In the year of 1998, Dr. Carl Sagan delivered a speech to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. To and audience of almost thirty-thousand, composed of civilians, veterans, and government workers, Dr. Sagan both honored the fallen at the Gettysburg National Cemetery and cautioned the world on the risks of mechanization and antipathy. Although the official reason for the delivery of the speech was to commemorate the fallen of Gettysburg, he also wanted to warn the world about the danger of the nuclear arms race. Known best for his role of hosting the hit documentary series, Cosmos, astrophysicist Dr. Carl Sagan was one of the best-known scientific faces to the American community at large. Not only did he pursue the field
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But why would he? Carl Sagan was one of the most revered scientists of his time, it’s plausible that he possessed enough ethos on his own. In addition to incorporating history into his speech, Dr. Sagan separated his argument into three main points, which could be described as: 1) the advancement of weaponry, 2) humanity is prone to error, and 3) all people must unify for both peace and survival. Although several of his ideas are organized chronologically, the speech is ultimately organized in a topical fashion in an effort to make a more emotional appeal, rather than one that is strictly based in historical fact. He drove home this first main point by reciting the destructive potential of an array of explosives throughout history. He explained that while 19th century canons were enough “to kill a few people” the block busters used in WWII “could kill a few dozen people,” and that both of these weapons paled in comparison to a hydrogen bomb which is “enough to kill a few million people.” As startling as the figures are alone, he then explained how our machinery “has become a billion times more deadly. But we have not become a billion times wiser in the generations that stretch from Gettysburg to us.” By coupling the historic aspect with the progression of power that each explosive has, Dr. Sagan managed to express the true scale of destruction that humanity is capable of, suggesting that …show more content…
Sagan then suggested how the world could be saved from such a violent end through international cooperation. Once again, he refers to the Civil War and discussed how after the war ended healing began to creep into the United States as people began to call themselves Americans, rather than Northerners and Southerners. He then quotes Abraham Lincoln’s homilie, “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” and then spins it to fit a more modern context: “A species divided against itself cannot stand.” This twist on a well known phrase makes the truth of the original evident and places it on a grander scale of survival. He ends his speech with a plea, telling his audience that “it is time to act,” and speak up against the forces of destruction and save both the future of humanity and the planet. The speech was successful in terms of zeroing in on a lesson from the past and presenting it to a 20th century audience, and to the world at large. However, it is difficult to gauge the actual effectiveness of the speech in de-escalating the nuclear arms race due to the number of other actions against the it. So one can only guess as to how much this singular speech contributed to the end of the Cold War
But why would he? Carl Sagan was one of the most revered scientists of his time, it’s plausible that he possessed enough ethos on his own. In addition to incorporating history into his speech, Dr. Sagan separated his argument into three main points, which could be described as: 1) the advancement of weaponry, 2) humanity is prone to error, and 3) all people must unify for both peace and survival. Although several of his ideas are organized chronologically, the speech is ultimately organized in a topical fashion in an effort to make a more emotional appeal, rather than one that is strictly based in historical fact. He drove home this first main point by reciting the destructive potential of an array of explosives throughout history. He explained that while 19th century canons were enough “to kill a few people” the block busters used in WWII “could kill a few dozen people,” and that both of these weapons paled in comparison to a hydrogen bomb which is “enough to kill a few million people.” As startling as the figures are alone, he then explained how our machinery “has become a billion times more deadly. But we have not become a billion times wiser in the generations that stretch from Gettysburg to us.” By coupling the historic aspect with the progression of power that each explosive has, Dr. Sagan managed to express the true scale of destruction that humanity is capable of, suggesting that …show more content…
Sagan then suggested how the world could be saved from such a violent end through international cooperation. Once again, he refers to the Civil War and discussed how after the war ended healing began to creep into the United States as people began to call themselves Americans, rather than Northerners and Southerners. He then quotes Abraham Lincoln’s homilie, “a house divided against itself cannot stand,” and then spins it to fit a more modern context: “A species divided against itself cannot stand.” This twist on a well known phrase makes the truth of the original evident and places it on a grander scale of survival. He ends his speech with a plea, telling his audience that “it is time to act,” and speak up against the forces of destruction and save both the future of humanity and the planet. The speech was successful in terms of zeroing in on a lesson from the past and presenting it to a 20th century audience, and to the world at large. However, it is difficult to gauge the actual effectiveness of the speech in de-escalating the nuclear arms race due to the number of other actions against the it. So one can only guess as to how much this singular speech contributed to the end of the Cold War