that had been used on-stage during his world tour. He has made two cameo appearances as himself on ''Saturday Night Live'': one in a sketch about medicinal marijuana, and one in a VH1 ''Behind the Music'' parody that featured "Fat Albert & the Junkyard Gang."

Beck performed a guest voice as himself in Matt Groening's animated show ''Futurama'', in the episode "Bendin' in the Wind". He performed in episode 10 of the fourth season of ''The Larry Sanders Show'', in which the producer character Artie (Rip Torn) referred to him as a "hillbilly from outer space". He also made a very brief voice appearance in 1998 cartoon feature film, ''The Rugrats Movie'', and guest-starred as himself in a 1997 episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' entitled "Edelweiss."

Beck has also made appearances in the Adult Swim show ''Mission Hill''. Accepting an award, he comes up on stage wearing the new "Spicy pants" trend. In consequence the main character begins throwing all of his "Beck" albums out his upper-story window.

In an episode of ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', Beck was featured fighting Björk in a "battle to be the best monosyllabic musician of all time", which ended with both of them slain by Bach, who appeared via a time machine.

On January 22, 2010, Beck appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'''s last show as a backup guitarist for a Will Ferrell–led rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" alongside ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, Ben Harper, and O'Brien himself on guitar.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Golden Feelings'' (1993)

''A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight'' (1994)

''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' (1994)

''Mellow Gold'' (1994)

''One Foot in the Grave'' (1994)

''Odelay'' (1996)

''Mutations'' (1998)

''Midnite Vultures'' (1999)

''Sea Change'' (2002)

''Guero'' (2005)

''The Information'' (2006)

''Modern Guilt'' (2008)

References

External links

Whiskeyclone.net, large, informative Beck site

Stewoo.net, the largest Beck fan forum

Beck at ''Rolling Stone''

Category:1970 births Category:American alternative country singers Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American buskers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American musicians of Swedish descent

Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American Scientologists Category:Anti-folk musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:K Records artists Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:XL Recordings artists

ca:Beck Hansen cs:Beck da:Beck (musiker) de:Beck (Musiker) es:Beck (cantante) eu:Beck fa:بک (خواننده) fr:Beck Hansen gl:Beck ko:벡 hr:Beck is:Beck it:Beck he:בק ka:Beck hu:Beck nl:Beck Hansen ja:ベック (歌手) no:Beck nn:Beck pl:Beck Hansen pt:Beck Hansen ru:Бек Хэнсен simple:Beck Hansen sk:Beck (hudobník) sh:Beck fi:Beck sv:Beck Hansen th:เบ็ก uk:Бек Гансен zh:貝克

Name	Howard Stern
Birth name	Howard Allan Stern
Birth date	January 12, 1954
Birth place	Jackson Heights, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Radio personality, television host, author, actor, photographer
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Alison Berns (1978–2001; div.)Beth Ostrosky (2008–present)
Party	Libertarian during 1994 Governor of New York campaign
Website	www.howardstern.com }}

Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio personality, television host, author, actor, and photographer best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style. Stern has been exclusive to Sirius XM Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service, since 2006. The son of a former recording and radio engineer, Stern wished to pursue a career in radio at the age of five. While at Boston University he worked at the campus station WTBU before a brief stint at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts.

He developed his on-air personality when he landed positions at WRNW in Briarcliff Manor, WCCC in Hartford and WWWW in Detroit. In 1981, he was paired with his current newscaster and co-host Robin Quivers at WWDC in Washington, D.C. Stern then moved to WNBC in New York City in 1982 to host afternoons until his firing in 1985. He re-emerged on WXRK that year, and became one of the most popular radio personalities during his 20-year tenure at the station. Stern's show is the most-fined radio program, after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued fines to station licensees for allegedly indecent material that totaled $2.5 million. Stern has won ''Billboard's'' Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year award eight times, and is one of the highest-paid figures in radio.

Stern describes himself as the "King of All Media" for his ventures outside radio. Since 1987, he has hosted numerous late night television shows, pay-per-view events and home video releases. He embarked on a five-month political campaign for Governor of New York in 1994. His two books, ''Private Parts'' (1993) and ''Miss America'' (1995), spent 20 and 16 weeks respectively on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. The former was adapted into ''Private Parts'' (1997), a biographical comedy film that starred Stern and his radio show staff that earned $41.2 million in domestic revenue. Stern performs on its soundtrack which topped the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Early life and education

Stern was born on January 12, 1954 into a Jewish family who lived in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City. His parents Ben and Ray (née Schiffman) are children of Austro-Hungarian immigrants, and his sister Ellen is four years older than he. The family moved to the hamlet of Roosevelt on Long Island in 1955, where Stern developed an interest in radio at five years of age. While Ray was a homemaker and later an inhalation therapist, Ben was a co-owner of Aura Recording, Inc., a recording studio in Manhattan where cartoons and commercials were produced. When he made occasional visits with his father, Stern witnessed actors Wally Cox, Don Adams and Larry Storch voice his favorite cartoon characters, which influenced him to later talk on the air rather than play records. Ben was also an engineer at WHOM, a radio station in Manhattan. On completion of sixth grade, Stern left Washington-Rose Elementary School for Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School. In June 1969, the family moved to nearby Rockville Centre and Stern transferred to South Side High School.

Stern spent the first two of four years at Boston University in the College of Basic Studies. In 1973, he started to work at WTBU, the campus radio station where he spun records, read the news, and hosted interviews. He also hosted a comedy program with three fellow students called ''The King Schmaltz Bagel Hour''. Stern gained admission to the School of Public Communications in 1974 and earned a diploma in July 1975 at the Radio Engineering Institute of Electronics in Fredericksburg, Virginia which allowed him to apply for a first class FCC radio-telephone license. With the license, Stern made his professional debut at WNTN in Newton, Massachusetts, performing airshift, newscasting and production duties between August and December 1975. He graduated magna cum laude from Boston University in May 1976 with a degree in Communications and now funds a scholarship at the university.

Career

Early professional radio career (1976–1981)

After his graduation in 1976, Stern declined an offer to work evenings at WRNW, a progressive rock station in Briarcliff Manor, Westchester County, New York. He was unsure of his talent, and questioned his future in the professional industry. Stern took creative and media planning roles at Benton & Bowles, a New York advertising agency, followed by a job in selling radio time to advertisers. He realized the mistake of declining on-air work and contacted WRNW a second time where he agreed to work covering shifts over the Christmas holiday period. Stern was hired full time in 1977 and worked a four-hour midday shift, six days per week a $96 weekly salary. He subsequently worked as the station's production and program director for an increased salary of $250.

In 1979, Stern spotted an advertisement for a "wild, fun morning guy" at rock station WCCC in Hartford, Connecticut. He submitted a more outrageous audition tape with Robert Klein and Cheech and Chong records mixed with flatulence routines and one-liners. Stern was hired with no change in salary with a more intense schedule. After four hours on the air he voiced and produced commercials for another four. On Saturdays, following a six-hour show, he did production work for the next three. As the station's public affairs director he also hosted a Sunday morning talk show which he favoured. In the summer of the 1979 energy crisis, Stern held a two-day boycott of Shell Oil Company which attracted media attention. Stern left WCCC a year later after he was declined a pay increase. Fred Norris, the overnight disc jockey, has been Stern's producer and writer since 1981.

Management at rock outlet WWWW in Detroit, Michigan praised Stern's audition tape in their search for a new morning man. Stern was hired for the job which he started on April 21, 1980. He learned to become more open on the air and "decided to cut down the barriers...strip down all the ego...and be totally honest", he later told ''Newsday''. His efforts earned him a ''Billboard'' award for "Album-Oriented Rock Personality of the Year For a Major Market" and the Drake-Chenault "Top Five Talent Search" title. The station however, ran into problems after Stern's quarterly Arbitron ratings had decreased while it struggled to compete with its stronger rock competitors. In January 1981, WWWW switched to a country music format much to Stern's dislike, who left the station soon after. He received offers to work at WXRT in Chicago and CHUM in Toronto, but did not take them.

