Cosmos Wikipedia pages

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Cosmos (TV series))
Jump to: navigation, search

For the book based on the series, see Cosmos (book).
"Cosmos (TV series)" redirects here. For the 2014 sequel series, see Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Cosmos:
 A Personal Voyage
CosmosTC.jpg
Cosmos title card

Genre
Documentary
Created by
Carl Sagan
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Directed by
Adrian Malone
Presented by
Carl Sagan
Composer(s)
Vangelis; various artists
Country of origin
United States
Original language(s)
English
No. of episodes
13 (List of episodes)
Production

Producer(s)
Gregory Andorfer
 Rob McCain
Running time
60 minutes
Broadcast

Picture format
4:3 SDTV
Audio format
Stereo
First shown in
PBS
Original run
September 28, 1980 – December 21, 1980
Chronology

Followed by
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
External links
Website
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.
The series was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980, and was the most widely watched series in the history of American public television until The Civil War (1990). As of 2009, it was still the most widely watched PBS series in the world.[1] It won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and has since been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people.[2][3] A book was also published to accompany the series.
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage has been considered highly significant since its broadcast; David Itzkoff of The New York Times described it as "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming".[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Overview
2 Episodes 2.1 Ted Turner Interviews Dr. Sagan
3 Special edition
4 Music of Cosmos 4.1 LP and cassette
4.2 CD 4.2.1 Collector's Edition
4.3 Singles
5 Sequel
6 References
7 External links

Overview[edit]



 Sagan on the set of Cosmos
Cosmos was produced in 1978 and 1979 by former Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET on a roughly $6.3 million budget, with over $2 million additionally allocated to promotion. The program's format is similar to earlier BBC documentaries such as Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man, and David Attenborough's Life on Earth. However, unlike those series, which were shot entirely on film, Cosmos used videotape for interior scenes and special effects, with film being used for exteriors. The BBC—a co-producer of Cosmos—later screened the series, but the episodes were cut to fit 50-minute slots.



 Sagan in the series' final episode, "Who Speaks for Earth?"
The series is notable for its groundbreaking use of special effects, which allow Sagan to seemingly walk through environments that are actually models rather than full-sized sets. The soundtrack includes pieces of music provided by Greek composer Vangelis, such as Alpha, Pulstar, and Heaven and Hell Part 1 (the last movement serves as the signature theme music for the show, and is directly referenced by the title of the fourth episode). Throughout the 13 hours of the series, many tracks from several 1970s albums are used, such as Albedo 0.39, Spiral, Ignacio, Beaubourg, and China. The worldwide success of the documentary series put Vangelis' music in the homes of many, and brought it to the attention of a global audience.
Turner Home Entertainment purchased Cosmos from series producer KCET in 1989. In making the move to commercial television, the hour-long episodes were edited to shorter lengths, and Sagan shot new epilogues for several episodes, in which he discussed new discoveries—and alternate viewpoints—that had arisen since the original broadcast. A 14th episode, consisting of an interview between Sagan and Ted Turner, was also produced. This new version of the series was eventually released as a VHS box set. This same re-edited version was also released on 12" Laserdisc, a popular consumer format at the time (a precursor to the DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats). Two episodes were released per disc, one episode on each side. The laserdiscs for the various episodes were sold separately, not in a boxed set (as was done for VHS).
Cosmos was unavailable for many years after its initial release because of copyright issues with the soundtrack music, but when it was released in 2000 on worldwide NTSC DVD, subtitles in seven languages[5] and remastered 5.1 sound were included, as well as an alternate music and sound effects track. In 2005, The Science Channel rebroadcast the series for its 25th anniversary, with updated computer graphics and film footage, digital sound, and information about relevant scientific discoveries in the intervening 25 years. Despite being shown again on the Science Channel, the total amount of time for the original 13 episodes (780 minutes) was reduced 25% to 585 minutes (45 minutes per episode) in order to make room for commercials.[6][7][8]
In a 2009 UK release, Fremantle Media Enterprises digitally restored and remastered the original series as a five-disc DVD set which included bonus science updates.

Episodes[edit]

No. in
 series
Title
Original air date

1
"The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" September 28, 1980
Carl Sagan opens the program with a description of the cosmos and a "Spaceship of the Imagination" (shaped like a dandelion seed). The ship journeys through the universe's hundred billion galaxies, the Local Group, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula, our Solar System, and finally the planet Earth. Eratosthenes' successful calculation of the circumference of Earth leads to a description of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Finally, the "Ages of Science" are described, before pulling back to the full span of the Cosmic Calendar. Note: the revised version of the series adds an introduction by Ann Druyan to this episode, recorded after Sagan's death, in which she discusses some of the changes that occurred in the years after its broadcast.
2
"One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue" October 5, 1980
Sagan discusses the story of the Heike crab and artificial selection of crabs resembling samurai warriors, as an opening into a larger discussion of evolution through natural selection (and the pitfalls of intelligent design). Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller–Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life (such as life in Jupiter's clouds). In the Cosmos Update ten years later, Sagan remarks on RNA also controlling chemical reactions and reproducing itself and the different roles of comets (potentially carrying organic molecules or causing the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event).
3
"Harmony of the Worlds" October 12, 1980
Beginning with the separation of the fuzzy thinking and pious fraud of astrology from the careful observations of astronomy, Sagan follows the development of astronomical observation. Beginning with constellations and ceremonial calendars (such as those of the Anasazi), the story moves to the debate between Earth and Sun-centered models: Ptolemy and the geocentric worldview, Copernicus' theory, the data-gathering of Tycho Brahe, and the achievements of Johannes Kepler (Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the first science-fiction novel).
4
"Heaven and Hell" October 19, 1980
Sagan discusses comets and asteroids as planetary impactors, giving recent examples of the Tunguska event and a lunar impact described by Canterbury monks in 1178. It moves to a description of the environment of Venus, from the previous fantastic theories of people such as Immanuel Velikovsky to the information gained by the Venera landers and its implications for Earth's greenhouse effect. The Cosmos Update highlights the connection to global warming.
5
"Blues for a Red Planet" October 26, 1980
The episode, devoted to the planet Mars, begins with scientific and fictional speculation about the Red Planet during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction books, and Percival Lowell's false vision of canals on Mars). It then moves to Robert Goddard's early experiments in rocket-building, inspired by reading science fiction, and the work by Mars probes, including the Viking, searching for life on Mars. The episode ends with the possibility of the terraforming and colonization of Mars and a Cosmos Update on the relevance of Mars' environment to Earth's and the possibility of a manned mission to Mars.
6
"Travellers' Tales" November 2, 1980
The journeys of the Voyager probes is put in the context of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, with a centuries-long tradition of sailing ship explorers, and its contemporary thinkers (such as Constantijn Huygens and his son Christian). Their discoveries are compared to the Voyager probes' discoveries among the Jovian and Saturn systems. In Cosmos Update, image processing reconstructs Voyager's worlds and Voyager's last portrait of the Solar System as it leaves is shown.
7
"The Backbone of Night" November 9, 1980
Carl Sagan teaches students in a classroom in his childhood home in Brooklyn, New York, which leads into a history of the different mythologies about stars and the gradual revelation of their true nature. In ancient Greece, some philosophers (Aristarchus of Samos, Thales of Miletus, Anaximander, Theodorus of Samos, Empedocles, Democritus) freely pursue scientific knowledge, while others (Plato, Aristotle, and the Pythagoreans) advocate slavery and epistemic secrecy.
8
"Journeys in Space and Time" November 16, 1980
Ideas about time and space are explored in the changes that constellations undergo over time, the redshift and blue shift measured in interstellar objects, time dilation in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, the designs of both Leonardo da Vinci and spacecraft that could travel near light speed, time travel and its hypothetical effects on human history, the origins of the Solar System, the history of life, and the immensity of space. In Cosmos Update, the idea of faster-than-light travel by wormholes (researched by Kip Thorne and shown in Sagan's novel Contact) is discussed.
9
"The Lives of the Stars" November 23, 1980
The simple act of making an apple pie is extrapolated into the atoms and subatomic particles (electrons, protons, and neutrons) necessary. Many of the ingredients necessary are formed of chemical elements formed in the life and deaths of stars (such as our own Sun), resulting in massive red giants and supernovae or collapsing into white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, and even black holes. These produce all sorts of phenomena, such as radioactivity, cosmic rays, and even the curving of spacetime by gravity. Cosmos Update mentions the supernova SN 1987A and neutrino astronomy.
10
"The Edge of Forever" November 30, 1980
Beginning with the origins of the universe in the Big Bang, Sagan describes the formation of different types of galaxies and anomalies such as galactic collisions and quasars. The episode moves further into ideas about the structure of the Universe, such as different dimensions (in the imaginary Flatland and four-dimensional hypercubes), an infinite vs. a finite universe, and the idea of an oscillating Universe (similar to that in Hindu cosmology). The search into other ideas such as dark matter and the multiverse is shown, using tools such as the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Cosmos Update shows new information about the odd, irregular surfaces of galaxies and the Milky Way perhaps being a barred spiral galaxy.
11
"The Persistence of Memory" December 7, 1980
The idea of intelligence is explored in the concepts of computers (using bits as their basic units of information), whales (in their songs and their disruptions by human activities), DNA, the human brain (the evolution of the brain stem, frontal lobes, neurons, cerebral hemispheres, and corpus callosum under the Triune Brain Model), and man-made structures for collective intelligence (cities, libraries, books, computers, and satellites). The episode ends with speculation on alien intelligence and the information conveyed on the Voyager Golden Record.
12
"Encyclopaedia Galactica" December 14, 1980
Questions are raised about the search for intelligent life beyond the Earth, with UFOs and other close encounters refuted in favor of communications through SETI and radio telescope such as the Arecibo Observatory. The probability of technically advanced civilizations existing elsewhere in the Milky Way is interpreted using the Drake equation and a future hypothetical Encyclopedia Galactica (similar to Rosetta Stone) is discussed as a repository of information about other worlds in the galaxy. The Cosmos Update notes that there have been fewer sightings of UFOs and more stories of abductions, while mentioning the META scanning the skies for signals.
13
"Who Speaks for Earth?" December 21, 1980
Sagan reflects on the future of humanity and the question of "who speaks for Earth?" when meeting extraterrestrials. He discusses the very different meetings of the Tlingit people and explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse with the destruction of the Aztecs by Spanish conquistadors, the looming threat of nuclear warfare, and the threats shown by destruction of the Library of Alexandria and the murder of Hypatia. The episode ends with an overview of the beginning of the universe, the evolution of life, and the accomplishments of humanity and makes a plea to mankind to cherish life and continue its journey in the cosmos. The Cosmos Update notes the preliminary reconnaissance of planets with spacecraft, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa, and measures towards the reduction of nuclear weapons.
Ted Turner Interviews Dr. Sagan[edit]
Some versions of the series, including the first North American home video release (though not the DVD release), included a specially-made fourteenth episode, which consisted of an hour-long interview between Sagan and Ted Turner,[9] in which the two discussed the series and new discoveries made in the years since its first broadcast.
Special edition[edit]



