Ann Druyan

Why an honorary doctorate? 

Wednesday, 17 November 2021. Ann Druyan receives an honorary doctorate from VUB and Erasmushogeschool Brussel in recognition of her great efforts as a writer, science communicator, and documentary maker and director, for popularising science and for the establishment of a better understanding of the universe.

About her career

From pale blue dot to science popularisation

Ann Druyan is an American writer and producer of programmes on cosmology and science popularisation. She was married to cosmologist and science communicator Carl Sagan, who died in 1996. Ann Druyan was then the creative director for the NASA Voyager Interstellar Message Project. It was via Voyager 1 that Carl Sagan had the now famous photo of the Pale Blue Dot taken. That is a photo of the earth taken from six billion kilometres away. At that distance, the earth is little more than a bright dot the size of a pixel. Sagan realised the iconic value of such a photo. The picture symbolises the vastness of space and puts into perspective the impact that humanity has in the universe. And it emphasises that we do not have a planet B. With this in mind, Ann Druyan continues to work for science popularisation. She created Cosmos, a docuseries about the universe, the first series of which was broadcast worldwide on National Geographic. The new series, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, was launched in dozens of countries on 9 March 2020. It is her belief that if more people become interested in science, we will have a better, more critical society.

Noteworthy

The asteroid 4970 Druyan is named after Ann Druyan. It forms a duo with 2709 Sagan, an asteroid named after her late husband Carl Sagan.

Voyager Interstellar Message Project

As creative director, Druyan oversaw the creation and production of the gold plates that travel with Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

Learning how to think

Although we live in a high-tech world, few are familiar with the scientific method, which teaches us how to think. Druyan strives to change this situation through her books and documentaries.

Is every being a chosen one?

There is a good chance that there is extraterrestrial life. Would those beings also think that the universe and their planet were created especially for them? This reflection alone should make us humble about our place in the universe, according to Druyan.