Washington and WNBC New York (1981–1985)

Stern moved to Washington, D.C. to host mornings at rock station WWDC on March 2, 1981. He wanted to develop his show further, and looked for a co-worker with a sense of humor to riff with on news and current events. The station paired Stern with Robin Quivers, a newscaster and consumer affairs reporter from WFBR in Baltimore. Though he felt restricted and controlled by management who enforced a strict format, Stern had the second highest rated morning radio program in January 1982. Impressed with his ratings success, Stern was approached by NBC with an offer to work afternoons at WNBC in New York City. After he signed a five-year contract worth $1 million in March, Stern's relationship with WWDC management worsened, and his contract with the station was terminated on June 25. He had more than tripled the station's morning ratings during his stay. In its July issue ''The Washingtonian'' named Stern the area's best disc jockey. Stern released ''50 Ways to Rank Your Mother'', a comedy album of his radio bits. The record was re-released as ''Unclean Beaver'' in November 1994.

On April 2, 1982, a news report by Douglas Kiker on raunch radio featuring Stern aired on ''NBC Magazine''. The piece stimulated discussion among NBC management to withdraw Stern's contract. When he began his afternoon program in September, management closely monitored Stern, telling him to avoid talk of a sexual and religious nature. In his first month, Stern was suspended for several days for "Virgin Mary Kong", a segment featuring a video game where a group of men pursued the Virgin Mary around a singles bar in Jerusalem. An attorney was hired to man a "dump button", and cut Stern off the microphone should potentially offensive areas be discussed. This became the task of program director Kevin Metheny, who Stern nicknamed "Pig Virus". On May 21, 1984, Stern made his first appearance on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', launching him into the national spotlight. A year later he claimed the highest ratings at WNBC in four years with a 5.7% market share.

On September 30, 1985, Stern and Quivers were fired for what management termed "conceptual differences" regarding the show. said program director John Hayes, who Stern nicknamed "The Incubus". In 1992, Stern believed Thornton Bradshaw, chairman of WNBC's owner RCA, heard his "Bestiality Dial-a-Date" segment and ordered his firing. Stern and Quivers kept in touch with their audience throughout October and November where they toured club venues with a stage show.

K-Rock, early television endeavors and Fartman (1985–1992)

Stern signed a contract with Infinity Broadcasting worth around $500,000 and returned to afternoons on its New York rock station WXRK on November 18, 1985. The show moved to mornings on February 18, 1986 and entered national syndication on August 18 when WYSP in Philadelphia first simulcast the program. In the New York market ''The Howard Stern Show'' was the highest-rated morning program for seven consecutive years between 1994 and 2001. In 1994, ''Billboard'' magazine added the "Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year" category to its annual radio awards based on entertainment value, creativity and ratings success. Stern was awarded the title from 1994 to 2002.

In May 1987, Stern recorded five television pilots for Fox when the network planned to replace ''The Late Show'' hosted by Joan Rivers. The series was never picked up; one executive having described the show as "poorly produced", "in poor taste" and "boring". Stern hosted his first pay-per-view event on February 27, 1988 named ''Howard Stern's Negligeé and Underpants Party''. Over 60,000 homes purchased the two-hour special that grossed $1.2 million. On September 7, 1989, over 16,000 fans packed out Nassau Coliseum for ''Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores'', a live event that featured a tennis match between Stern and his radio show producer, Gary Dell'Abate. Both events were released for home video. From 1990 to 1992, Stern was the host of ''The Howard Stern Show'', a Saturday night program on WWOR-TV. The series ran for 69 episodes to 65 markets nationwide. In February 1991, Stern released ''Crucified by the FCC'', a collection of censored radio segments following the first fine issued to Infinity by the FCC over alleged indecency. He released a third video tape, ''Butt Bongo Fiesta'', in October 1992 that sold 260,000 copies for a gross of over $10 million. He returned to Saturday night television that November with ''The Howard Stern "Interview"'', a one-on-one celebrity interview series on E!.

Stern appeared at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards as Fartman, a fictional superhero that first appeared in the ''National Lampoon'' humor magazine series. According to the trademark he filed for the character that October, he first used Fartman in July 1981. Stern rejected multiple scripts for a proposed summer 1993 release of ''The Adventures of Fartman'' until a verbal agreement was reached with New Line Cinema. Screenwriter J. F. Lawton had prepared a script before relations soured over the film's rating, content and merchandising rights and the project was abandoned.

''Private Parts'', E! show and run for Governor (1993–1994)

In 1993, Stern signed a $1 million advance contract with Simon & Schuster to publish his first book. Co-authored with Larry Sloman and edited by Judith Regan, the release of ''Private Parts'' on October 7 saw its first printing of 225,000 copies being sold within hours of going on sale. It became the fastest-selling title in the history of Schuster after five days. In its eighth printing two weeks later, over one million copies had been distributed. Stern embarked on a book signing tour that attracted an estimated 10,000 fans at a Barnes & Noble store on Fifth Avenue in New York. In its first run, ''Private Parts'' spent 20 weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best-Seller list. Stern has written forewords for ''Steal This Dream'' (1998), a biography of Abbie Hoffman, ''Disgustingly Dirty Joke Book'' (1998) by Jackie Martling, ''Too Fat to Fish'' (2008) by Artie Lange, and ''Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox'' (2010) by Greg Fitzsimmons.

Stern hosted his second pay-per-view event, ''The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant'', on December 31, 1993. It broke the subscriber record for a non-sports event previously held by a New Kids on the Block concert in 1990. Around 400,000 households purchased the event that grossed an estimated $16 million. Stern released the program on VHS in early 1994 as ''Howard Stern's New Year's Rotten Eve 1994''. Between his book royalties and pay-per-view profits, Stern's earnings in the latter months of 1993 totalled around $7.5 million. In its 20th anniversary issue in 1993, ''Radio & Records'' named Stern the most influential air personality of the past two decades.

On March 21, 1994, Stern announced his candidacy for Governor of New York under the Libertarian Party ticket, challenging Mario Cuomo for re-election. He planned to reinstate the death penalty, stagger highway tolls to improve traffic flow, and limit road work to night hours. At the party's nomination convention in Albany on April 23, Stern won the required two-thirds majority on the first ballot, receiving 287 of the 381 votes cast (75.33%). James Ostrowski finished second with 34 votes (8.92%). To place his name on the November ballot, Stern was obliged to state his home address and to complete a financial disclosure form under the Ethics in Government Act of 1987. After denying to disclose his financial information, Stern was denied an injunction on August 2. He withdrew his candidacy two days later. Cuomo was defeated in the gubernatorial election on November 8 by George Pataki, who Stern backed. Pataki signed "The Howard Stern Bill" that limited construction on state roads to night hours in New York and Long Island, in 1995.

In June 1994, robotic cameras were installed at WXRK studios to film ''The Howard Stern Show'' for a condensed half-hour show on E!. ''Howard Stern'' ran for 11 years until the last taped episode aired on July 8, 2005. In conjunction with his move to satellite radio, Stern launched Howard Stern on Demand, a subscription video-on-demand service, on November 18. The service was relaunched as Howard TV on March 16, 2006.

''Miss America'' and ''Private Parts'' film (1995–1997)

On April 3, 1995, three days after the shooting of singer Selena, Stern's comments regarding her death and Mexican Americans caused an uproar in the Hispanic community. He criticized her music and gunfire sound effects were played over her songs. "This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul...Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth". On April 6, Stern responded with a statement in Spanish, stressing his comments were made in satire and not intended to hurt those who loved her. A day later, Justice of the Peace Eloy Cano of Harlingen, Texas issued an arrest warrant on Stern for disorderly conduct.

In 1995, Stern signed a deal with ReganBooks worth $3 million to write his second book, ''Miss America''. He wrote about his cybersex experiences on the Prodigy service, a private meeting with Michael Jackson, and his suffering with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Released on November 7, the book sold 33,000 copies at Barnes & Noble stores on the same day which set a new one-day record. ''Publishers Weekly'' reported over 1.39 million copies were sold by the year's end and ranked it the third best-selling book of 1995. ''Miss America'' spent a total of 16 weeks on ''The New York Times'' best-seller list.

Production for a film adaptation of ''Private Parts'' began in May 1996 with all shooting complete in four months. Its premiere was held at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden on February 27, 1997, where Stern performed "The Great American Nightmare" with Rob Zombie. Making its general release on March 7, ''Private Parts'' topped the box office sales in its opening weekend with a gross of $14.6 million, and went on to earn a total of $41.2 million in domestic gross revenue. The film holds a "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a website that aggregates film reviews. 79% of critics gave ''Private Parts'' a positive review based on a sample of 48 reviews, with an average score of 6.6 out of 10. For his performance, Stern won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favorite Male Newcomer" and was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture (Comedy)" and a Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst New Star". The soundtrack to ''Private Parts'' sold 178,000 copies in its first week of release, topping the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Stern filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against Ministry of Film Inc. in October 1997, claiming it recruited him for a film titled ''Jane'' starring Melanie Griffith while knowing it had insufficient funds. Stern, who was unpaid when production ceased, accused the studio of breach of contract, fraud and negligent representation. A settlement was reached in 1999 with Stern receiving $50,000.