 Title card of the special edition of Cosmos
The 1986 special edition of Cosmos features new computer animated sequences and filmed segments with Sagan, as well as new narration. It includes content from Sagan's book Comet and discussion of his theory of nuclear winter; this material was not used in subsequent television or home video releases. The special edition premiered as one marathon program on the TBS network, and was later broadcast in Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Argentina. It is much shorter than the original version, at four and a half hours, divided into six 45-minute episodes:
1.Other Worlds, Part 1
2.Other Worlds, Part 2
3.Children of the Stars, Part 1
4.Children of the Stars, Part 2
5.Message from the Sky, Part 1
6.Message from the Sky, Part 2
The 1986 version of Cosmos contains a mix of music used in the original version, with a unique soundtrack composed by Vangelis specifically for the special edition. The score is often referred to as Comet, as "Comet 16" is used during the opening and closing credits of each episode. Of the 21 cues, "Comet 16" is the only one that has been officially released, although some of the new music appears in the 2000 remastered DVD release.
Music of Cosmos[edit]
LP and cassette[edit]
In 1981, a soundtrack LP[10] was released by RCA Records shortly after the series' airing, which included the signature theme "Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album Heaven and Hell) by Greek synthesist and composer Vangelis (catalog No. ABL 1–4003 and TMS-50061; both also released on cassette tape).
Side A
1.Space / Time Continuum 1."Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album Heaven and Hell) – Vangelis
2."Symphony No.11 In G Minor ('The Year 1905'), Op.103: The Palace Square (Adagio)" – Dmitri Shostakovich (Performed by Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony)
3."Alpha" – Vangelis
2.Life 1."(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi
2."Pachelbel's Canon" – Johann Pachelbel (Performed by James Galway)
3."The Four Seasons: Spring" – Antonio Vivaldi
4."The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 639)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita)
3.The Harmony of Nature 1."Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux)

Side B
4.Exploration 1."'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness
2."Legacy" – Larry Fast
3."Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony)
4."Inside The Heart Of The Universe" – Toru Takemitsu
5.Cataclism 1."Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan
2."Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis
3."The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra)
6.Affirmation 1."Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis
2."Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska)
3."Heaven & Hell, Part I" – Vangelis

CD[edit]
In 1994, RCA Records reissued the original soundtrack compilation on compact disc and, in 2002, reissued it on its Collectables label (RCA 07863 54003-2 USA; Collectables COL-CD-6293 USA). In 2002, a special two-disc "collector's edition" of music from the series was released to coincide with the DVD reissue, containing complete versions of many of the songs from series only available as snippets on previous releases.
Collector's Edition[edit]
Disc one[11]
1."Heaven & Hell, Part I" – Vangelis (4:09)
2."The Year 1905" – Dmitri Shostakovich (Performed by Helsinki Philharmonic) (5:38)
3."Alpha" – Vangelis (5:42)
4."(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi (1:00)
5."Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Performed by Mostly Mozart Orchestra) (7:53)
6."Pachelbel's Canon" – Johann Pachelbel (Performed by James Galway) (5:08)
7."Metamorphosis" – Jeffrey Boydstun (3:34)
8."The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 639)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita) (6:04)
9."Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux) (2:53)
10."The Four Seasons: Spring" – Antonio Vivaldi (3:21)
11."Sonata C-Dur Für Trompete, Oboe, Und Basso Continuo" – Gottfried Finger (Performed by Leipziger Bach-Collegium) (1:21)
12."Concerto For Mandolin & Strings In C Major" – Antonio Vivaldi (2:34)
13."The Tale of Tsar Saltan" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (6:35)
14."Legacy" – Larry Fast (5:47)
15."Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (7:44)
Disc two[11]
1."Pulstar" – Vangelis (5:13)
2."'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness (4:02)
3."Melancholy Blues" – Louis Armstrong And His Hot Seven (2:59)
4."Aquarius – Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) (3:56)
5."Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis (3:14)
6."The Planets: Mars" – Gustav Holst (Performed by Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra) (7:09)
7."Alien Images 1" – Jeff Boydstun (3:24)
8."Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan (7:43)
9."Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis (2:50)
10."The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) (10:31)
11."Prayer of St. Gregory" – Alan Hovhaness (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (4:45)
12."Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska) (5:01)
13."Comet 16" – Vangelis (3:48) (Only the special edition of Cosmos)
Singles[edit]
The main theme, titled Heaven and Hell, Part 1, but edited from Heaven and Hell Part 1 3rd Movement, was released in the UK as an edited 7" single by BBC Records (Cat No: BBC1). The 7" single did not have the quiet keyboard intro to be found on the full Vangelis LP version originally released in 1975. The B-side of the 7" single was an edited version of Alpha, taken from the Vangelis LP Albedo 0.39.
1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha RCA 71 UK
1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha BBC 1
1981 Theme from the TV-series COSMOS / Alpha PB 5356 Holland
1981 Titelmelodie aus der TV-Serie "Unser Kosmos" / Alpha PB 5356 West-Germany
Sequel[edit]
Main article: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
On August 5, 2011, plans were announced for a sequel to the series, bringing up-to-date special effects and scientific discoveries to the themes and messages of the original series. The new 13-part series, referred to as Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, was originally announced to premiere in the 2012–13 United States network television schedule, but a Twitter update from Neil deGrasse Tyson in June 2012 indicated a Spring 2014 release. Episodes began airing March 9, 2014[12] on the Fox Network and the next day on National Geographic Channel.[13] The new series was hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and produced by the two surviving original creators, Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, with Seth MacFarlane.[14]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "CosmoLearning Astronomy". CosmoLearning. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
2.Jump up ^ "StarChild: Dr. Carl Sagan". NASA. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
3.Jump up ^ "Carl Sagan". EMuseum@Minnesota State University. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
4.Jump up ^ Itzkoff, Dave (August 5, 2011). "‘Family Guy’ Creator Part of ‘Cosmos’ Update". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese
6.Jump up ^ Some of the missing scenes from Cosmos episode 2[dead link]
7.Jump up ^ 25th Anniversary Rebroadcast of Cosmos[dead link] on The Science Channel
8.Jump up ^ Cosmos clips 25th Anniversary Edition PopMatters Television Review, Bill Gibron, PopMatters, October 20, 2005
9.Jump up ^ The New York Times http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/11076/Cosmos-Episode-14-Ted-Turner-Interviews-Dr-Sagan/overview |url= missing title (help).
10.Jump up ^ "Various – The Music Of Cosmos". Discogs. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
11.^ Jump up to: a b [1]
12.Jump up ^ "Library of Congress Officially Opens The Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive". News from the Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
13.Jump up ^ Wallenstein, Andrew. "TCA: Fox aims for repeat-free sked". Variety. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
14.Jump up ^ Blum, Matt (August 5, 2011). "Cosmos Will Get a Sequel Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson". Wired. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Carl Sagan
Cosmos at the Internet Movie Database
The music of Cosmos: a look at the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou
A complete list of the Cosmos soundtrack music, based on the original cue sheets
Cosmos DVD review on VideoVista


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Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Cosmos (TV series))
Jump to: navigation, search

For the book based on the series, see Cosmos (book).
"Cosmos (TV series)" redirects here. For the 2014 sequel series, see Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Cosmos:
 A Personal Voyage
CosmosTC.jpg
Cosmos title card

Genre
Documentary
Created by
Carl Sagan
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Directed by
Adrian Malone
Presented by
Carl Sagan
Composer(s)
Vangelis; various artists
Country of origin
United States
Original language(s)
English
No. of episodes
13 (List of episodes)
Production

