Pale Blue Dot
Pale Blue Dot by Carl Saganby Carl Sagan
Shares rank 26 of 50 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended by readers as one of the greatest books ever written, and its famous excerpt is shared often. No recurring criticism appeared in the quotes.
Recommended by readers as one of the greatest books ever written, and its famous excerpt is shared often. No recurring criticism appeared in the quotes.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Famous excerpt is widely shared
“Carl Sagan is an amazing author, and I've shared the famous excerpt from his book Pale Blue Dot multiple times before”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “Why Not Venus?” Considered one of the greatest books
“one of my favorite books, and, in my opinion, one of the greatest books ever written”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Pale Blue Dot” Recommended alongside Sagan's other work
“I highly recommend the book and everything by Carl Sagan.”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “What is a light-day? The milestone Voyager 1 is closing in on” Worth watching periodically
“Another thing I believe needs to be watched periodically is Pale Blue Dot”
Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Artemis II is not safe to fly”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas Hofstadter | 47 | 10 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 17 | 13 | 57% | 9 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella Meadows | 17 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard Dawkins | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Pale Blue Dotby Carl SaganThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I highly recommend the book and everything by Carl Sagan.”
“Carl Sagan is an amazing author, and I've shared the famous excerpt from his book Pale Blue Dot multiple times before”
“one of my favorite books, and, in my opinion, one of the greatest books ever written”
“Another thing I believe needs to be watched periodically is Pale Blue Dot”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.