Even though many of his works dealt with space travel and flight, Asimov was afraid of flying. His phobia began while trying to impress a date by going on a roller coaster at the 1940 New York World's Fair. He traveled little in his lifetime because of his fear of flying, staying close to his home in New York.
~Writer's Almanac
Carl Sagan: (1934-1996). A professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Cornell University, he popularized his subjects by drawing an audience of about 400 million to his 1980 public television series COSMOS. With his contagious enthusiasm, his passionate belief in the existence of life in outer space and his youthful good looks, he mesmerized his viewers and his reference to the "billions and billions" of stars in the Universe was parodied by comedians.
~Facts on File Dictionary of Historical and Cultural Allusions