Producer(s)
Gregory Andorfer
 Rob McCain
Running time
60 minutes
Broadcast

Picture format
4:3 SDTV
Audio format
Stereo
First shown in
PBS
Original run
September 28, 1980 – December 21, 1980
Chronology

Followed by
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
External links
Website
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.
The series was first broadcast by the Public Broadcasting Service in 1980, and was the most widely watched series in the history of American public television until The Civil War (1990). As of 2009, it was still the most widely watched PBS series in the world.[1] It won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and has since been broadcast in more than 60 countries and seen by over 500 million people.[2][3] A book was also published to accompany the series.
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage has been considered highly significant since its broadcast; David Itzkoff of The New York Times described it as "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming".[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Overview
2 Episodes 2.1 Ted Turner Interviews Dr. Sagan
3 Special edition
4 Music of Cosmos 4.1 LP and cassette
4.2 CD 4.2.1 Collector's Edition
4.3 Singles
5 Sequel
6 References
7 External links

Overview[edit]



 Sagan on the set of Cosmos
Cosmos was produced in 1978 and 1979 by former Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET on a roughly $6.3 million budget, with over $2 million additionally allocated to promotion. The program's format is similar to earlier BBC documentaries such as Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man, and David Attenborough's Life on Earth. However, unlike those series, which were shot entirely on film, Cosmos used videotape for interior scenes and special effects, with film being used for exteriors. The BBC—a co-producer of Cosmos—later screened the series, but the episodes were cut to fit 50-minute slots.



 Sagan in the series' final episode, "Who Speaks for Earth?"
The series is notable for its groundbreaking use of special effects, which allow Sagan to seemingly walk through environments that are actually models rather than full-sized sets. The soundtrack includes pieces of music provided by Greek composer Vangelis, such as Alpha, Pulstar, and Heaven and Hell Part 1 (the last movement serves as the signature theme music for the show, and is directly referenced by the title of the fourth episode). Throughout the 13 hours of the series, many tracks from several 1970s albums are used, such as Albedo 0.39, Spiral, Ignacio, Beaubourg, and China. The worldwide success of the documentary series put Vangelis' music in the homes of many, and brought it to the attention of a global audience.
Turner Home Entertainment purchased Cosmos from series producer KCET in 1989. In making the move to commercial television, the hour-long episodes were edited to shorter lengths, and Sagan shot new epilogues for several episodes, in which he discussed new discoveries—and alternate viewpoints—that had arisen since the original broadcast. A 14th episode, consisting of an interview between Sagan and Ted Turner, was also produced. This new version of the series was eventually released as a VHS box set. This same re-edited version was also released on 12" Laserdisc, a popular consumer format at the time (a precursor to the DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats). Two episodes were released per disc, one episode on each side. The laserdiscs for the various episodes were sold separately, not in a boxed set (as was done for VHS).
Cosmos was unavailable for many years after its initial release because of copyright issues with the soundtrack music, but when it was released in 2000 on worldwide NTSC DVD, subtitles in seven languages[5] and remastered 5.1 sound were included, as well as an alternate music and sound effects track. In 2005, The Science Channel rebroadcast the series for its 25th anniversary, with updated computer graphics and film footage, digital sound, and information about relevant scientific discoveries in the intervening 25 years. Despite being shown again on the Science Channel, the total amount of time for the original 13 episodes (780 minutes) was reduced 25% to 585 minutes (45 minutes per episode) in order to make room for commercials.[6][7][8]
In a 2009 UK release, Fremantle Media Enterprises digitally restored and remastered the original series as a five-disc DVD set which included bonus science updates.

Episodes[edit]

No. in
 series
Title
Original air date

1
"The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean" September 28, 1980
Carl Sagan opens the program with a description of the cosmos and a "Spaceship of the Imagination" (shaped like a dandelion seed). The ship journeys through the universe's hundred billion galaxies, the Local Group, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Milky Way, the Orion Nebula, our Solar System, and finally the planet Earth. Eratosthenes' successful calculation of the circumference of Earth leads to a description of the ancient Library of Alexandria. Finally, the "Ages of Science" are described, before pulling back to the full span of the Cosmic Calendar. Note: the revised version of the series adds an introduction by Ann Druyan to this episode, recorded after Sagan's death, in which she discusses some of the changes that occurred in the years after its broadcast.
2
"One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue" October 5, 1980
Sagan discusses the story of the Heike crab and artificial selection of crabs resembling samurai warriors, as an opening into a larger discussion of evolution through natural selection (and the pitfalls of intelligent design). Among the topics are the development of life on the Cosmic Calendar and the Cambrian explosion; the function of DNA in growth; genetic replication, repairs, and mutation; the common biochemistry of terrestrial organisms; the creation of the molecules of life in the Miller–Urey experiment; and speculation on alien life (such as life in Jupiter's clouds). In the Cosmos Update ten years later, Sagan remarks on RNA also controlling chemical reactions and reproducing itself and the different roles of comets (potentially carrying organic molecules or causing the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event).
3
"Harmony of the Worlds" October 12, 1980
Beginning with the separation of the fuzzy thinking and pious fraud of astrology from the careful observations of astronomy, Sagan follows the development of astronomical observation. Beginning with constellations and ceremonial calendars (such as those of the Anasazi), the story moves to the debate between Earth and Sun-centered models: Ptolemy and the geocentric worldview, Copernicus' theory, the data-gathering of Tycho Brahe, and the achievements of Johannes Kepler (Kepler's laws of planetary motion and the first science-fiction novel).
4
"Heaven and Hell" October 19, 1980
Sagan discusses comets and asteroids as planetary impactors, giving recent examples of the Tunguska event and a lunar impact described by Canterbury monks in 1178. It moves to a description of the environment of Venus, from the previous fantastic theories of people such as Immanuel Velikovsky to the information gained by the Venera landers and its implications for Earth's greenhouse effect. The Cosmos Update highlights the connection to global warming.
5
"Blues for a Red Planet" October 26, 1980
The episode, devoted to the planet Mars, begins with scientific and fictional speculation about the Red Planet during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, Edgar Rice Burroughs' science fiction books, and Percival Lowell's false vision of canals on Mars). It then moves to Robert Goddard's early experiments in rocket-building, inspired by reading science fiction, and the work by Mars probes, including the Viking, searching for life on Mars. The episode ends with the possibility of the terraforming and colonization of Mars and a Cosmos Update on the relevance of Mars' environment to Earth's and the possibility of a manned mission to Mars.
6
"Travellers' Tales" November 2, 1980
The journeys of the Voyager probes is put in the context of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, with a centuries-long tradition of sailing ship explorers, and its contemporary thinkers (such as Constantijn Huygens and his son Christian). Their discoveries are compared to the Voyager probes' discoveries among the Jovian and Saturn systems. In Cosmos Update, image processing reconstructs Voyager's worlds and Voyager's last portrait of the Solar System as it leaves is shown.
7
"The Backbone of Night" November 9, 1980
Carl Sagan teaches students in a classroom in his childhood home in Brooklyn, New York, which leads into a history of the different mythologies about stars and the gradual revelation of their true nature. In ancient Greece, some philosophers (Aristarchus of Samos, Thales of Miletus, Anaximander, Theodorus of Samos, Empedocles, Democritus) freely pursue scientific knowledge, while others (Plato, Aristotle, and the Pythagoreans) advocate slavery and epistemic secrecy.
8
"Journeys in Space and Time" November 16, 1980
Ideas about time and space are explored in the changes that constellations undergo over time, the redshift and blue shift measured in interstellar objects, time dilation in Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, the designs of both Leonardo da Vinci and spacecraft that could travel near light speed, time travel and its hypothetical effects on human history, the origins of the Solar System, the history of life, and the immensity of space. In Cosmos Update, the idea of faster-than-light travel by wormholes (researched by Kip Thorne and shown in Sagan's novel Contact) is discussed.
9
"The Lives of the Stars" November 23, 1980
The simple act of making an apple pie is extrapolated into the atoms and subatomic particles (electrons, protons, and neutrons) necessary. Many of the ingredients necessary are formed of chemical elements formed in the life and deaths of stars (such as our own Sun), resulting in massive red giants and supernovae or collapsing into white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, and even black holes. These produce all sorts of phenomena, such as radioactivity, cosmic rays, and even the curving of spacetime by gravity. Cosmos Update mentions the supernova SN 1987A and neutrino astronomy.
10
"The Edge of Forever" November 30, 1980
Beginning with the origins of the universe in the Big Bang, Sagan describes the formation of different types of galaxies and anomalies such as galactic collisions and quasars. The episode moves further into ideas about the structure of the Universe, such as different dimensions (in the imaginary Flatland and four-dimensional hypercubes), an infinite vs. a finite universe, and the idea of an oscillating Universe (similar to that in Hindu cosmology). The search into other ideas such as dark matter and the multiverse is shown, using tools such as the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Cosmos Update shows new information about the odd, irregular surfaces of galaxies and the Milky Way perhaps being a barred spiral galaxy.
11
"The Persistence of Memory" December 7, 1980
The idea of intelligence is explored in the concepts of computers (using bits as their basic units of information), whales (in their songs and their disruptions by human activities), DNA, the human brain (the evolution of the brain stem, frontal lobes, neurons, cerebral hemispheres, and corpus callosum under the Triune Brain Model), and man-made structures for collective intelligence (cities, libraries, books, computers, and satellites). The episode ends with speculation on alien intelligence and the information conveyed on the Voyager Golden Record.
12
"Encyclopaedia Galactica" December 14, 1980
Questions are raised about the search for intelligent life beyond the Earth, with UFOs and other close encounters refuted in favor of communications through SETI and radio telescope such as the Arecibo Observatory. The probability of technically advanced civilizations existing elsewhere in the Milky Way is interpreted using the Drake equation and a future hypothetical Encyclopedia Galactica (similar to Rosetta Stone) is discussed as a repository of information about other worlds in the galaxy. The Cosmos Update notes that there have been fewer sightings of UFOs and more stories of abductions, while mentioning the META scanning the skies for signals.
13
"Who Speaks for Earth?" December 21, 1980
Sagan reflects on the future of humanity and the question of "who speaks for Earth?" when meeting extraterrestrials. He discusses the very different meetings of the Tlingit people and explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse with the destruction of the Aztecs by Spanish conquistadors, the looming threat of nuclear warfare, and the threats shown by destruction of the Library of Alexandria and the murder of Hypatia. The episode ends with an overview of the beginning of the universe, the evolution of life, and the accomplishments of humanity and makes a plea to mankind to cherish life and continue its journey in the cosmos. The Cosmos Update notes the preliminary reconnaissance of planets with spacecraft, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa, and measures towards the reduction of nuclear weapons.
Ted Turner Interviews Dr. Sagan[edit]
Some versions of the series, including the first North American home video release (though not the DVD release), included a specially-made fourteenth episode, which consisted of an hour-long interview between Sagan and Ted Turner,[9] in which the two discussed the series and new discoveries made in the years since its first broadcast.
Special edition[edit]



