SOURCE: "Light-Years from Home," in New York Times Book Review, January 15, 1995, pp. 12-13.

In the following excerpt, Abramson gives a favorable assessment of Pale Blue Dot.

Carl Sagan became a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration when it was still in its formative stage. During the more than three decades since, he has briefed astronauts for journeys to the moon, helped resolve some of the most intriguing mysteries about Mars and Venus and reigned as one of the principal gurus of planetary exploration.

Though honored for both public service and scientific achievement, Mr. Sagan is more renowned as a popularizer of space exploration. In 1978 he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his book The Dragons of Eden. In Pale Blue Dot he returns to familiar topics: the origin of the universe, the birth of the solar system, the development of life on Earth, the evolution and...