Ann Druyan is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and producer specializing in productions about
cosmologyCosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
and
popular sciencePopular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
. She made substantial contributions to the
PBSThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
documentaryDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
series,
CosmosCosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
, and was the wife of late scientist and educator,
Carl SaganCarl Edward Sagan 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...
.
Film career
Along with Carl Sagan and
Steven SoterDr. Steven Soter, PhD, is an astrophysicist currently holding the positions of scientist-in-residence for New York University's Environmental Studies Program and of Research Associate for the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
, Druyan was one of the writers for the television series
CosmosCosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
and a producer for the film
ContactContact is a 1997 American science fiction drama film adapted from the Carl Sagan novel of the same name and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Both Sagan and wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film adaptation of Contact....
.
She is the CEO and co-founder of
Cosmos StudiosCosmos Studios former Abbey Road Studios / EMI - studios in Skärmarbrink on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden, has been since the early sixties a landmark of Swedish and international music.-External links:* *...
. In 2007, she was said to be working on an IMAX film on global warming as well as a sequel to Cosmos. In 2009, she released a series of podcasts entitled
At Home in the Cosmos with Annie Druyan in which she describes in detail the life of husband
Carl SaganCarl Edward Sagan 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...
, her works, and their marriage.
In 2011, it was announced that she would be part of the writing and production teams for a sequel to
CosmosCosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
,
Cosmos: A space-time Odyssey, which was expected to air in 2013.
Career as an author
Druyan and Sagan co-wrote the books
CometComet is a popular-science book by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan. It describes the scientific nature of comets, as well as their varying roles and perceptions throughout history...
,
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and sections of
The Demon-Haunted WorldThe Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark is a book by astrophysicist Carl Sagan, which was first published in 1995.The book is intended to explain the scientific method to laypeople, and to encourage people to learn critical or skeptical thinking...
. She also wrote the updated introduction to Sagan's
The Cosmic Connection, the epilogue to
Billions and BillionsBillions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium, published by Random House in 1997 , is the last book written by renowned American astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan before his death in 1996....
, and her solo novel
A Famous Broken Heart.
Druyan was responsible for the selection of music on the
Voyager Golden RecordThe Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
for the solar system exploratory missions,
Voyager 1The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA in 1977, to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating for as of today , the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network. At a distance of as of...
and
Voyager 2The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram space probe launched by NASA on August 20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space...
. She also sponsored the
Cosmos 1Cosmos 1 was a project by Cosmos Studios and The Planetary Society to test a solar sail in space. As part of the project, an unmanned solar sail spacecraft christened Cosmos 1 was launched into space at 15:46:09 EDT on June 21, 2005 from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea...
spacecraft, which intended to demonstrate
solar sailSolar sails are a form of spacecraft propulsion using the radiation pressure of light from a star or laser to push enormous ultra-thin mirrors to high speeds....
propulsion technology as a means of interstellar space travel. Unfortunately, The
Cosmos 1 had a sub-orbital launch failure when the modified Soviet submarine missile used as a launch vehicle malfunctioned.
Activism
Druyan has served on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for over 10 years, and is also the current president of the NORML Foundation Board of Directors.
Honors
In November 2006, Druyan was a speaker at
Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and SurvivalBeyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival, the first of The Science Network's annual Beyond Belief symposia, held from November 5 to November 7, 2006, was described by the New York Times, as "a free-for-all on science and religion," which seemed at times like "the founding convention...
.
In January 2007, she was a juror at the
2007 Sundance Film FestivalThe 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
, responsible for selecting the winner of the
Alfred P. Sloan PrizeThe Alfred P. Sloan Prize is an award given each year, starting in 2003, to a film at the Sundance Film Festival. The prize is given to a feature film that focuses on science or technology as a theme, or depicts a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.Each winner is presented...
for films about science and technology.
Religious and philosophical views
As an agnostic, Druyan holds that belief in a
deityA deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
is not necessary to a healthy appreciation for life and a sense of unity with the
universeThe Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
.
In an interview with Joel Achenbach of the
Washington Post, Druyan stated that her early interest in science stemmed from a fascination with
Karl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. Achenbach commented that "She had, at the time, rather vaporous standards of evidence," a reference to her belief in the ancient astronauts of
Erich von DanikenErich Anton Paul von Däniken is a Swiss author best known for his controversial claims about extraterrestrial influences on early human culture, in books such as Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968...
and the theories of
Immanuel VelikovskyImmanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-born American independent scholar of Jewish origins, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950...
pertaining to the solar system. Druyan freely acknowledged her past views but also asserted that they changed dramatically after marrying
Carl SaganCarl Edward Sagan 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...
.
Notable quotations
External links