[[Image:Sagan_Druyan3.jpg|right|thumb|Druyan with husband [[Carl Sagan]]]]
'''Ann Druyan''' (born [[June 13]], [[1949]]) is an author and media producer known for her involvement in many projects aiming to popularize and explain [[science]]. She is probably best-known as the last wife of Carl Sagan, and co-author of the Cosmos series and book, along with Carl Sagan and Steven Soter.

In her writings, Druyan has stressed the idea that people can have a sense of awe and wonder about the unity of the [[cosmos]] without introducing the concept of a [[god]].

Druyan wrote the books ''Comet'' and ''Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors'', as well as sections of ''[[The Demon-Haunted World]]'', with her late husband [[Carl Sagan]]. In addition, she wrote an introduction to ''The Cosmic Connection'' and the epilogue to ''[[Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium|Billions and Billions]]'', both by Sagan. Alone, she wrote the novel ''A Famous Broken Heart''.

In the areas of film and television, she was one of the writers for the television series ''[[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]]'', and a producer of the film ''[[Contact (film)|Contact]]''. Most recently, she is the CEO and a co-founder of [[Cosmos Studios]]. In 2007 she was said to be working on an IMAX film on Global Warming as well as a sequel to Cosmos.

She has served on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws [[NORML]] for over 10 years<ref>{{cite web
| title =About NORML, Ann Druyan
| url =http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4493
| accessdate = 2007-12-26 }}</ref>, and is also the current president of the NORML Foundation Board of Directors.<ref>{{cite web
| title =About NORML Foundation, Ann Druyan (President)
| url =http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3439
| accessdate = 2007-12-26 }}</ref>

Other projects that she has been involved in include the selection of the music on the [[Voyager Golden Record]] mounted on the [[Voyager 1]] and [[Voyager 2]] space probes, and the [[Cosmos 1]] spacecraft, which intended to demonstrate [[solar sail]] propulsion. The Cosmos 1 used a former Soviet submarine missile as a launch vehicle (in keeping with the "swords into plowshares" philosophy) but due to a malfunction in separation, the Cosmos 1 never reach stable orbit.

In January 2007, she was a juror at the [[2007 Sundance Film Festival]] in the jury responsible for selecting the winner of the [[Alfred P. Sloan Prize]], given to films that focus on science and technology.<ref>{{cite web
| title =2007 Sundance Film Festival Jurors
| url =http://festival.sundance.org/2007/festival/jurors.aspx
| work =[[Sundance Film Festival]]
| accessdate = 2007-10-01 }}</ref>

She attended and was a speaker at the [[Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival|Beyond Belief]] symposium in November 2006.

== Quotes ==
{{Quote|I think the roots of this antagonism to science run very deep. They're ancient. We see them in Genesis, this first story, this founding myth of ours, in which the first humans are doomed and cursed eternally for asking a question, for partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. It's puzzling that Eden is synonymous with paradise when, if you think about it at all, it's more like a maximum-security prison with twenty-four hour surveillance. It's a horrible place. Adam and Eve have no childhood. They awaken full-grown. What is a human being without a childhood? Our long childhood is a critical feature of our species. It differentiates us, to a degree, from most other species. We take a longer time to mature. We depend upon these formative years and the social fabric to learn many of the things we need to know.|Ann Druyan talking to CSICOP|<ref>[http://www.csicop.org/si/2003-11/ann-druyan.html Ann Druyan Talks About Science, Religion, Wonder, Awe... and Carl Sagan]</ref>}}

{{Quote|When my husband died, because he was so famous and known for not being a believer, many people would come up to me—it still sometimes happens—and ask me if Carl changed at the end and converted to a belief in an afterlife. They also frequently ask me if I think I will see him again. Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions. The tragedy was that we knew we would never see each other again. I don't ever expect to be reunited with Carl.|[http://www.nndb.com/people/291/000026213/]}}

{{Quote|I have had a wonderful life, and part of that was due to the fact that I smoked marijuana since I was a young woman.|Ann Druyan in a speech at the 2001 Conference of NORML|<ref>http://flow.mediavac.com/ramgen/norml/druyan.rm
Ms. Druyan discusses marijuana use and the struggle for freedom. | accessdate = 2007-10-01</ref>}}

== Awards ==
* 2004 [[Richard Dawkins Award]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* A [http://ffrf.org/fttoday/1998/jan_feb98/druyan.html Speech] given by Ann Druyan at the 1997 annual convention of the [[Freedom From Religion Foundation]]
* [http://www.carlsagan.com/index_cosmos.htm Cosmos Studios]
* A [http://cbs5.com/video/?id=17299@kpix.dayport.com TV news report] on Ann Druyan's comments at the dedication of SETI's Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, October 17, 2006.
* A [http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2006/12/beyond_belief_2_3.html response] to [http://www.polisci.ucsd.edu/faculty/schreiber.htm Darren Schreiber] at [http://beyondbelief2006.org/ Beyond Belief 2006].
* [http://www.businessweek.com/2001/01_04/b3716037.htm BusinessWeek Online interview with Ann Druyan from 2001]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Druyan, Ann}}

[[Category:American science writers]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Psychedelic advocates and proponents]]

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