Carl Sagan Books in Order
17 books are credited to Carl Sagan, published between 1966 and 2006; 2 of them appeared after Carl Sagan's death in 1996. The first book is Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966) and the newest is The Varieties of Scientific Experience (2006). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 17
- Published
- 1966–2006
- Confirmed
- 17 of 17 titles
- Pages on record
- 5,229 in 16 of 17 books
- Reading time
- 87–131 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,229 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 17 titles with a page count on record.
Carl Sagan wrote popular science about astronomy, life on other planets and the search for signals from them. Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966) is the earliest catalogued title, followed by The Cosmic Connection, Dragons of Eden, Broca's Brain and Cosmos (1980). Seventeen books make up the catalogue, fiction included, and it closed in 2006 with The Varieties of Scientific Experience.
How many Carl Sagan books are there?
Carl Sagan has 17 books, released between 1966 and 2006. 2 of them were published after Carl Sagan's death in 1996.
Carl Sagan Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 17 Carl Sagan books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119665093/4
- 219662003/4
- 319732883/4
- 4Communication with Extraterrestrial IntelligenceCarl Sagan Non-Fiction #41974 · 428 pages · confirmed 3/419744283/4
- 519751593/4
- 619772713/4
- 719793983/4
- 819801203/4
- 919832733/4
- 10The Cold and the Dark: The World After Nuclear WarCarl Sagan Non-Fiction #101984 · 268 pages · confirmed 3/419842683/4
- 1119853523/4
- 1219853983/4
- 1319925053/4
- 141994–3/4
- 1519954803/4
- 1619972963/4
- 1720062843/4
Carl Sagan books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Carl Sagan Non-Fiction
16 books16 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Carl Sagan Standalone Novels
1 book1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Do you have to read Carl Sagan books in order?
No. No source lists any of the 17 Carl Sagan books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.
Where to start with Carl Sagan
Start with Intelligent Life in the Universe (1966), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Carl Sagan book?
The Varieties of Scientific Experience (2006) is the newest Carl Sagan book released so far.
Is there a new Carl Sagan book coming?
No next Carl Sagan book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Awards Carl Sagan has won
Wikidata records 7 awards and 1 nomination for Carl Sagan. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- Solstice Award2013Won
- Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation1998Wonfor Contact
- Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science1993Won
- Locus Award for Best First Novel1986Wonfor Contact
- The Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism1984Won
- Hugo Award for Best Related Work1981Wonfor Cosmos
- Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction1978Wonfor The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence
- Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel1986Shortlistedfor Contact
Carl Sagan at a glance
- Died
- Carl Sagan died in 1996, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Carl Sagan are still being published after Carl Sagan's death in 1996; the newest appeared in 2006.
- Release pace
- Carl Sagan books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
- Length
- 5,229 pages across the 16 of 17 books with a recorded length, a median of 292 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Carl Sagan books, 5 of 17, were published in the 1980s.
What the Carl Sagan books are about
All 17 Carl Sagan books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: life on other planets is tagged on 5 of 17. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Life on other planets 5 of 17 books
- Popular works 4 of 17 books
- Science 4 of 17 books
- Astronomy 3 of 17 books
- Exploration 3 of 17 books
- Long Now Manual for Civilization 3 of 17 books
- Astronomie 2 of 17 books
- Brain 2 of 17 books
- Cerebro 2 of 17 books
- Cosmology 2 of 17 books
- Interstellar communication 2 of 17 books
- Life 2 of 17 books