Return to Saturday night television and productions (1998–2004)

In August 1998, Stern returned to Saturday night television with ''The Howard Stern Radio Show''. Broadcast across the country on CBS affiliates, it featured radio show highlights along with material unseen in his nightly E! show. The show competed for ratings with comedy shows ''Saturday Night Live'' on NBC and ''MADtv'' on Fox. Concerned with its risqué content, affiliates began to leave the show after two episodes. Making its launch on 79 stations on August 22, 1998, this number was reduced to 55 by June 1999. A total of 84 episodes were broadcast. The final re-run aired on November 17, 2001, to around 30 markets.

In 1994, Stern launched the Howard Stern Production Company for original and joint production and development ventures. He intended to make a film adaptation of ''Brother Sam'', the biography of the late comedian Sam Kinison. In September 1999, UPN announced the production of ''Doomsday'', an animated science-fiction comedy series executively produced by Stern. Originally set for a 2000 release, Stern starred as Orinthal, a family dog. The project was eventually abandoned. From 2000 to 2002, Stern was the executive producer of ''Son of the Beach'', a sitcom which ran for three seasons on FX. In late 2001, Howard Stern Productions was reportedly developing a new sitcom titled ''Kane''. The pilot episode was never filmed. In 2002, Stern acquired the rights to comedy films ''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' (1979) and ''Porky's'' (1982). He filed a $100 million lawsuit in March 2003 against ABC and the producers of ''Are You Hot?'', claiming the series was based on his radio segment called "The Evaluators". A settlement was reached on August 7.

Stern announced in early 2004 of talks with ABC to host a prime time interview special, which never materialized. In August 2004, cable channel Spike picked up 13 episodes of ''Howard Stern: The High School Years'', a second animated series Stern was to executive produce. On November 14, 2005, Stern announced the completion of episode scripts and 30 seconds of test animations. Stern eventually gave the project up. In 2007, he explained the episodes could have been produced "on the cheap" at $300,000 each, though the quality he demanded would have cost over $1 million. Actor Michael Cera was cast as the lead voice.

Satellite radio and ''America's Got Talent'' (2004–present)

On October 6, 2004, Stern announced the signing of a five-year contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, a medium free from FCC regulations, that started in January 2006. His decision to leave terrestrial radio occurred in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show in February that caused a crackdown on perceived indecency in broadcasting. The incident prompted tighter control over content by station owners and managers to which Stern felt "dead inside" creatively. Stern hosted his final broadcast on terrestrial airwaves on December 16, 2005. During his 20 years at WXRK his show had syndicated in 60 markets across the United States and Canada and gained a peak audience of 20 million listeners.

With an annual budget of $100 million for all production, staff and programming costs, Stern launched two channels on Sirius in 2005 named Howard 100 and Howard 101. He assembled the Howard 100 News team that covered stories about his show and those associated with it, and a new dedicated studio was constructed at Sirius' headquarters in New York. On January 9, 2006, the day of his first broadcast, Stern and his agent received 34.3 million shares of stock from the company worth $218 million for exceeding subscriber targets set in 2004. A second stock incentive was paid in 2007, with Stern receiving 22 million shares worth $82.9 million.

On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio (formerly Infinity Broadcasting) filed a lawsuit against Stern, his agent and Sirius. The suit claimed Stern had misused CBS broadcast time to promote Sirius for unjust enrichment during the last 14 months of his terrestrial radio contract. In a press conference held hours before the suit was filed, Stern said it was nothing more than a "personal vendetta" against him by CBS president Leslie Moonves. A settlement was reached on May 25, with Sirius paying $2 million to CBS for control of Stern's 20-year broadcast archives. In the same month, ''Time'' magazine included Stern in its Time 100 list. He also ranked seventh in Forbes' Celebrity 100 list in June 2006, and reappeared in 2011 at number 26.

Stern signed a new contract with Sirius to continue his show for five more years in December 2010. Following the agreement, Stern and his agent filed a lawsuit against Sirius on March 22, 2011, for allegedly failing to pay stock bonuses promised to them from the past four years while helping the company exceed subscriber growth targets. Sirius said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the suit. In May, Stern announced that he would be broadcasting on a reduced schedule, alternating between three-day and four-day working weeks. On December 15, 2011, Stern announced that he will replace Piers Morgan as a judge for the seventh season of ''America's Got Talent''. Filming will take place in New York and will start in February 2012.

FCC fines

From 1990 to 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has fined owners of radio stations that carried ''The Howard Stern Show'' a total of $2.5 million for indecent programming.

Personal life

Stern married his first wife, Alison (née Berns), on June 4, 1978 at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts. They have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1983), Debra Jennifer (b. 1986) and Ashley Jade (b. 1993). On October 22, 1999, Stern announced their decision to separate. The marriage ended in 2001 with an amicable divorce and settlement. In 2000, Stern began to date model Beth Ostrosky, co-host of ''Casino Cinema'' from 2004 to 2007. She also frequently appeared in the American edition of ''FHM''. On February 14, 2007 Stern announced their engagement. They married on October 3, 2008, at Le Cirque restaurant in New York City.

While attending Boston University, Stern developed an interest in Transcendental Meditation, which he practices to this day. He credits it with aiding him in quitting smoking and achieving his goals in radio. Stern interviewed the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the technique, twice. Stern also plays on the Internet Chess Club, and has taken lessons from chess master Dan Heisman, although he has recently claimed to have quit playing. Howard's latest passion is photography, where he does private shoots for friends and secured his first paid 'gig' shooting a layout for ''Hamptons'' magazine in July 2011. Stern has also shot photographs for ''WHIRL'' magazine and the North Shore Animal League.

Filmography

Films

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1986 | ''Ryder, P.I.'' | Ben Ben Wah - T.V. Commentator | |- | 1997 | ''Private Parts'' | Himself | Blockbuster Entertainment Award for "Favourite Male Newcomer" (1998) Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst New Star" (1998)Nominated – Golden Satellite Award for "Best Male Actor Performance in a Comedy or Musical" (1998) |}

Home video releases

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1988 | ''Howard Stern's Negligeé and Underpants Party'' | rowspan="4"| Himself/Host |- | 1989 | ''Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores'' | |- | 1992 | ''Butt Bongo Fiesta'' | |- | 1994 | ''Howard Stern's New Year's Rotten Eve 1994'' | |}

Television

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1981 | ''Petey Greene's Washington'' | Himself | |- | 1987 | ''Nightlife'' | Himself | |- | 1984–1993 | ''Late Night with David Letterman'' | Himself | Multiple appearances |- | 1987 | ''The Howard Stern Show'' | Himself - Host | Series of 5 pilot episodes that never aired |- | 1988 | ''The New Hollywood Squares'' | Announcer - Guest | |- | 1990–1992 | ''The Howard Stern Show'' | Himself - Host | |- | 1992 | ''1992 MTV Video Music Awards'' | Fartman | |- | 1992–1993 | ''The Howard Stern "Interview"'' | Himself - Host | |- | 1993 | ''The Larry Sanders Show'' | Himself | Season 2, episode 18 |- | 1993 | ''The Jon Stewart Show'' | Himself | Season 1, episode 1 |- | 1994–2005 | ''Howard Stern'' | Himself - Host | |- | 1997 | ''Saturday Night Live'' | Himself | Season 22, episode 14 |- | 1998 | ''The Magic Hour'' | Himself | |- | 1998 | ''The Roseanne Show'' | Himself | Season 1, episode 54 |- | 1998–2001 | ''The Howard Stern Radio Show'' | Himself - Host |- | 2001 | ''The Concert for New York City'' | Himself |- | 2004 | ''Extra'' | Himself | |- | 2005–present | ''Howard Stern On Demand'' | Himself - Host | Known as ''Howard TV'' since March 2006 |- |2011 | ''Piers Morgan Tonight'' | Himself - Guest | Episode 2 |- |2011 | ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' | Himself - Guest | Season 16, episode 29 |- |2011 | ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' | Himself - Guest | Season 18, episode 3439 |- |2012–present | ''America's Got Talent'' | Himself | New judge, replacing Piers Morgan |}

