Chapter 7, Among the Moons of Saturn, Chapter 8, The First New Planet Summary and Analysis

Sagan begins Chapter 7 describing the forms of life on Earth, where organic molecules formed on asteroids crash into earth, giving rise to microbes which in turn evolve into all the life we know today. Much of the process remains mysterious. Certain atmospheric preconditions were required to get the life we know.

It turns out that there is one sphere in the Solar System capable of the same feat, Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. Titan is very cold; however, once molecules are synthesized on Titan, they stick around, so the cold is an advantage.

The telescope opened many doors toward the discovery of Titan. In 1610, Galileo first discover the moons of Jupiter with his telescope. He saw a miniature solar system...