 Title card of the special edition of Cosmos
The 1986 special edition of Cosmos features new computer animated sequences and filmed segments with Sagan, as well as new narration. It includes content from Sagan's book Comet and discussion of his theory of nuclear winter; this material was not used in subsequent television or home video releases. The special edition premiered as one marathon program on the TBS network, and was later broadcast in Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, and Argentina. It is much shorter than the original version, at four and a half hours, divided into six 45-minute episodes:
1.Other Worlds, Part 1
2.Other Worlds, Part 2
3.Children of the Stars, Part 1
4.Children of the Stars, Part 2
5.Message from the Sky, Part 1
6.Message from the Sky, Part 2
The 1986 version of Cosmos contains a mix of music used in the original version, with a unique soundtrack composed by Vangelis specifically for the special edition. The score is often referred to as Comet, as "Comet 16" is used during the opening and closing credits of each episode. Of the 21 cues, "Comet 16" is the only one that has been officially released, although some of the new music appears in the 2000 remastered DVD release.
Music of Cosmos[edit]
LP and cassette[edit]
In 1981, a soundtrack LP[10] was released by RCA Records shortly after the series' airing, which included the signature theme "Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album Heaven and Hell) by Greek synthesist and composer Vangelis (catalog No. ABL 1–4003 and TMS-50061; both also released on cassette tape).
Side A
1.Space / Time Continuum 1."Movement 3" (from "Symphony to the Powers B" from the album Heaven and Hell) – Vangelis
2."Symphony No.11 In G Minor ('The Year 1905'), Op.103: The Palace Square (Adagio)" – Dmitri Shostakovich (Performed by Leopold Stokowski and the Houston Symphony)
3."Alpha" – Vangelis
2.Life 1."(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi
2."Pachelbel's Canon" – Johann Pachelbel (Performed by James Galway)
3."The Four Seasons: Spring" – Antonio Vivaldi
4."The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 639)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita)
3.The Harmony of Nature 1."Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux)

Side B
4.Exploration 1."'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness
2."Legacy" – Larry Fast
3."Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony)
4."Inside The Heart Of The Universe" – Toru Takemitsu
5.Cataclism 1."Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan
2."Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis
3."The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra)
6.Affirmation 1."Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis
2."Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska)
3."Heaven & Hell, Part I" – Vangelis

CD[edit]
In 1994, RCA Records reissued the original soundtrack compilation on compact disc and, in 2002, reissued it on its Collectables label (RCA 07863 54003-2 USA; Collectables COL-CD-6293 USA). In 2002, a special two-disc "collector's edition" of music from the series was released to coincide with the DVD reissue, containing complete versions of many of the songs from series only available as snippets on previous releases.
Collector's Edition[edit]
Disc one[11]
1."Heaven & Hell, Part I" – Vangelis (4:09)
2."The Year 1905" – Dmitri Shostakovich (Performed by Helsinki Philharmonic) (5:38)
3."Alpha" – Vangelis (5:42)
4."(Depicting) Cranes In Their Nest" – Goro Yamaguchi (1:00)
5."Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622" – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Performed by Mostly Mozart Orchestra) (7:53)
6."Pachelbel's Canon" – Johann Pachelbel (Performed by James Galway) (5:08)
7."Metamorphosis" – Jeffrey Boydstun (3:34)
8."The Sea Named 'Solaris' (BWV 639)" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Isao Tomita) (6:04)
9."Partita For Violin Solo No. 3 In E, BWV 1006" – Johann Sebastian Bach (Performed by Arthur Grumiaux) (2:53)
10."The Four Seasons: Spring" – Antonio Vivaldi (3:21)
11."Sonata C-Dur Für Trompete, Oboe, Und Basso Continuo" – Gottfried Finger (Performed by Leipziger Bach-Collegium) (1:21)
12."Concerto For Mandolin & Strings In C Major" – Antonio Vivaldi (2:34)
13."The Tale of Tsar Saltan" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (6:35)
14."Legacy" – Larry Fast (5:47)
15."Russian Easter Festival Overture" – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (7:44)
Disc two[11]
1."Pulstar" – Vangelis (5:13)
2."'Vishnu Symphony No. 19, Op. 217" – Alan Hovhaness (4:02)
3."Melancholy Blues" – Louis Armstrong And His Hot Seven (2:59)
4."Aquarius – Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording) (3:56)
5."Beaubourg, Part 2" – Vangelis (3:14)
6."The Planets: Mars" – Gustav Holst (Performed by Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra) (7:09)
7."Alien Images 1" – Jeff Boydstun (3:24)
8."Fly...Night Bird" – Roy Buchanan (7:43)
9."Entends-Tu Les Chiens Aboyer?" – Vangelis (2:50)
10."The Rite of Spring" – Igor Stravinsky (Performed by Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) (10:31)
11."Prayer of St. Gregory" – Alan Hovhaness (Performed by Seattle Symphony) (4:45)
12."Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" – Traditional (Performed by Valya Balkanska) (5:01)
13."Comet 16" – Vangelis (3:48) (Only the special edition of Cosmos)
Singles[edit]
The main theme, titled Heaven and Hell, Part 1, but edited from Heaven and Hell Part 1 3rd Movement, was released in the UK as an edited 7" single by BBC Records (Cat No: BBC1). The 7" single did not have the quiet keyboard intro to be found on the full Vangelis LP version originally released in 1975. The B-side of the 7" single was an edited version of Alpha, taken from the Vangelis LP Albedo 0.39.
1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha RCA 71 UK
1981 Heaven and Hell / Alpha BBC 1
1981 Theme from the TV-series COSMOS / Alpha PB 5356 Holland
1981 Titelmelodie aus der TV-Serie "Unser Kosmos" / Alpha PB 5356 West-Germany
Sequel[edit]
Main article: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
On August 5, 2011, plans were announced for a sequel to the series, bringing up-to-date special effects and scientific discoveries to the themes and messages of the original series. The new 13-part series, referred to as Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, was originally announced to premiere in the 2012–13 United States network television schedule, but a Twitter update from Neil deGrasse Tyson in June 2012 indicated a Spring 2014 release. Episodes began airing March 9, 2014[12] on the Fox Network and the next day on National Geographic Channel.[13] The new series was hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and produced by the two surviving original creators, Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, with Seth MacFarlane.[14]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "CosmoLearning Astronomy". CosmoLearning. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
2.Jump up ^ "StarChild: Dr. Carl Sagan". NASA. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
3.Jump up ^ "Carl Sagan". EMuseum@Minnesota State University. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
4.Jump up ^ Itzkoff, Dave (August 5, 2011). "‘Family Guy’ Creator Part of ‘Cosmos’ Update". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
5.Jump up ^ English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese
6.Jump up ^ Some of the missing scenes from Cosmos episode 2[dead link]
7.Jump up ^ 25th Anniversary Rebroadcast of Cosmos[dead link] on The Science Channel
8.Jump up ^ Cosmos clips 25th Anniversary Edition PopMatters Television Review, Bill Gibron, PopMatters, October 20, 2005
9.Jump up ^ The New York Times http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/11076/Cosmos-Episode-14-Ted-Turner-Interviews-Dr-Sagan/overview |url= missing title (help).
10.Jump up ^ "Various – The Music Of Cosmos". Discogs. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
11.^ Jump up to: a b [1]
12.Jump up ^ "Library of Congress Officially Opens The Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive". News from the Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
13.Jump up ^ Wallenstein, Andrew. "TCA: Fox aims for repeat-free sked". Variety. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
14.Jump up ^ Blum, Matt (August 5, 2011). "Cosmos Will Get a Sequel Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson". Wired. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
External links[edit]
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Carl Sagan
Cosmos at the Internet Movie Database
The music of Cosmos: a look at the music of Vangelis Papathanassiou
A complete list of the Cosmos soundtrack music, based on the original cue sheets
Cosmos DVD review on VideoVista