Discography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Album ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Label ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 1982 | ''50 Ways to Rank Your Mother'' | Wren Records | Re-released as ''Unclean Beaver'' (1994) on Ichiban/Citizen X labels |- | 1991 | ''Crucified By the FCC'' | Infinity Broadcasting | |- | 1997 | ''Private Parts: The Album'' | Warner Brothers | ''Billboard'' 200 Number-one album from March 15–21, 1997 |}

Bibliography

References

Sources

External links

Official Website

''The Howard Stern Show'' on Sirius XM Radio

Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:People from Jackson Heights, Queens Category:Actors from New York City Category:American actor–politicians Category:American actors Category:American comedians Category:American libertarians Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American radio personalities Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American television personalities Category:American television producers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American writers Category:Boston University alumni Category:Free speech activists Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:Obscenity controversies Category:People from Nassau County, New York Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Photographers from New York Category:Radio personalities from New York City Category:Reality television judges Category:Religious skeptics Category:Sirius Satellite Radio Category:Transcendental Meditation practitioners

bg:Хауърд Стърн da:Howard Stern de:Howard Stern es:Howard Stern fr:Howard Stern gl:Howard Stern he:הווארד סטרן nl:Howard Stern ja:ハワード・スターン no:Howard Stern pl:Howard Stern pt:Howard Stern ru:Стерн, Говард simple:Howard Stern fi:Howard Stern sv:Howard Stern uk:Говард Стерн

name	Carl Sagan
birth date	November 09, 1934
birth place	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
residence	United States
nationality	United States
death date	December 20, 1996
death place	Seattle, Washington, U.S.
education	Rahway High School
alma mater	University of Chicago,Cornell University
field	Astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, astrobiology, space science, planetary science
work institutions	Cornell UniversityHarvard UniversitySmithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryUniversity of California, Berkeley
alma mater	University of Chicago(B.A.), (B.Sc.), (M.Sc.), (PhD)
known for	Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI)''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage''''Cosmos''Voyager Golden RecordPioneer plaque''Contact''''Pale Blue Dot''
prizes	NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (1977)Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction (1978)Oersted Medal (1990)National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal (1994) }}

Carl Edward Sagan (; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. He advocated ''scientifically skeptical inquiry'' and the ''scientific method'', pioneered exobiology and promoted the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI).

Sagan is known for his popular science books and for the award-winning 1980 television series ''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'', which he narrated and co-wrote. The book ''Cosmos'' was published to accompany the series. Sagan wrote the novel ''Contact'', the basis for a 1997 film of the same name.

Early life

Carl Sagan was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Ukrainian Jewish family. His father, Sam Sagan, was an immigrant garment worker from Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine; his mother, Rachel Molly Gruber, a housewife. Carl was named in honor of Rachel's biological mother, Chaiya Clara, in Sagan's words, "the mother she never knew." Sagan graduated from Rahway High School in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1951.

He had a sister, Carol, and the family lived in a modest apartment near the Atlantic Ocean, in Bensonhurst, a Brooklyn neighborhood. According to Sagan, they were Reform Jews, the most liberal of the three main Jewish groups. Both Sagan and his sister agree that their father was not especially religious, but that their mother "definitely believed in God, and was active in the temple ... and served only Kosher meat." During the height of the Depression, his father had to accept a job as a theater usher.

According to biographer Keay Davidson, Sagan's "inner war" was a result of his close relations with both his parents, who were in many ways "opposites." Sagan traced his later analytical urges to his mother, a woman who had known "extreme poverty as a child," and had grown up almost homeless in New York City during World War I and the 1920s. She had her own intellectual ambitions as a young woman, but they were blocked by social restrictions, because of her poverty, her being a woman and wife, and her Jewish ethnicity. Davidson notes that she therefore "worshiped her only son, Carl. He would fulfill her unfulfilled dreams."

However, his "sense of wonder" came from his father, who was a "quiet and soft-hearted escapee from the Czar." In his free time, he gave apples to the poor, or helped soothe labor-management tensions within New York's "tumultuous" garment industry. Although he was "awed" by Carl's "brilliance, his boyish chatter about stars and dinosaurs," he took his son's inquisitiveness in stride, as part of his growing up. In his later years as a writer and scientist, Sagan would often draw on his childhood memories to illustrate scientific points, as he did in his book, ''Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors''. Sagan describes his parents' influence on his later thinking:

:''My parents were not scientists. They knew almost nothing about science. But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method.''

1939 World's Fair

Sagan recalls that one of his best experiences was when he was four or five years old, his parents took him to the 1939 New York World's Fair. The exhibits became a turning point in his life. He later recalled the moving map of the "America of Tomorrow" exhibit: "It showed beautiful highways and cloverleaves and little General Motors cars all carrying people to skyscrapers, buildings with lovely spires, flying buttresses—and it looked great!" At other exhibits, he remembered how a flashlight that shined on a photoelectric cell created a cracking sound, and how the sound from a tuning fork became a wave on an oscilloscope. He also witnessed the future media technology that would replace radio: television. Sagan wrote:

:''Plainly, the world held wonders of a kind I had never guessed. How could a tone become a picture and light become a noise?''

He also saw one of the Fair's most publicized events, the burial of a time capsule at Flushing Meadows, which contained mementos of the 1930s to be recovered by Earth's descendants in a future millennium. "The time capsule thrilled Carl," writes Davidson. As an adult, Sagan and his colleagues created similar time capsules, but ones that would be sent out into the galaxy. These were the Pioneer plaque and the ''Voyager Golden Record'' records, all of which were spinoffs of Sagan's memories of the World Fair.

World War II

During World War II, Sagan's family worried about the fate of their European relatives. Sagan, however, was generally unaware of the details of the ongoing war. He writes, "Sure, we had relatives who were caught up in the Holocaust. Hitler was not a popular fellow in our household ... But on the other hand, I was fairly insulated from the horrors of the war." His sister, Carol, said that their mother "above all wanted to protect Carl ... She had an extraordinarily difficult time dealing with World War II and the Holocaust." Sagan's book, ''The Demon-Haunted World'' (1996), included his memories of this conflicted period, when his family dealt with the realities of the war in Europe, but tried to prevent it from undermining his optimistic spirit.

Inquisitiveness about nature

Soon after entering elementary school, he began to express a strong inquisitiveness about nature. Sagan recalled taking his first trips to the public library alone, at the age of five, when his mother got him a library card. He wanted to learn what stars were, since none of his friends or their parents could give him a clear answer: :''I went to the librarian and asked for a book about stars ... And the answer was stunning. It was that the Sun was a star but really close. The stars were suns, but so far away they were just little points of light ... The scale of the universe suddenly opened up to me. It was a kind of religious experience. There was a magnificence to it, a grandeur, a scale which has never left me. Never ever left me.''

About the time he was six or seven, he and a close friend took trips to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. While there, they went to the Hayden Planetarium and walked around the museum's exhibits of space objects, such as meteorites, and displays of dinosaurs and animals in natural settings. Sagan writes about those visits: :''I was transfixed by the dioramas—lifelike representations of animals and their habitats all over the world. Penguins on the dimly lit Antarctic ice; ... a family of gorillas, the male beating his chest, ... an American grizzly bear standing on his hind legs, ten or twelve feet tall, and staring me right in the eye.''

His parents helped nurture his growing interest in science by buying him chemistry sets and reading materials. His interest in space, however, was his primary focus, especially after reading science fiction stories by writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, which stirred his imagination about life on other planets, such as Mars. According to biographer Ray Spangenburg, these early years as Sagan tried to understand the mysteries of the planets, became a "driving force in his life, a continual spark to his intellect, and a quest that would never be forgotten."

Education and scientific career

He attended the University of Chicago, where he participated in the Ryerson Astronomical Society, received a bachelor of arts in self-proclaimed "nothing" with general and special honors in 1954, a bachelor of science in physics in 1955, and a master of science in physics in 1956 before earning a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960. During his time as an honors program undergraduate, Sagan worked in the laboratory of the geneticist H. J. Muller and wrote a thesis on the origins of life with physical chemist H.C. Urey. From 1960 to 1962 Sagan was a Miller Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. From 1962 to 1968, he worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Sagan lectured and did research at Harvard University until 1968, when he moved to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He became a full Professor at Cornell in 1971, and he directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies there. From 1972 to 1981, Sagan was the Associate Director of the Center for Radio Physics and Space Research at Cornell.

