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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Neptune's largest moon?

2. What punishment did Galileo suffer as a result of his works?

3. Many of organic molecules arrived on Earth from what source?

4. According to Sagan, which of the following was the most notable historical tool that humans used to explore the world?

5. What type of waves could be analyzed to demonstrate that there is intelligent life on Earth?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Sagan believe that the image of the "pale blue dot" undermined the "imagined self-importance" of humanity?

2. What contributed to the formation of the first microbes on Earth?

3. How are the Voyager spacecraft able to travel quickly to distant planets?

4. What dangers did the Voyager I spacecraft face in taking a distant picture of Earth?

5. What seemingly important features of humanity does Sagan deny to be distinguishing?

6. How did ancient people know about the planets?

7. Why does Saga say he is optimistic about the "human prospect"?

8. What does Sagan believe about the intelligence of the Voyager spacecraft.

9. Briefly describe the progress made to undermine the geocentric theory.

10. What does Sagan think about the failure of the Voyager probes to find life in the solar system?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of Sagan's discussion in this book centers on the idea that human beings are wanderers by nature. He sees this aspect of the human character as obvious and critical.

1) Explain Sagan's conception of how and why early humans were wanderers.

2) Discuss the ways that Sagan believes human beings cope with the desire to wander in the setting of increasingly sedentary civilizations.

3) Discuss some of the endeavors in space exploration described in the book in terms of the human desire to wander and explore.

4) Explain Sagan's opinion about how humans will become nomadic wanderers again in the future.

Essay Topic 2

Sagan presents a thought experiment in Chapter 5, "Is There Intelligent Life on Earth?" He suggests that the observations that a visiting alien might make of Earth would not necessarily reveal the presence of intelligent life.

1) Discuss the thought experiment that Sagan proposes in Chapter 5, and describe the obvious characteristics of the Earth from the perspective of this visitor.

2) Describe the types of observations a visitor to Earth would have to make in order to determine the presence of intelligent life on the planet.

3) Explain how this thought experiment demonstrates Sagan's point about "missing" important details in the search for life in the solar system.

Essay Topic 3

Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the most Earth-like of all of the moons in the solar system, making it a good candidate for finding extraterrestrial life.

1) Describe the characteristics of the moon Titan, including a discussion of its atmosphere and hydrocarbon lakes.

2) Assess the specific characteristics of the moon that make it suitable for life.

3) Discuss Sagan's personal involvement in the study of Titan, its importance to him, and why he believes the moon warrants further study.

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