Sagan and the future of the book

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Well, frankly I am pretty impressed with myself that I did not start blogging about Sagan until the last post of the course. Since I discovered the Cosmos series a few years ago I have been in absolute awe at his contribution to the public understanding of science. I moved on from Cosmos to read some of his books, and to marvel yet again at his ability to communicate the wonder and beauty of science. So if I could travel back in time to visit with someone and chat about what the book would look like in the near future, it would be with Sagan. Why? He was always thinking ahead to the future, and so I think he would be intrigued by our iPads and Kindles. However, I also think he would press me for other details like the current environmental and geopolitical landscape. Unfortunately I would not have anything very cool to tell him. Except that keeping whales in captivity seems to finally be going out of style.
There is a selfish element to my desire to sit and talk books with Sagan. I just happen to think he is really rad! I mean, just read that quote in the picture above and tell me you don't think he's rad!
Given that I will never get to talk books-of-the-future with Sagan, I spend some of the present browsing the great collection that the Library of Congress recently put together called, Finding Our Place in the Cosmos. I love the title! I actually wrote a paper last year on just that topic! I was compelled to say that Science, just like many of our creation myths, is a powerful way of understanding our place in the cosmos.
In fact, my first answer to this weeks question was to request time travel tickets to the early 1700's in England so that I could talk to the members of the Royal Society. This was a fascinating time for both science and engineering. I think all those crusty old English fellows would have loved hearing about the internet and ebooks, and I suspect that Hooke or Newton would tell me they had already invented them.
In all earnestness I would have told Sagan about ebooks and the rapid speed at which we could share books and other information. I would have told him about MOOCs and the way education is opening up to anyone with an internet connection. Sagan always wanted to see the world improved for those who would inherit it. And this is my take away thought. If we have any say about the future of books, it should be that we wish to make books, in whatever form, better for those who will inherit them.