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Standing Up in the Milky Way
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"Standing Up in the Milky Way"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 1
Directed by
Brannon Braga[1][2]
Written by
Ann Druyan[3][4]
Steven Soter[3][4]
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
March 9, 2014
Running time
44 minutes
Episode chronology

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List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" is the first aired episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on March 9, 2014, simultaneously on various Fox television networks, including National Geographic Channel, FX, Fox Life, and others.[5] The episode is presented by the series host astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, directed by Brannon Braga, produced by Livia Hanich and Steven Holtzman, and written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter.
The series represents a follow-up of the 1980s television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage by Carl Sagan.[6] It is hosted by astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, and explores astronomy, space and time, astrophysics, biology, and other diverse areas of science. In this episode, Tyson takes a tour of the Solar System and the Milky Way galaxy, explores the life of Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno and his vision of the cosmos, goes through a Cosmic Calendar from the beginning of the universe until the present, and ends with a tribute to Carl Sagan. The episode was first presented with a brief introduction by the President of the United States Barack Obama.[7][8]
The episode received positive reviews by critics, but was criticized on issues like the historical accuracy in the presentation of Giordano Bruno's life. It was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Production
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 The astronomical theories of Giordano Bruno (1548 – 1600) and their reception by the Catholic Church were featured in the episode's narrative sequence.
The episode begins with Tyson setting off on the "Ship of the Imagination" to discover Earth’s cosmic address within the Virgo Supercluster and its place in space and time. As the viewer floats along with him past the planets of our Solar System, he skims over Venus; he shows this planet's intense greenhouse effect, as well as its extremely high temperatures. Then he explores Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a hurricane three times the size of Earth, and provides the first comparison showing how Earth's size diminishes when contrasted with the Spot's expanding view. He passes Voyager 1, the farthest man-made object from Earth, and explains the Voyager Golden Record and its purpose.
Tyson explains how human sight is limited in the cosmos and, as an example, shows us how extremely dark rogue planets are "seen" with infrared sensors. He then examines the bubble theory, and how our observable universe might be just a bubble in a "never-ending" set of bubbles, analogous to drops of a waterfall.
In an animated segment of this episode, Tyson discusses the life and vision of the 16th-century Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno (voiced by Seth MacFarlane)[10] as the person who championed a much more expansive understanding of the Earth's place in the universe, with the Sun being just one star among all the others. Later, he presents the history of the Universe on Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar. The episode ends with Tyson's brief speech about Carl Sagan's life and career, and how Sagan inspired him to become an astrophysicist.
Production[edit]



Carl Sagan's widow Ann Druyan co-wrote the episode.
Ann Druyan, Steven Soter, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson were planning on producing a new, updated sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage and continued pitching the idea to various television stations even after Sagan's death.[11] In 2008 producer Seth MacFarlane met with Tyson at the Science & Entertainment Exchange, where Tyson told him about rebooting the Cosmos series.[12] MacFarlane took interest in the idea and presented it to the Fox Broadcasting Company television network.[13]
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" was directed by Brannon Braga, and written by Druyan and Soter. The narrative sequence of the episode introduced the life of philosopher Giordano Bruno voiced by the series' executive producer Seth MacFarlane,[14] and other additional characters voiced by MacFarlane and actor Paul Telfer.[3] The special effects for the episode were done by the DIVE VFX studio from New York including "dimensionalization of star clusters, galaxies and nebula" for the show.[15] The episode also introduces a new "Ship of the Imagination" redesigned by concept artist Ryan Church, which was described by The Verge as "J.J. Abrams’ Enterprise."[16] The animated sequences of the episode were produced by Kara Vallow.[17]
Reception[edit]



"Seth MacFarlane and Neil deGrasse Tyson present a unique and riveting glimpse at our universe in Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Embracing science and all it has to offer, the docu-series is unapologetic in its somewhat controversial depiction of organized religion, but it extends an olive branch for creative thinking and plays with concepts of faith in its whimsical view of the macrocosm."
 —Max Nicholson, from IGN[14]
The episode premiered with a 2.1/5 in the 18-49 rating/share and 5.77 million Americans watching it live on Fox.[18][19] However, Nielsen estimated that a total of "8.5 million watched Sunday on the total of 10 Fox-owned networks, including Fox broadcast, National Geographic and FX."[20] Series executive producer Seth MacFarlane posted on the online social networking website Twitter that 12 million overall viewers watched the Cosmos premiere live in the US alone and 17.5 million with DVR.[21]
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" was critically well accepted. John Teti from The A.V. Club gave the episode a mark of "B".[22] He stated "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is both ambitious and quaint. It attempts to convey humanity’s most expansive ideas in the space of a weekly 44-minute TV series. That’s ambitious," giving a positive review on the show's creation.[22] He did criticize the show for its "sloppy scripting that crops up more often later in the episode."[22] Max Nicholson from IGN gave the episode a grade of 8.5 ("Great"), concluding "the docu-series is unapologetic in its somewhat controversial depiction of organized religion, but it extends an olive branch for creative thinking and plays with concepts of faith in its whimsical view of the macrocosm."[14] A positive review was also given by Slate journalist Phil Plait, who said that he sees the episode "as making the more interesting and bigger point about suppression of thought and the grandeur of freedom of exploration of ideas."[23]
Other reviews have criticized the historical accuracy of the segment on Giordano Bruno and question why the show did not portray more important astronomers of the time period, such as Copernicus or Galileo, or earlier medieval natural philosophers, such as Nicole Oresme and Nicholas of Cusa, who presented the possibility of a plurality of worlds centuries earlier than Bruno.[24][25] Reviewers also complained that the segment was historically inaccurate in its portrayal of Bruno's troubles as stemming almost entirely from his belief in many worlds.[24][25]
During the premier broadcast of the episode on March 9, 2014, on FOX 25 KOKH-TV, the episode was interrupted for 15 seconds. The brief interruption of the episode by an advertisement for FOX 25 Primetime News at Nine coincided with a monologue by Tyson in which he describes human evolution.[26] FOX 25 issued a statement of apology for the event, which also rejected accusations that the incident was intentional, but "the result of operator error."[27][28][29]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Megan Gannon (March 5, 2014). "Why the New 'Cosmos' TV Series Is Coming to Fox". Space.com. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Matt Tucker (March 10, 2014). "Cosmos #1.1: "Standing Up in the Milky Way" Review". KSITETV. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Bill Pope (March 9, 2014). "Standing Up in the Milky Way". Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Fox Broadcasting Company.
4.^ Jump up to: a b ""Cosmos: A Sapcetime Odyssey" - Fact Sheet". FOX Flash. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
5.Jump up ^ Cannady, Sheryl; Allen, Erin (November 12, 2013). "Library of Congress Officially Opens The Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive". Library of Congress. ISSN 0731-3527. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
6.Jump up ^ Overbye, Dennis (March 3, 2014). "A Successor to Sagan Reboots Cosmos". The New York Times. p. D2.
7.Jump up ^ Seppala, Timothy J. (March 9, 2014). "Cosmos debuts tonight with a special message from Barack Obama". Engadget. AOL Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
8.Jump up ^ Boyle, Alan (March 13, 2014). "Obama Launches Cosmos: 'The Next Great Discovery Could Be Yours'". NBC News. Associated Press. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
9.Jump up ^ "Complete 2013-2014 Nominations List". Emmy Awards. July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
10.Jump up ^ Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey — The Voyage Contnues, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Blu-ray Cat. # 2293207
11.Jump up ^ Dave Itzkoff (August 5, 2011). "‘Family Guy’ Creator Part of ‘Cosmos’ Update". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
12.Jump up ^ Meredith Blake (March 7, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane hopes 'Cosmos' counteracts 'junk science,' creationism". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
13.Jump up ^ Nicola Davis (6 April 2014). "Cosmos: how the creator of Family Guy remade Carl Sagan's pivotal TV series". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c Nicholson, Max (March 7, 2014). "Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey – 'Standing Up in the Milky Way' Review". IGN. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
15.Jump up ^ Jennifer Wolfe (March 14, 2014). "DIVE VFX Tackles Effects for ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’". Animation World Network. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
16.Jump up ^ Bryan Bishop (March 9, 2014). "'Cosmos' review: making science cool again". The Verge. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
17.Jump up ^ Victoria McNally (March 6, 2014). "Learn More About the Awesome Animation Sequences in Cosmos From Producer Kara Vallow". Geekosystem. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
18.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 11, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time' & 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
19.Jump up ^ West, Steve (March 10, 2014). "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey Premieres To Low Ratings On Fox". Television Blend. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
20.Jump up ^ Collins, Scott (March 10, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Cosmos' premiere ratings: 40M first week?". L.A. Times. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
21.Jump up ^ MacFarlane, Seth (March 10, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane". Twitter. Twitter.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
22.^ Jump up to: a b c Teti, John (March 9, 2014). "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey begins by going as big as science can". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
23.Jump up ^ Plait, Phill (March 10, 2014). "Cosmos: On the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean". Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
24.^ Jump up to: a b Powell, Corey S. (March 10, 2014). "Did Cosmos Pick the Wrong Hero?". Discover. Kalmbach Publishing. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
25.^ Jump up to: a b Campbell, Hank (March 7, 2014). "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – The Review". Science 2.0. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
26.Jump up ^ Grenoble, Ryan (March 13, 2014). "Oklahoma TV Station Cuts Reference To Evolution In Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos". The Huffington Post. AOL Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
27.Jump up ^ "Sunday, during @COSMOSonTV [...]". Twitter. March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
28.Jump up ^ "We'll admit it: Sunday, we [...]". Twitter. March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
29.Jump up ^ "FOX 25 apologizes for error during Cosmos". KOKH-TV. WorldNow. March 13, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


