Cosmos: A spacetime Odyssey

[Richard]

This show is the reboot for Carl Sagan's "Cosmos: A personal voyage" that was aired on TV in the 1970's and hosted/narrated by the famous astrophysicist and author. This new series is hosted and narrated by Neil Degrasse Tyson. That sexy black man with the small fro who was a pupil of Sagan's.

Partially bankrolled by Family guy's Seth Macfarlane, and a couple of others, this show explores the cosmos, that being the entirety of the universe, and delves into concepts such as evolution, gravity, terrestrial and extraterrestrial bodies, and famous physicists who discovered the physical laws of the universe and developed the mathematical equations to explain them to the masses.

Currently one of the top rated shows on television, with a staggering 13.7 million tuning in to watch the first episode, this show is not your average science themed show. Rather than being dry and mundane, Tyson's explanations of historical figures paints them as indeed being human, and thus fallible to pride, arrogance, and complete and total ignorance. This allows viewers to relate more closely to these figures as they struggle to find truth in the cosmos, and to overcome the ignorance of previous generations of mankind.

This is a great show. I highly recommend anyone with an interest in any sort of science at all to watch this. It airs every Sunday at 9pm on various networks including National Geographic. This coming Sunday will be the premiere of the 4th episode. So far the series has covered such brilliant scientific minds as Bruno, Copernicus, Oort, Halley, Hook, and Newton. It has covered concepts such as our physical location in the cosmos, evolution, extra terrestrial bodies like asteroids, comets, and the Oort Cloud. I highly suggest that anyone interested in science watch this show. It is an enlightening documentary that explains the physical world around us in terms that we can understand and relate to without using highly technical jargon that would confuse even the most uneducated of us. Not only this, but it is quite beautiful in glorious 1080p HD.

Before this show aired, I had already decided to continue working on my degree in Computer Science. This show has made me want to not only be a scientist, but to be on that cutting edge of technological development rather than a mere database programmer like my father. Some would call us an unfortunate generation, because right now, we can SEE the possibilities of the future because of the mathematical equations that we have developed to explain our world around us, but we cannot develop them yet due to things such as famine, war, and the energy crisis. I would disagree with this label. I would say that we are living in a time of hope. That because of shows such as this, and the scientific possibilities we see laid out before us, we will strive to work together as a species to uncover the mysteries of the cosmos, and to propel ourselves forward into the future.

Right now is the golden age of the internet and the age of information technology. Anything after this, in the software world, will be adaptations of existing concepts and variations of existing concepts.

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” ― Carl Sagan

[ChickenChips]

old news Cosmic Vistas is cooler

[Richard]

At 3/26/14 09:00 AM, ChickenChips wrote: old news Cosmic Vistas is cooler

I don't believe cosmic vistas is as inspiring to the everyday television watcher and person. While I definitely enjoyed it and "How the universe works" it did not inspire the wonder and ambition in me that Cosmos has so far.

[JoshuaHughes]

Was so moved by the Pale Blue Dot speech when I heard it for the first time. Haven't gotten around to seeing it, but I'm very confident in Tyson. I hope it'll inspire another generation into becoming scientists themselves.

[DoctorStrongbad]

The new one is okay, but I prefer the older version.