He was one of the foremost astronomers in the world. Published nearly 500 scientific papers and articles and wrote or co-wrote over a dozen books, including Intelligent Life In The Universe (1966), The Cosmic Connection (1973), The Dragons of Eden (1977; Pulitzer prize 1978), Murmurs of Earth (1978) and Broca's Brain (1979). He used to teach at Cornell University, where Graffin studied/taught. Graffin was both a friend and fan of him - actually spent a weekend at his house. Carl died in the fall of 1996.