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Some of the Things That Molecules Do
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"Some of the Things That Molecules Do"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 2
Directed by
Bill Pope
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
Michael O'Halloran
 John Duffy
 Eric Lea
Original air date
March 16, 2014
Running time
44 minutes
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Standing Up in the Milky Way" Next →
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Some of the Things That Molecules Do" is the second episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on March 16, 2014 on Fox.
The episode received positive reviews, with critics praising the beautiful graphics as well as the wonder-inspiring and straightforward narrative of how evolution works.[1][2] Despite positive reviews, however, the episode received a 2.0/5 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 4.95 million American viewers watching it live -- a decrease from the 5.77 million viewers who watched the series premiere.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 The human eye was used as a device to explain evolution to the audience.
The episode covers several facets of the origin of life and evolution. Tyson describes both artificial selection via selective breeding, using the example of mankind's domestication of wolves into dogs, and natural selection that created species like polar bears. Tyson uses the Ship of the Imagination to show how DNA, genes, and mutation work, and how these led to the diversity of species as represented by the Tree of Life, including how complex organs such as the eye came about as a common element. Tyson describes extinction of species and the five great extinction events that wiped out numerous species on Earth, while some species, such as the tardigrade, were able to survive and continue life. Tyson speculates on the possibility of life on other planets, such as Saturn's moon, Titan, as well as how abiogenesis may have originated life on Earth. The episode concludes with an animation from the original Cosmos showing the evolution of life from a single cell to mankind today.
Reception[edit]
Upon airing on Fox, the episode received a 2.0/5 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 4.95 million American viewers watching it live. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind Resurrection, The Good Wife, and Believe; and twelfth out of sixteen for the night.[3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Baumgartner, Alison (March 14, 2014). "TV Review: ‘Cosmos : Some Of The Things That Molecules Do’". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Lee, Adam (March 18, 2014). "TV Review: Cosmos, Episode 2". Patheos.com. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Bibel, Sara (March 18, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Resurrection', 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Cosmos', 'American Dad' & 'Believe' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Some of the Things That Molecules Do" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


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When Knowledge Conquered Fear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"When Knowledge Conquered Fear"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 3
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
Eric Lea
 Michael O'Halloran
 John Duffy
Original air date
March 23, 2014
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Cary Elwes as Edmond Halley / Robert Hooke
Tom Konkle as Samuel Pepys
Alexander Siddig as Isaac Newton

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" Next →
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"When Knowledge Conquered Fear" is the third episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on March 23, 2014 on Fox, and premiered on March 24, 2014 on National Geographic Channel.[1]
The episode received positive reviews, with critics remarking on the homage the series paid to theories that evolved due to contributions from Isaac Newton, Nicolaus Copernicus, Edmond Halley, and Robert Hooke.[2][3] Despite positive reviews, however, the episode received a 1.7/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 4.25 million American viewers watching it live.[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]











The three historical figures featured in the episode's narrative sequence, from left to right, Edmund Halley (1656 – 1742), Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703) and Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)
The episode begins with Tyson describing how we were born into this world without an explanation of our surroundings, much like a baby abandoned on a doorstep. To help us learn about our surroundings, Tyson explains how we manifested pattern recognition early in mankind, sharpening over eons of evolution. We distinguished predator from prey; poisonous plants from nourishing ones - enhancing our chance to live and reproduce, and passing on our genes. We used pattern recognition in astronomy and astrology, where different cultures, recognizing the patterns of stars in the skies, projected different symbols and pictures for constellations. We used it to predict the passing of the seasons, including how every culture determined that the passage of a comet was taken as an omen. Tyson continues to explain that the origin of comets only became known in the 20th century due to the work of Jan Oort and his hypothesis of the Oort cloud.
Tyson then continues to relate the collaboration Edmund Halley and Isaac Newton in the last part of the 17th century in Cambridge. The collaboration would result in the publication of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, the first major work to describe the laws of physics in mathematical terms, challenging the prevailing notion that God had planned out the heavens, and against objections and claims of plagiarism from Robert Hooke, and financial difficulties of the Royal Society of London. Tyson explains how Newton's work would influence many factors of life, including modern space flight. Tyson further describes Halley's contributions including determining Earth's distance to the sun, the motion of stars and predicting of the orbit of the then-unnamed Halley's comet using Newton's laws. Tyson contrasts these scientific approaches to understanding the galaxy compared to what early mankind had done. The episode ends with animation of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies merging based on the principles of Newton's laws.
Reception[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.7/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 4.25 million American viewers watching it live. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind Resurrection, The Amazing Race All-Stars, and Believe; and thirteenth out of eighteenth for the night.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Lewis, Tanya (March 22, 2014). "'Cosmos' Host Neil deGrasse Tyson Reflects on TV's New 'Spacetime Odyssey'". Yahoo! News. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Baumgartner, Alison (March 24, 2014). "TV Review: ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ – “When Knowledge Conquered Fear”". ScienceFiction.com. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Kaminski, Jeff (March 23, 2014). "‘Cosmos’ review: ‘When Knowledge Conquered Fear’". Geeksmash. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Kondolojy, Amanda (March 25, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dad' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes', 'Revenge' & 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
External links[edit]
"When Knowledge Conquered Fear" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


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A Sky Full of Ghosts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"A Sky Full of Ghosts"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 4
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
March 30, 2014
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Sir Patrick Stewart as William Herschel

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" Next →
 "Hiding in the Light"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"A Sky Full of Ghosts" is the fourth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on March 30, 2014 on Fox and on March 31, 2014 on National Geographic Channel.[1] The episode presented an in-depth treatment of black holes, beginning with John Michell's suggestion of the existence of an "invisible star" to the first discovery of a black hole, Cygnus X-1.[2] The episode's title is an allusion to how light from stars and other cosmic objects takes eons to travel to Earth, giving rise to the possibility that we might be viewing objects that no longer exist.
The episode received positive reviews, with one critic remarking on how the "high level of production value is consistently entertaining and informative."[3][4] Despite favorable reviews, however, the episode received a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 rating/share demo, with 3.91 million Americans watching it live on Fox, showing a steady decline from the series premiere.[5]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]
Tyson begins the episode by explaining the nature of the speed of light and how much of what is seen of the observable universe is from light emanated from billions of years ago. Tyson further explains how modern astronomy has used such analysis via deep time to identify the Big Bang event and the age of the universe.
Tyson proceeds to describe how the work of Isaac Newton, William Herschel, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell contributed to understanding the nature of electromagnetic waves and gravitational force, and how this work led towards Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, that the speed of light is a fundamental constant of the universe and gravity can be seen as distortion of the fabric of space-time. Tyson describes the concept of dark stars as postulated by John Michell which are not visible but detectable by tracking other stars trapped within their gravity wells, an idea Herschel used to discover binary stars.
Tyson then describes the nature of black holes, their enormous gravitational forces that can even capture light, and their discovery via X-ray sources such as Cygnus X-1. Tyson uses the Ship of Imagination to provide a postulate of the warping of spacetime and time dilation as one enters the event horizon of the black hole, and the possibility that these may lead to other points within our universe or others, or even time travel. Tyson ends on noting that Herschel's son, John would be inspired by his father to continue to document the known stars as well as contributions towards photography that play on the same nature of deep time used by astronomers.
Animated sequences in this episode feature William and John Herschel; Sir Patrick Stewart provided the voice for William in these segments.
Reception[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.91 million American viewers watching it live. It placed third and last in its timeslot behind Resurrection and Believe; and thirteenth out of eighteenth for the night.[5]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Poladian, Charles (March 30, 2014). "‘Cosmos’ Episode 4 Preview: ‘A Sky Full Of Ghosts’ Trailers Highlight Time, Light, Gravity And Patrick Stewart". IB Times. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "In-Depth Preview of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" --The Discovery of Black Holes (Episode 4)". The Daily Galaxy. The Daily Galaxy. March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Kaminski, Jeff (March 31, 2014). "‘Cosmos’ Review: ‘A Sky Full of Ghosts’". Geeksmash.com. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Brown, Laurel. "'Cosmos' episode 4: Speed, size and black holes in 'A Sky Full of Ghosts'". Zap2It. Zap2It. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Bibel, Sara (April 1, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife', 'Resurrection', 'Crisis', '60 Minutes' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
External links[edit]
"A Sky Full of Ghosts" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes




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Hiding in the Light
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"Hiding in the Light"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 5
Directed by
Bill Pope
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
April 6, 2014
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors

