On a mote of dust

Science fiction as a genre tends to sit in the backseat of the literary canon, and is often made to wear a special helmet so it doesn't hurt itself - presumably whilst licking the windows. As a writer who gravitated toward science writing and science fiction in particular, I can honestly say that the reputation SF has received is not entirely without warrant.

There's the cliched argument for the constant relevancy of SF as new breakthroughs occur guided by the auspices of the great writers and talking heads of days past. Gene Roddenberry is often brought up, and that makes me sad. He wasn't even a very good writer, and as far as I know he was never a scientist. He was, however, a pilot. Ok.

Then there are guys like Carl Sagan. I was too young and too far from English Speaking TV to ever catch Cosmos when I was younger. But I imagine I would have liked it a lot. Here is something he might have gotten a kick out of.