Sagan was associated with the US space program from its inception. From the 1950s onward, he worked as an advisor to NASA, where one of his duties included briefing the Apollo astronauts before their flights to the Moon. Sagan contributed to many of the robotic spacecraft missions that explored the solar system, arranging experiments on many of the expeditions. He conceived the idea of adding an unalterable and universal message on spacecraft destined to leave the solar system that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find it. Sagan assembled the first physical message that was sent into space: a gold- anodized plaque, attached to the space probe Pioneer 10, launched in 1972. Pioneer 11, also carrying another copy of the plaque, was launched the following year. He continued to refine his designs; the most elaborate message he helped to develop and assemble was the Voyager Golden Record that was sent out with the Voyager space probes in 1977. Sagan often challenged the decisions to fund the Space Shuttle and Space Station at the expense of further robotic missions.

Sagan taught a course on critical thinking at Cornell University until he died in 1996 from pneumonia, a few months after finding that he was in remission of myelodysplastic syndrome.

Scientific achievements

Sagan's contributions were central to the discovery of the high surface temperatures of the planet Venus. In the early 1960s no one knew for certain the basic conditions of that planet's surface, and Sagan listed the possibilities in a report later depicted for popularization in a Time-Life book, ''Planets''. His own view was that Venus was dry and very hot as opposed to the balmy paradise others had imagined. He had investigated radio emissions from Venus and concluded that there was a surface temperature of . As a visiting scientist to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he contributed to the first Mariner missions to Venus, working on the design and management of the project. Mariner 2 confirmed his conclusions on the surface conditions of Venus in 1962.

Sagan was among the first to hypothesize that Saturn's moon Titan might possess oceans of liquid compounds on its surface and that Jupiter's moon Europa might possess subsurface oceans of water. This would make Europa potentially habitable for life. Europa's subsurface ocean of water was later indirectly confirmed by the spacecraft Galileo. The mystery of Titan's reddish haze was also solved with Sagan's help. The reddish haze was revealed to be due to complex organic molecules constantly raining down onto Titan's surface.

He further contributed insights regarding the atmospheres of Venus and Jupiter as well as seasonal changes on Mars. Sagan established that the atmosphere of Venus is extremely hot and dense with pressures increasing steadily all the way down to the surface. He also perceived global warming as a growing, man-made danger and likened it to the natural development of Venus into a hot, life-hostile planet through a kind of runaway greenhouse effect. Sagan and his Cornell colleague Edwin Ernest Salpeter speculated about life in Jupiter's clouds, given the planet's dense atmospheric composition rich in organic molecules. He studied the observed color variations on Mars' surface and concluded that they were not seasonal or vegetational changes as most believed but shifts in surface dust caused by windstorms.

Sagan is best known, however, for his research on the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation.

He is also the 1994 recipient of the Public Welfare Medal, the highest award of the National Academy of Sciences for "distinguished contributions in the application of science to the public welfare." He was denied membership in the Academy, reportedly because his media activities made him unpopular with many other scientists.

Scientific advocacy

Sagan's ability to convey his ideas allowed many people to better understand the cosmos—simultaneously emphasizing the value and worthiness of the human race, and the relative insignificance of the Earth in comparison to the universe. He delivered the 1977 series of Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in London. He hosted and, with Ann Druyan, co-wrote and co-produced the highly popular thirteen-part PBS television series ''Cosmos: A Personal Voyage'' modeled on Jacob Bronowski's ''The Ascent of Man''.

''Cosmos'' covered a wide range of scientific subjects including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe. The series was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980, winning an Emmy and a Peabody Award. It has been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people, making it the most widely watched PBS program in history. In addition, ''Time'' magazine ran a cover story about Sagan soon after the show broadcast, referring to him as "creator, chief writer and host-narrator of the new public television series Cosmos, [and] takes the controls of his fantasy spaceship."

Sagan was a proponent of the search for extraterrestrial life. He urged the scientific community to listen with radio telescopes for signals from potential intelligent extraterrestrial life-forms. Sagan was so persuasive that by 1982 he was able to get a petition advocating SETI published in the journal ''Science'' and signed by 70 scientists including seven Nobel Prize winners. This was a tremendous increase in the respectability of this controversial field. Sagan also helped Dr. Frank Drake write the Arecibo message, a radio message beamed into space from the Arecibo radio telescope on November 16, 1974, aimed at informing potential extraterrestrials about Earth.

Sagan was chief technology officer of the professional planetary research journal ''Icarus'' for twelve years. He co-founded the ''Planetary Society'', the largest space-interest group in the world, with over 100,000 members in more than 149 countries, and was a member of the SETI Institute Board of Trustees. Sagan served as Chairman of the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society, as President of the Planetology Section of the American Geophysical Union, and as Chairman of the Astronomy Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

At the height of the Cold War, Sagan became involved in public awareness efforts for the effects of nuclear war when a mathematical climate model suggested that a substantial nuclear exchange could upset the delicate balance of life on Earth. He was one of five authors—the "S" of the "TTAPS" report as the research paper came to be known. He eventually co-authored the scientific paper hypothesizing a global nuclear winter following nuclear war. He also co-authored the book ''A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race'', a comprehensive examination of the phenomenon of nuclear winter.

Sagan also wrote books to popularize science which reflected and expanded upon some of the themes of ''A Personal Voyage'', and became the best-selling science book ever published in English; ''The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence'', which won a Pulitzer Prize; and ''Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science''. Sagan also wrote the best-selling science fiction novel ''Contact'' in 1985, based on a film treatment he wrote with his wife in 1979, but he did not live to see the book's 1997 motion picture adaptation, which starred Jodie Foster and won the 1998 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Adaption.

thumb|left|Pale Blue Dot: Earth is a bright pixel when photographed from "Voyager 1" six billion kilometers out (past Pluto). Sagan encouraged NASA to generate this image. He wrote a sequel to ''Cosmos,'' ''Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space'', which was selected as a notable book of 1995 by ''The New York Times''. He appeared on PBS' Charlie Rose program in January 1995. Sagan also wrote an introduction for the bestselling book by Stephen Hawking, ''A Brief History of Time''. Sagan was also known for his popularization of science, his efforts to increase scientific understanding among the general public, and his positions in favor of scientific skepticism and against pseudoscience, such as his debunking of the Betty and Barney Hill abduction. To mark the tenth anniversary of Sagan's death, David Morrison, a former student of Sagan, recalled "Sagan's immense contributions to planetary research, the public understanding of science, and the skeptical movement" in ''Skeptical Inquirer''.

Sagan hypothesized in January 1991 that enough smoke from the 1991 Kuwaiti oil fires "might get so high as to disrupt agriculture in much of South Asia ..." He later conceded in ''The Demon-Haunted World'' that this prediction did not turn out to be correct: "it ''was'' pitch black at noon and temperatures dropped 4°–6 °C over the Persian Gulf, but not much smoke reached stratospheric altitudes and Asia was spared." A 2007 study noted that modern computer models have been applied to the Kuwait oil fires, finding that individual smoke plumes are not able to loft smoke into the stratosphere, but that smoke from fires covering a large area, like some forest fires or the burning of cities that would be expected to follow a nuclear strike, would loft significant amounts of smoke into the stratosphere.

In his later years Sagan advocated the creation of an organized search for near Earth objects that might impact the Earth. When others suggested creating large nuclear bombs that could be used to alter the orbit of a NEO that was predicted to hit the Earth, Sagan proposed the Deflection Dilemma: If we create the ability to deflect an asteroid away from the Earth, then we also create the ability to deflect an asteroid towards the Earth—providing an evil power with a true doomsday bomb.

Billions and billions

From ''Cosmos'' and his frequent appearances on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', Sagan became associated with the catchphrase "billions and billions". Sagan stated that he never actually used the phrase in the ''Cosmos'' series. The closest that he ever came was in the book ''Cosmos'', where he talked of "billions ''upon'' billions": }}

However, his frequent use of the word ''billions'', and distinctive delivery emphasizing the "b" (which he did intentionally, in place of more cumbersome alternatives such as "billions with a 'b'", in order to distinguish the word from "millions" in viewers' minds), made him a favorite target of comic performers, including Johnny Carson, Gary Kroeger, Mike Myers, Bronson Pinchot, Penn Jillette, Harry Shearer, and others. Frank Zappa satirized the line in the song "Be In My Video", noting as well "atomic light". Sagan took this all in good humor, and his final book was entitled ''Billions and Billions'', which opened with a tongue-in-cheek discussion of this catchphrase, observing that Carson was an amateur astronomer and that Carson's comic caricature often included real science.

Similarly he is also known for expressing wonderment at the vastness of space and time, as in his phrase "The total number of stars in the Universe is larger than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth."