Alfred Molina as Ibn al-Haytham

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" Next →
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Hiding in the Light" is the fifth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on April 6, 2014 on Fox and aired on April 7, 2014 on National Geographic Channel. The episode explores properties of light, cameras, the scientific method, and the composition of the universe. The episode includes a look at the contributions of the 10th century physicist Ibn al-Haytham, described as the "father of the modern scientific method."[1][2]
The episode was received positively by critics, with many remarking on the brilliant visuals of the end sequence completed with Rhapsody in Blue "showcasing the same image of New York City, viewed through the filters of various wavelengths of light: visible, infrared, ultraviolent, X-ray, gamma ray, microwave, and even a radio image." [3][4] The episode maintained the previous week's 18-49 rating/share of 1.5/4, with 3.98 million American viewers watching on Fox.[5]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception 2.1 Ratings
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



Joseph von Fraunhofer's discovery of gaps in the spectrum of visible light from the sun, the lines uniquely corresponding to specific atomic elements, would lead to the use of astronomical spectroscopy to determine the composition of distant stellar objects.
This episode explores the wave theory of light as studied by mankind, noting that light has played an important role in scientific progress, with such early experiments from over 2000 years ago involving the camera obscura by the Chinese philosopher Mozi. Tyson describes the work of the 11th century Arabic scientist Ibn al-Haytham, considered to be one of the first to postulate on the nature of light and optics leading to the concept of the telescope, as well as one of the first researchers to use the scientific method.
Tyson proceeds to discuss the nature of light as discovered by mankind. Work by Isaac Newton using diffraction through prisms demonstrated that light was composed of the visible spectrum, while findings of William Herschel in the 19th century showed that light also consisted of infrared rays. Joseph von Fraunhofer would later come to discover that by magnifying the spectrum of visible light, gaps in the spectrum would be observed. These Fraunhofer lines would later be determined to be caused by the absorption of light by electrons in moving between atomic orbitals when it passed through atoms, with each atom having a characteristic signature due to the quantum nature of these orbitals. This since has led to the core of astronomical spectroscopy, allowing astronomers to make observations about the composition of stars, planets, and other stellar features through the spectral lines, as well as observing the motion and expansion of the universe, and the existence of dark matter.
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with an audience of 3.98 million American viewers. It placed third and last in its timeslot behind Resurrection and Believe; and twelfth out of fifteenth for the night.[5]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Poladian, Charles (April 6, 2014). "‘Cosmos’ Episode 5 Preview: We All Come From ‘Star Stuff In ‘Hiding In The Light’ [VIDEO]". Internation Business Times. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey: "Light! --Our Window on the Universe" (In-Depth Preview of Tonight's Episode 5)". The Daily Galaxy. April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (April 7, 2014). "'Cosmos' recap: Finding the secret code that's 'Hiding in the Light'". L.A. Times. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Kaminsky, Jeff (April 7, 2014). "Let there be light: a look at this week’s ‘Cosmos’". Geek Smash. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Kondolojy, Amanda (April 8, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dream Builders', 'America's Funniest Home Videos' & 'Resurrection' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Hiding in the Light" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes


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Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still
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"Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 6
Directed by
Bill Pope
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
April 13, 2014
Running time
44 minutes
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Hiding in the Light" Next →
 "The Clean Room"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" is the sixth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on April 13, 2014 on Fox and aired on April 14, 2014 on National Geographic Channel. The episode explores the smallest particles in the universe, where host Neil deGrasse Tyson "hunts for elusive neutrinos and the distant, early universe." The episode features the underground neutrino laboratory, Super-Kamiokande, located underneath Mount Kamioka in Japan.[1][2]
The episode received a 1.3/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.49 million American viewers watching on Fox.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception 2.1 Ratings
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 Supernova SN 1987A helped to prove the existence of neutrinos that resulted from the nuclear reactions deep within any star.
This episode exhibits the nature of the cosmos on the microscopic and atomic scales, using the Ship of the Imagination to explore these realms. Tyson describes some of the micro-organisms that live within a dewdrop, demonstrating parameciums and tardigrades. He proceeds to discuss how plants use photosynthesis via their chloroplasts to convert sunlight into chemical reactions which convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich sugars. Tyson then discusses the nature of molecules and atoms and how they relate to the evolution of species. He uses the example set forth by Charles Darwin postulating the existence of the long-tongued Morgan's sphinx moth based on the nature of the comet orchid with pollen far within the flower. He further demonstrates that scents from flowers are used to trigger olfactory centers in the brain, stimulating the mind to threats as to aid in the survival of the species.
Tyson narrates how Greek philosophers Thales and Democritus postulated that all matter was made up of combinations of atoms in a large number of configurations, and describes how carbon serves as the basic building block for life on Earth due to its unique chemical nature. Tyson examines the basic structure of atoms, their protons, neutrons, and electrons, and the nature of nuclear fusion, a process found to occur within most stars. He then discusses the existence of neutrinos created by these nuclear processes, and the attempts to detect such subatomic particles which normally pass through matter, requiring subterranean facilities like the Super-Kamiokande which were used to detect neutrinos from the supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. These neutrinos were detected before any light from the explosion reached us; this was due to their ability to pass through the matter of the dying star itself. Tyson compares how neutrinos were postulated by Wolfgang Pauli to account for the conservation of energy from nuclear reactions in the same manner as Darwin's postulate on the long-tongued moth. Tyson concludes by noting that neutrinos from the Big Bang still exist in the universe but, due to the nature of light, there is a "wall of infinity" beyond which we cannot observe.
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.3/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with an audience of 3.49 million American viewers. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind The Good Wife, Resurrection and Believe; and fourteenth out of seventeenth for the night.[3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Poladian, Charles (April 13, 2014). "'Cosmos' Episode 6 Preview: Neil DeGrasse Tyson Explores The Ancient In "Deeper Deeper Deeper Still" [VIDEOS]". International Business Times. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (April 12, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' (Episode 6) --In-Depth Preview & Backgrounder for "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still"". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Bibel, Sara (April 15, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'The Amazing Race', 'Cosmos', 'The Mentalist' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
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Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

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The Clean Room
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"The Clean Room"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 7
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steve Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
April 20, 2014
Running time
42 minutes
Guest actors

Richard Gere as Clair Patterson

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" Next →
 "Sisters of the Sun"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"The Clean Room" is the seventh episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on April 20, 2014, on Fox and aired on April 21, 2014, on National Geographic Channel. The episode explores the methods and processes used to measure the age of the Earth. The episode also pays tribute to geochemist Clair Patterson (voiced by Richard Gere) in his quest to remove the neurotoxin, lead, from gasoline.[1] The episode's title alludes to Patterson's attempts in sterilizing his lab after realizing that the inconsistent results in his experiments were due to lead contamination.
The episode received a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.74 million American viewers watching on Fox.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



Clair Patterson and his campaign against the commercial use of lead was featured in the episode's narrative sequence.
The episode describes how science, in particular the work of Clair Patterson (voiced in animated sequences by Richard Gere) in the middle of the 20th century, has been able to determine the age of the Earth. Tyson first describes how the Earth was formed from the coalescence of matter some millions of years after the formation of the Sun, and while scientists can examine the formations in rock stratum to date some geological events, these can only trace back millions of years. Instead, scientists have used the debris from meteor impacts, such as the Meteor Crater in Arizona, knowing that the material from such meteors coming from the asteroid belt would have been made at the same time as the Earth.
Tyson then outlines the work Patterson did as a graduate under his adviser Harrison Brown to provide an accurate count of lead in zircon particles from Meteor Crater, and to work with similar results being collected by George Tilton on uranium counts; with the established half-life of uranium's radioactive decay to lead, this would be used to estimate the age of the Earth. Patterson found that his results were contaminated by lead from the ambient environment, compared to Tilton's results, and required the construction of the first ultra-high cleanroom to remove all traces of environmental lead. With these clean results, Patterson was able to estimate the age of the Earth to 4.5 billion years.
Tyson goes on to explain that Patterson's work in performing lead-free experiments directed him to investigate the sources for lead. Tyson notes how lead does not naturally occur at Earth's surface but has been readily mined by humans (including the Roman Empire), and that lead is poisonous to humans. Patterson examined the levels of lead in the common environment and in deeper parts of the oceans and Antarctic ice, showing that lead had only been brought to the surface in recent times. He would discover that the higher levels of lead were from the use of tetraethyllead in leaded gasoline, despite long-established claims by Robert A. Kehoe and others that this chemical was safe. Patterson would continue to campaign against the use of lead, ultimately resulting in government-mandated restrictions on the use of lead. Tyson ends by noting that similar work by scientists continues to be used to help alert mankind to other fateful issues that can be identified by the study of nature.
Reception[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with an audience of 3.74 million American viewers. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind The Good Wife, In My Dreams, and Believe; and eighth out of seventeenth for the night.[2]
Jennifer Ouellette of the Los Angeles Times called it "the strongest, most coherent, and riveting episode yet."[3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Poladian, Charles (April 20, 2014). "'Cosmos' Episode 7 Preview: Neil DeGrasse Tyson Discovers Earth's Age In 'The Clean Room' [VIDEO]". International Business Times. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Kondolojy, Amanda (April 22, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up; 'Dateline', 'American Dream Builders', 'The Good Wife' & 'Believe' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Oullette, Jennifer (April 21, 2014). "'Cosmos' recap: Getting a fix on Earth's age, and the danger of lead". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
External links[edit]
"The Clean Room" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes


