The World Needs Sagan-Man [Update]

I love today’s XKCD comic. It depicts Sagan-Man, a superhero who possesses Carl Sagan’s ability to communicate science to the world. In this case Sagan-Man uses his inspirational tone to stop a thief in the act.

Unfortunately, I was too young to experience Carl Sagan when he was in his prime years presenting Cosmos, and it is only comparatively recently that I have been watching recordings of this legendary series. I have since brought the book too.

Sagan captures the child-like wonder of the Universe that is so often missing in the world today, and while there are many outstanding scientists and presenters who fill this roll of outreach, nobody does it quite like he did.

Update: With thanks to @acsnotsettled for the suggestion, perhaps the next Carl Sagan should team up with Buzz Aldrin. That way they can really smack down the crazy conspiracy theorists (i.e. if Sagan can’t convince then the Universe is way cool without UFOs and Bigfoot, Aldrin will beat it into ’em).