Sagan units

As a humorous tribute to him, a ''sagan'' has been defined as a unit of measurement equal to at least four billion, since the smallest number that may be described as ''billions and billions'' must be two billion plus two billion.

Social concerns

Sagan believed that the Drake equation, on substitution of reasonable estimates, suggested that a large number of extraterrestrial civilizations would form, but that the lack of evidence of such civilizations highlighted by the Fermi paradox suggests technological civilizations tend to self-destruct. This stimulated his interest in identifying and publicizing ways that humanity could destroy itself, with the hope of avoiding such a cataclysm and eventually becoming a spacefaring species. Sagan's deep concern regarding the potential destruction of human civilization in a nuclear holocaust was conveyed in a memorable cinematic sequence in the final episode of ''Cosmos'', called "Who Speaks for Earth?" Sagan had already resigned from the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and voluntarily surrendered his top secret clearance in protest over the Vietnam War. Following his marriage to his third wife (novelist Ann Druyan) in June 1981, Sagan became more politically active—particularly in opposing escalation of the nuclear arms race under President Ronald Reagan.

In March 1983, Reagan announced the Strategic Defense Initiative—a multi-billion dollar project to develop a comprehensive defense against attack by nuclear missiles, which was quickly dubbed the "Star Wars" program. Sagan spoke out against the project, arguing that it was technically impossible to develop a system with the level of perfection required, and far more expensive to build than for an enemy to defeat through decoys and other means—and that its construction would seriously destabilize the nuclear balance between the United States and the Soviet Union, making further progress toward nuclear disarmament impossible.

When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared a unilateral moratorium on the testing of nuclear weapons, which would begin on August 6, 1985—the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—the Reagan administration dismissed the dramatic move as nothing more than propaganda, and refused to follow suit. In response, US anti-nuclear and peace activists staged a series of protest actions at the Nevada Test Site, beginning on Easter Sunday in 1986 and continuing through 1987. Hundreds of people were arrested, including Sagan, who was arrested on two separate occasions as he climbed over a chain-link fence at the test site.

Personal life and beliefs

Sagan was married three times—in 1957, to biologist Lynn Margulis, mother of Dorion Sagan and Jeremy Sagan; in 1968, to artist Linda Salzman, mother of Nick Sagan; and in 1981, to author Ann Druyan, mother of Alexandra Rachel (Sasha) Sagan and Samuel Democritus Sagan. His marriage to Druyan continued until his death in 1996.

Isaac Asimov described Sagan as one of only two people he ever met whose intellect surpassed his own. The other, he claimed, was the computer scientist and artificial intelligence expert Marvin Minsky.

Sagan wrote frequently about religion and the relationship between religion and science, expressing his skepticism about the conventional conceptualization of God as a sapient being. For example:

"Some people think God is an outsized, light-skinned male with a long white beard, sitting on a throne somewhere up there in the sky, busily tallying the fall of every sparrow. Others—for example Baruch Spinoza and Albert Einstein—considered God to be essentially the sum total of the physical laws which describe the universe. I do not know of any compelling evidence for anthropomorphic patriarchs controlling human destiny from some hidden celestial vantage point, but it would be madness to deny the existence of physical laws."

In another description of his view of God, Sagan emphatically writes:

"The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by God one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity."

On atheism, Sagan commented in 1981:

"An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed".

In reply to a question in 1996 about his religious beliefs, Sagan answered, "I'm agnostic." Sagan's views on religion have been interpreted as a form of pantheism comparable to Einstein's belief in Spinoza's God. Sagan maintained that the idea of a creator of the universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could challenge it would be an infinitely old universe. According to his last wife, Ann Druyan, he was not a believer: }}

In 2006, Ann Druyan edited Sagan's 1985 Glasgow ''Gifford Lectures in Natural Theology'' into a book, ''The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God'', in which he elaborates on his views of divinity in the natural world. Sagan is also widely regarded as a freethinker or skeptic; one of his most famous quotations, in ''Cosmos'', was, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" (called the "Sagan Standard" by some). This was based on a nearly identical statement by fellow founder of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, Marcello Truzzi, "An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary proof." This idea originated with Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), a French mathematician and astronomer who said, "The weight of evidence for an extraordinary claim must be proportioned to its strangeness."

Late in his life, Sagan's books elaborated on his skeptical, naturalistic view of the world. In ''The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark'', he presented tools for testing arguments and detecting fallacious or fraudulent ones, essentially advocating wide use of critical thinking and the scientific method. The compilation ''Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium'', published in 1997 after Sagan's death, contains essays written by Sagan, such as his views on abortion, and his widow Ann Druyan's account of his death as a skeptic, agnostic, and freethinker.

Sagan warned against humans' tendency towards anthropocentrism. He was the faculty adviser for the Cornell Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. In the ''Cosmos'' chapter "Blues For a Red Planet", Sagan wrote, "If there is life on Mars, I believe we should do nothing with Mars. Mars then belongs to the Martians, even if the Martians are only microbes."

Sagan was a user and advocate of marijuana. Under the pseudonym "Mr. X", he contributed an essay about smoking cannabis to the 1971 book ''Marihuana Reconsidered''. The essay explained that marijuana use had helped to inspire some of Sagan's works and enhance sensual and intellectual experiences. After Sagan's death, his friend Lester Grinspoon disclosed this information to Sagan's biographer, Keay Davidson. The publishing of the biography, ''Carl Sagan: A Life'', in 1999 brought media attention to this aspect of Sagan's life. Not long after his death, widow Ann Druyan had gone on to preside over the board of directors of NORML, a foundation dedicated to reforming cannabis laws.

In 1994, engineers at Apple Computer code-named the Power Macintosh 7100 "Carl Sagan" in the hope that Apple would make "billions and billions" with the sale of the PowerMac 7100. The name was only used internally, but Sagan was concerned that it would become a product endorsement and sent Apple a cease and desist letter. Apple complied, but engineers retaliated by changing the internal codename to "BHA" for "Butt-Head Astronomer". Sagan then sued Apple for libel, a form of defamation, in federal court. The court granted Apple's motion to dismiss Sagan's claims and opined in dicta that a reader aware of the context would understand Apple was "clearly attempting to retaliate in a humorous and satirical way", and that "It strains reason to conclude that Defendant was attempting to criticize Plaintiff's reputation or competency as an astronomer. One does not seriously attack the expertise of a scientist using the undefined phrase 'butt-head'." Sagan then sued for Apple's original use of his name and likeness, but again lost. Sagan appealed the ruling. In November 1995, an out of court settlement was reached and Apple's office of trademarks and patents released a conciliatory statement that "Apple has always had great respect for Dr. Sagan. It was never Apple's intention to cause Dr. Sagan or his family any embarrassment or concern."

Sagan briefly served as an adviser on Stanley Kubrick's film ''2001: A Space Odyssey''. Sagan proposed that the film would suggest, rather than depict, extraterrestrial superintelligence.

Sagan and UFOs

Sagan had some interest in UFO reports from at least August 3, 1952 when he wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson to ask how the U.S. would respond if flying saucers turned out to be extraterrestrial. He later had several conversations on the subject in 1964 with Jacques Vallee. Though quite skeptical of any extraordinary answer to the UFO question, Sagan thought scientists should study the phenomenon, at least because there was widespread public interest in UFO reports.

Stuart Appelle notes that Sagan "wrote frequently on what he perceived as the logical and empirical fallacies regarding UFOs and the abduction experience. Sagan rejected an extraterrestrial explanation for the phenomenon but felt there were both empirical and pedagogical benefits for examining UFO reports and that the subject was, therefore, a legitimate topic of study."

In 1966, Sagan was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force's UFO investigation project. The committee concluded Blue Book had been lacking as a scientific study, and recommended a university-based project to give the UFO phenomenon closer scientific scrutiny. The result was the Condon Committee (1966–1968), led by physicist Edward Condon, and in their final report they formally concluded that UFOs, regardless of what any of them actually were, did not behave in a manner consistent with a threat to national security.

Ron Westrum writes that "The high point of Sagan's treatment of the UFO question was the AAAS's symposium in 1969. A wide range of educated opinions on the subject were offered by participants, including not only proponents such as James McDonald and J. Allen Hynek but also skeptics like astronomers William Hartmann and Donald Menzel. The roster of speakers was balanced, and it is to Sagan's credit that this event was presented in spite of pressure from Edward Condon". With physicist Thornton Page, Sagan edited the lectures and discussions given at the symposium; these were published in 1972 as ''UFOs: A Scientific Debate''. Some of Sagan's many books examine UFOs (as did one episode of ''Cosmos'') and he claimed a religious undercurrent to the phenomenon.

