First Edition, second printing of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan's landmark work Comet, a pivotal popular-science exploration of the mysterious wanderers that have shaped both our skies and our understanding of the cosmos. At the heart of the book is Sagan's unforgettable reflection on what comets reveal about our origins and our fragile world: "The passage from the Chaos of the Big Bang to the Cosmos that we are beginning to know is the most awesome transformation of matter and energy that we have been privileged to glimpse (16).

First published in 1985 to coincide with the return of Halley's Comet, Comet quickly became a major bestseller, transforming popular views of comets from superstitious omens into scientifically rich messengers from the birth of the solar system. Lavishly illustrated and written in Sagan's characteristically lucid, humane voice, it weaves together cultural history, celestial mechanics, and the search for life into a narrative, inspiring readers and aspiring astronomers still decades later. 

What precisely are these orbiting remnants from the solar system's formation, anomalous space travelers composed of ice, dust, and rock? Even as they examine and elucidate the works of thinkers and astronomers as diverse as Edmond Halley, Immanuel Kant, and William Huggins, Sagan and Druyan traverse the fears, the myths and the ceaseless curiosity -- scientific and romantic - of these graceful visitors to our skies.

This desirable second printing captures the momentum of the book's original success, reflecting the brisk early sales that drove Comet back to press and kept it in wide circulation during the mid‑1980s. Far less common than later reissues, signed copies from this period embrace a special resonance for collectors of Sagan, Druyan, and classic works of popular astronomy.

"Contemplated as one grand whole, astronomy is the most beautiful monument of the human mind; the noblest record of its intelligence" (Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace, 1749 –1827, quoted frequently in Comet). 

Save for Sagan's signature on the title page, no writings or markings of any kind. Clipped jacket has some edgewear, light chipping and a tiny closed tear. A most desirable signed second printing of Comet. Book #Bv3101. $1995. We specialize in rare, signed, and manuscript Ayn Rand, as well as other legends and landmarks.