Sagan again revealed his views on interstellar travel in his 1980 ''Cosmos'' series. In one of his last written works, Sagan argued that the chances of extraterrestrial spacecraft visiting Earth are vanishingly small. However, Sagan did think it plausible that Cold War concerns contributed to governments misleading their citizens about UFOs, and that "some UFO reports and analyses, and perhaps voluminous files, have been made inaccessible to the public which pays the bills ... It's time for the files to be declassified and made generally available." He cautioned against jumping to conclusions about suppressed UFO data and stressed that there was no strong evidence that aliens were visiting the Earth either in the past or present.

Death

After a long and difficult fight with myelodysplasia, which included three bone marrow transplants, Sagan died of pneumonia at the age of 62 at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, on December 20, 1996. He was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Ithaca, New York.

Posthumous recognition

The 1997 movie ''Contact'', based on Sagan's novel of the same name and finished after his death, ends with the dedication "For Carl".

In 1997, the Sagan Planet Walk was opened in Ithaca, New York. It is a walking scale model of the solar system, extending 1.2 km from the center of The Commons in downtown Ithaca to the Sciencenter, a hands-on museum. The exhibition was created in memory of Carl Sagan, who was an Ithaca resident and Cornell Professor. Professor Sagan had been a founding member of the museum's advisory board.

The landing site of the unmanned Mars Pathfinder spacecraft was renamed the ''Carl Sagan Memorial Station'' on July 5, 1997. Asteroid 2709 Sagan is named in his honor.

Sagan's son, Nick Sagan, wrote several episodes in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In an episode of ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' entitled "Terra Prime", a quick shot is shown of the relic rover Sojourner, part of the Mars Pathfinder mission, placed by a historical marker at Carl Sagan Memorial Station on the Martian surface. The marker displays a quote from Sagan: "Whatever the reason you're on Mars, I'm glad you're there, and I wish I was with you." Sagan's student Steve Squyres led the team that landed the Spirit Rover and Opportunity Rover successfully on Mars in 2004.

On November 9, 2001, on what would have been Sagan's 67th birthday, the NASA Ames Research Center dedicated the site for the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Cosmos. "Carl was an incredible visionary, and now his legacy can be preserved and advanced by a 21st century research and education laboratory committed to enhancing our understanding of life in the universe and furthering the cause of space exploration for all time", said NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin. Ann Druyan was at the Center as it opened its doors on October 22, 2006.

Sagan has at least three awards named in his honor:

The Carl Sagan Memorial Award presented jointly since 1997 by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the Planetary Society,

The Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science presented since 1998 by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS/DPS) for outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public—Carl Sagan was one of the original organizing committee members of the DPS, and

The Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science presented by the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP)—Sagan was the first recipient of the CSSP award in 1993. In 2006, the Carl Sagan Medal was awarded to astrobiologist and author David Grinspoon, the son of Sagan's friend Lester Grinspoon.

On December 20, 2006, the tenth anniversary of Sagan's death, a blogger, Joel Schlosberg, organized a Carl Sagan "blog-a-thon" to commemorate Sagan's death, and the idea was supported by Nick Sagan. Many members of the blogging community participated.

August 2007 the Independent Investigative Group IIG awarded Sagan posthumously a Lifetime Achievement Award. This honor has also been awarded to Harry Houdini and James Randi.

Beginning in 2009, a musical project known as Symphony of Science sampled several excerpts of Sagan from his series Cosmos and remixed them to electronic music. To date, the videos have received over twenty-million views worldwide on the popular user generated website Youtube, and have exposed a new generation to the interconnected grandeur of the universe as Sagan described them in his documentary series.

Awards and honors

Annual Award for Television Excellence—1981—Ohio State University—PBS series ''Cosmos''

Apollo Achievement Award—National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal—National Aeronautics and Space Administration (twice)

Emmy—Outstanding Individual Achievement—1981—PBS series ''Cosmos''

Emmy—Outstanding Informational Series—1981—PBS series ''Cosmos''

Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal—National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Helen Caldicott Leadership Award – Awarded by Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament

Hugo Award—1981—''Cosmos''

Humanist of the Year—1981—Awarded by the American Humanist Association

In Praise of Reason Award—1987—Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

Isaac Asimov Award—1994—Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal

John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award—American Astronautical Society

John W. Campbell Memorial Award—1974—''The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective''

Joseph Priestley Award—"For distinguished contributions to the welfare of mankind"

Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific—1974

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Medal—Awarded by the Soviet Cosmonauts Federation

Locus Award 1986—''Contact''

Lowell Thomas Award—Explorers Club—75th Anniversary

Masursky Award—American Astronomical Society

Miller Research Fellowship—Miller Institute (1960–1962)

Oersted Medal—1990—American Association of Physics Teachers

Peabody Award—1980—PBS series ''Cosmos''

Prix Galbert—The international prize of Astronautics

Public Welfare Medal—1994—National Academy of Sciences

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction—1978—''The Dragons of Eden''

SF Chronicle Award—1998—''Contact''

Named the "99th Greatest American" on the June 5, 2005, ''Greatest American'' show on the Discovery Channel

Named an honorary member of the Demosthenian Literary Society on November 10, 2011

2009 New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee.

Publications

''Planets'' (LIFE Science Library), Sagan, Carl, Jonathan Norton Leonard and editors of Life, Time, Inc., 1966

''Intelligent Life in the Universe'', I.S. Shklovskii coauthor, Random House, 1966, ISBN 1-892803-02-X, 509 pgs (note: republished in 1998 by Emerson-Adams Press)

''UFOs: A Scientific Debate'', Thornton Page coauthor, Cornell University Press, 1972, 310 pgs

''Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence''. MIT Press, 1973, 428 pgs

''Mars and the Mind of Man'', Sagan, Carl, et al., Harper & Row, 1973, 143 pgs

''The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective'', Jerome Agel coauthor, Anchor Press, 1973, ISBN 0-521-78303-8, 301 pgs

''Other Worlds''. Bantam Books, 1975

''Murmurs of Earth: The Voyager Interstellar Record'', Sagan, Carl, et al., Random House, ISBN 0-394-41047-5, 1978

''The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence''. Ballantine Books, 1978, ISBN 0-345-34629-7, 288 pgs

''Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science''. Ballantine Books, 1979, ISBN 0-345-33689-5, 416 pgs

''Cosmos''. Random House, 1980. Random House New Edition, May 7, 2002, ISBN 0-375-50832-5, 384 pgs

''The Cold and the Dark: The World after Nuclear War'', Sagan, Carl et al., Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985

''Comet'', Ann Druyan coauthor, Ballantine Books, 1985, ISBN 0-345-41222-2, 496 pgs

''Contact''. Simon and Schuster, 1985; Reissued August 1997 by Doubleday Books, ISBN 1-56865-424-3, 352 pgs

''A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race'', Richard Turco coauthor, Random House, 1990, ISBN 0-394-58307-8, 499 pgs

''Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are'', Ann Druyan coauthor, Ballantine Books, October 1993, ISBN 0-345-38472-5, 528 pgs

''Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space''. Random House, November 1994, ISBN 0-679-43841-6, 429 pgs

''The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark''. Ballantine Books, March 1996, ISBN 0-345-40946-9, 480 pgs (note: the book was first published and copyrighted in 1995 with an errata slip inserted)

''Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium'', Ann Druyan coauthor, Ballantine Books, June 1997, ISBN 0-345-37918-7, 320 pgs

''The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God'', Carl Sagan (writer) & Ann Druyan (editor), 1985 Gifford lectures, Penguin Press HC, November 2006, ISBN 1-59420-107-2, 304 pgs

References

Further reading

External links

The Carl Sagan Portal

Video of skit from ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' mentioning "billions and billions"

BBC Radio program "Great Lives" on Carl Sagan's life

A Man whose time Has come—Interview with Carl Sagan by Ian Ridpath, New Scientist 1974 July 4

Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization

Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication in Planetary Science, presented by the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS/DPS)

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute

Carl Sagan's Life and Legacy as Scientist, Teacher, and Skeptic, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

A Tribute to Carl Sagan: Our Place in the Universe, The Skeptics Society

Category:1934 births Category:1996 deaths Category:Fellows at the University of California, Berkeley Category:American agnostics Category:American anti–nuclear weapons activists Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists Category:American astronomers Category:American cannabis activists Category:American humanists Category:American naturalists Category:American nature writers Category:American pacifists Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American science fiction writers Category:American science writers Category:American skeptics Category:American UFO writers Category:Astrochemistry Category:Astrophysics Category:Cosmologists Category:Cornell University faculty Category:Deaths from pneumonia Category:Harvard University people Category:Infectious disease deaths in Washington (state) Category:Jewish American scientists Category:Jewish skeptics Category:Jewish agnostics Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Planetary scientists Category:Presenters of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction winners Category:Rahway High School alumni Category:Search for extraterrestrial intelligence Category:Interstellar messages Category:Space advocates Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Gifford Lecturers Category:National Academy of Sciences laureates Category:The Planetary Society Category:Fellows of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

ar:كارل ساغان bn:কার্ল সেগান bg:Карл Сейгън bs:Carl Sagan ca:Carl Sagan cs:Carl Sagan cy:Carl Sagan da:Carl Sagan de:Carl Sagan et:Carl Sagan el:Καρλ Σαγκάν es:Carl Sagan eo:Carl Sagan eu:Carl Sagan fa:کارل سیگن fr:Carl Sagan gl:Carl Sagan ko:칼 세이건 hy:Կարլ Սագան hi:कार्ल सेगन hr:Carl Sagan id:Carl Sagan is:Carl Sagan it:Carl Sagan he:קרל סייגן jv:Carl Sagan, kn:ಕಾರ್ಲ್ ಸಗಾನ್ la:Carolus Sagan lv:Karls Sagans lb:Carl Sagan lt:Carl Sagan li:Carl Sagan hu:Carl Sagan mk:Карл Сејган ml:കാൾ സാഗൻ mr:कार्ल सेगन nah:Carl Sagan nl:Carl Sagan ja:カール・セーガン no:Carl Sagan pl:Carl Sagan pt:Carl Sagan ro:Carl Sagan qu:Carl Sagan ru:Саган, Карл simple:Carl Sagan sd:ڪارل سيگن sk:Carl Sagan sl:Carl Sagan sr:Карл Сејган sh:Carl Sagan fi:Carl Sagan sv:Carl Sagan ta:கார்ல் சேகன் te:కార్ల్ సాగాన్ th:คาร์ล เซแกน tr:Carl Sagan uk:Карл Саган zh:卡尔·萨根

Daniel Jay Goleman (born March 7, 1946) is an author, psychologist, and science journalist. For twelve years, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', specializing in psychology and brain sciences. He is the author of more than 10 books on psychology, education, science, and leadership.

Life

Goleman was born in Stockton, California, where his parents were college professors. His father taught world literature at what is now San Joaquin Delta College, while his mother taught in the Sociology department of the University of the Pacific. Goleman received his Ph.D. from Harvard, where he has also been a visiting lecturer. Daniel Goleman currently resides in the Berkshires. He is a co-chairman of The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, based in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University, which recommends best practices for developing emotional intelligence abilities, and promotes rigorous research on the contribution of emotional intelligence to workplace effectiveness.

In addition, Goleman was a co-founder of The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning at the Yale University Child Studies Center (now at the University of Illinois at Chicago) which has a mission to help schools introduce emotional literacy courses. Thousands of schools around the world have begun to implement such programs. Goleman is also a member of the board of directors of the Mind and Life Institute, which fosters dialogues between scientists and contemplatives. His book, " Destructive Emotions" contains an edited selection of dialogues from The 8th Mind & Life Conference (Dharamsala, India from March 20–24, 2000) between the Dalai Lama and neuroscientists. The same with his book Healing Emotions which is an edited selection of dialogues from The 3rd Mind & Life Conference (Dharamsala, India, November 5–9, 1990). In both of these conferences Goleman has been the Scientific Coordinator.

Research

Goleman authored the internationally best-selling book, ''Emotional Intelligence'' (1995, Bantam Books), that spent more than one-and-a-half years on the New York Times Best Seller list. Goleman developed the argument that non-cognitive skills can matter as much as I.Q. for workplace success in "Working with Emotional Intelligence" (1998, Bantam Books), and for leadership effectiveness in "Primal Leadership" (2001, Harvard Business School Press). Goleman's most recent best-seller is ''Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships'' (2006, Bantam Books).

The following quote is widely misattributed to R. D. Laing but appears in Goleman’s (1985) book ''Vital Lies, Simple Truths'': "The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds." The following introduction prefaces the quote: “To put it in the form of one of R.D. Laing’s ‘knots’:” (p. 24): “Knots” being a reference to an earlier text by Laing (1972):. So it is in the form of Laing, and is consistent with Laing's thought, but is not by Laing. It is informed by Goleman's clinical psychotherapeutic experiences, but it speaks to the field of conflict psychology and facilitation as well. Goleman's book, "Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor," (2008, Jossey-Bass), co-authored with Warren Bennis and James O'Tool, argues for the benefits of transparency in organizations.

In his first book, ''The Varieties of Meditative Experience'' (1977), republished as The Meditative Mind in 1988, Goleman used sequential chapters to describe almost a dozen different meditation systems. These included Sufism, Transcendental Meditation, Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga, Indian Tantra and Kundalini Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen, the teachings of Gurdjieff, and the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti. He wrote that "the need for the meditator to retrain his attention, whether through concentration or mindfulness, is the single invariant ingredient in the recipe for altering consciousness of every meditation system" (p. 107). Noting that most methods of meditation were intended to foster concentration, he also wrote that "powerful concentration amplifies the effectiveness of any kind of activity" (p. 169).

Educational innovations

Goleman has published a series of dialogues with More Than Sound Productions entitled "Wired to Connect" on the applications of social intelligence. Those already published include:

Psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel

Renowned brain researcher Richard Davidson

Expert on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies Clay Shirky

Film director and Educational innovator George Lucas

World-renown psychologist on emotions Paul Ekman

A topic of his discussion with Ekman was how to empathize with others, and how we can understand other's emotions as well as our own. Goleman suggests that in light of tragedies like Hurricane Katrina, we must learn how to empathize with others in order to help them. Goleman and Ekman are both contributors to Greater Good magazine, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley.

Awards

Goleman has received many awards for his writing, including a Career Achievement award for journalism from the American Psychological Association. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of his efforts to communicate the behavioral sciences to the public. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee.

Books

Books authored by Goleman, Daniel.

''Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything'' (2009) Broadway Business. ISBN 0385527829, ISBN 978-0385527828

''Social Intelligence: The New Science of Social Relationships'' (2006) Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0553803525

''Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama'' (2003) Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0553381054

''Primal Leadership: The Hidden Driver of Great Performance'' (2001) Co-authors: Boyatzis, Richard; McKee, Annie. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 978-1578514861

''The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace'' (2001) Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0787956905

''Harvard Business Review on What Makes a Leader?'' (1998) Co-authors: Michael MacCoby, Thomas Davenport, John C. Beck, Dan Clampa, Michael Watkins. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 978-1578516377

''Working with Emotional Intelligence'' (1998) Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0553378580

''Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions, and Health'' (1997) Shambhala. ISBN 978-1590300107

''Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ'' (1996) Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0553383713

''Vital Lies, Simple Truths: The Psychology of Self Deception'' (1985) Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0747534136

''The Varieties of the Meditative Experience'' (1977) Irvington Publishers. ISBN 0-470991917. Later republished as ''The Meditative Mind: The Varieties of Meditative Experience'' (1988) Tarcher. ISBN 978-0874778335.

"The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights"

References

"Presidential Difference", Fred I. Greenstein; Page 236 Daniel Goleman citation; Simon and Schuster, 2001 ISBN 0743203119, 9780743203111.

Notes

External links

Official website of Daniel Goleman

Wired to Connect, Dialogues on Social Intelligence''

''Emotional Intelligence'' - a commentary by Tom Butler-Bowdon

TED Talks: Daniel Goleman on compassion at TED in 2007

The Social Brain: Daniel Goleman interviewed on Humankind Public Radio

CSPAN BookTV - video of Daniel Goleman discussing Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything

Category:1946 births Category:American psychologists Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Stockton, California

ca:Daniel Goleman de:Daniel Goleman et:Daniel Goleman es:Daniel Goleman fa:دانیل گولمن fr:Daniel Goleman it:Daniel Goleman he:דניאל גולמן ku:Daniel Goleman hu:Daniel Goleman nl:Daniel Goleman pl:Daniel Goleman pt:Daniel Goleman ru:Гоулман, Дэниел fi:Daniel Goleman tr:Daniel Goleman zh:丹尼尔·高尔曼