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Sisters of the Sun
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"Sisters of the Sun"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 8
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
April 27, 2014
Running time
44 minutes
Guest actors

Kirsten Dunst as Cecilia Payne
Marlee Matlin as Annie Jump Cannon

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The Clean Room" Next →
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Sisters of the Sun" is the eighth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on April 27, 2014 on Fox, and aired on April 28, 2014 on National Geographic Channel.[1] The episode explores the violent cosmic phenomenon of supernovas, which on average occur once per galaxy per century or one billion times per year in the observable universe.[2] The episode pays homage to the discoveries of two female astronomers, Cecilia Payne (voiced by Kirsten Dunst) and Annie Jump Cannon (voiced by Marlee Matlin), and the obstacles faced by female scientists, especially those working in the early 20th century.[3] Payne discovered the chemical composition of stars and that they consist largely of Hydrogen. Cannon developed the first catalog for the spectral characteristics of stars.[1] The episode's title refers to the scientific contributions of the female scientists featured in the episode as well as how their discoveries helped advance our knowledge of the composition of stars.
The episode received a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.66 million American viewers watching on Fox.[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Production
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 The Harvard Computers that helped to classify the types of stars
This episode provides an overview of the composition of stars, and their fate in billions of years. Tyson describes how early man would identify stars via the use of constellations that tied in with various myths and beliefs, such as the Pleiades. Tyson describes the work of Edward Charles Pickering to capture the spectra of multiple stars simultaneously, and the work of the Harvard Computers or "Pickering's Harem", a team of women researchers under Pickering's mentorship, to catalog the spectra. This team included Annie Jump Cannon, who developed the stellar classification system, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who has discovered the means to measure the distance from a star to the earth by its spectra, later used to identify other galaxies in the universe. Later, this team included Cecilia Payne, who would develop a good friendship with Cannon; Payne's thesis based on her work with Cannon was able to determine the composition and temperature of the stars, collaborating with Cannon's classification system.
Tyson then explains the lifecycle of stars, being borne out from interstellar clouds. He explains how stars like the Sun keep their size due to the conflicting forces of gravity that pulls the gases in, and the expansion from escaping gases from the fusion reactions at its core. As the Sun ages, it will grow hotter and brighter to the point where the balance between these reactions will fail, causing the Sun to first expand into a red giant, and then collapse into a white dwarf, the collapse limited by the atomic forces. Tyson explains how larger stars may form even more collapsed forms of matter, creating novas and supernovas depending on their size and leading to pulsars. Massive stars can collapse into black holes. Tyson then describes that stars can only be so large, using the example of Eta Carinae which is considered an unstable solar mass that could become a hypernova in the relatively near future. Tyson ends describing how all matter on Earth is the same stuff that stars are made of, and that light and energy from the stars is what drives life on Earth.
Production[edit]
Marlee Matlin, the only deaf performer to have received an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1986 film Children of a Lesser God, has collaborated with Cosmos executive producer Seth MacFarlane before in Family Guy where she voiced the character of Stella, Peter Griffin's deaf co-worker at Pawtucket Brewery.[1] Here, Matlin provides the voice of Annie Jump Cannon, a deaf astronomer at Harvard who, along with Edward C. Pickering, is credited with the creation of the Harvard Classification Scheme, which was the first serious attempt to organize and classify stars based on their temperatures.
Reception[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with an audience of 3.66 million American viewers. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind The Good Wife, Resurrection, and Believe; and thirteenth out of seventeenth for the night.[4]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c Gannon, Megan (April 26, 2014). "Kirsten Dunst, Marlee Matlin Voice Famed Female Astronomers on 'Cosmos' Sunday". Space.com. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (April 25, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' (Sunday's Episode 8) --Preview & Background for "Sisters of the Sun"". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Chambers, Becky (April 26, 2014). "Sunday’s Episode Of Cosmos Will Feature Two Female Astronomers Everybody Should Learn About". The Mary Sue. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Bibel, Sara (April 29, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Revenge' & 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Up; 'Believe', '60 Minutes', 'Dateline' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Sisters of the Sun" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes


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The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth"

Episode no.
Episode 9
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
May 4, 2014
Running time
42 minutes
Guest actors

Amanda Seyfried as Marie Tharp

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "Sisters of the Sun" Next →
 "The Electric Boy"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" is the ninth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on May 4, 2014 on Fox, and aired on May 5, 2014 on National Geographic Channel.[1] The episode was directed by Brannon Braga, written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and featured the voice of Amanda Seyfried as Geologist Marie Tharp. The episode explores the history of the Earth starting with the period of the Late Heavy Bombardment, approximately "3.8 to 4.1 Billion years ago during which the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Earth and were battered by space debris."[2] Host Neil deGrasse Tyson then delves into the biography of the Earth, expressed "in its continents, oceans and life living on and in them, saying 'the past is another planet,'" alluding to how plate tectonics have shaped the Earth over millions of years.[3]
The episode received a 1.6/5 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 4.08 million American viewers watching on Fox.[4]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 A map of Earth's plate tectonics
This episode explores the palaeogeography of Earth over millions of years, and its impact on the development of life on the planet. Tyson starts by explaining that the lignin-rich trees evolved in the Carboniferous era about 300 million years ago, were not edible by species at the time and would instead fall over and become carbon-dioxide-rich coal. Some 50 million years later, near the end of the Permian period, volcanic activity would burn the carbonaceous matter, releasing the carbon dioxide and acidic components, creating a sudden greenhouse gas effect that warmed the oceans and released methane from the ocean beds, all leading towards the Permian–Triassic extinction event, killing 90% of the species on Earth.
Tyson then explains on the nature of plate tectonics that would shape the landmasses of the world. Tyson explains how scientists like Abraham Ortelius hypothesized the idea that land masses may have been connected in the past, Alfred Wegener who hypothesized the idea of a super-continent Pangaea and continental drift despite the prevailing idea of flooded land-bridges at the time, and Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp who discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that supported the theory of plate tectonics. Tyson describes how the landmasses of the earth lay atop the mantle, which moves due to the motion and heat of the earth's outer and inner core.
Tyson moves on to explain the asteroid impact that initiated the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, leaving small mammals as the dominate species on earth. Tyson proceeds to describe more recent geologic events such as the formation of the Mediterranean Sea due to the breaking of the natural dam at the Strait of Gibraltar, and how the geologic formation of the Isthmus of Panama broke the free flow of the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific, causing large-scale climate change such as turning the bulk of Africa from lush grasslands into arid plains and further influencing evolution towards tree-climbing mammals. Tyson further explains how the influence of other planets in the Solar System have small affects on the Earth's spin and tilt, creating the various ice ages, and how these changes influenced early human's nomadic behavior. Tyson concludes the episode by noting how Earth's landmasses are expected to change in the future and postulates what may be the next great extinction event.
Reception[edit]
The episode's premiere on Fox brought a 1.6/5 in the 18-49 rating/share, with an audience of 4.08 million American viewers. It placed fourth and last in its timeslot behind The Good Wife, Resurrection, and Believe; and thirteenth out of seventeenth for the night.[4]
See also[edit]
Geological history of the Earth
Plate tectonics
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Bowman, Sabienna (May 4, 2014). "Cosmos a Spacetime Odyssey Episode 9 “The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth”". TV Equals. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (May 5, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' -- "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" (Preview & Background)". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Algar, Jim (May 7, 2014). "Cosmos Episode 9 'The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth': Amanda Seyfried walks us through Earth's early past". Tech Times. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
4.^ Jump up to: a b Kondolojy, Amanda (May 6, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'Dateline' & 'Resurrection' Adjusted Up; 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
External links[edit]
"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes


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The Electric Boy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Not to be confused with Electric Boy.

"The Electric Boy"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 10
Directed by
Bill Pope
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
May 11, 2014
Running time
41 minutes
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" Next →
 "The Immortals"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"The Electric Boy" is the tenth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on May 11, 2014 on Fox, and aired on May 12, 2014 on National Geographic Channel.[1] The episode was directed by Bill Pope, and written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter. The episode explores the Earth's magnetic field and the contributions of Michael Faraday, which paved the way for high technology and light-speed communication.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



Michael Faraday presenting his experiments with electromagnetism at a Christmas Lecture, 1856
This episode provides an overview of the nature of electromagnetism, as discovered through the work of Michael Faraday. Tyson explains how the idea of another force of nature, similar to gravitational forces, had been postulated by Isaac Newton before. Tyson continues on Faraday, coming from poor beginnings, would end up becoming interested in studying electricity after reading books and seeing lectures by Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Davy would hire Faraday after seeing extensive notes he had taken to act as his secretary and lab assistant.
After Davy and chemist William Hyde Wollaston unsuccessfully tried to build on Hans Christian Ørsted's discovery of the electromagnetic phenomena to harness the ability to create motion from electricity, Faraday was able to create his own device to create the first electric motor by applying electricity aligned along a magnet. Davy, bitter over Faraday's breakthrough, put Faraday on the task of improving the quality of high-quality optical glass, preventing Faraday from continuing his research. Faraday, undeterred, continued to work in the Royal Institution, and created the Christmas Lectures designed to teach science to children. Following Davy's death, Faraday returned to full time efforts studying electromagnetism, creating the first electrical generator by inserting a magnet in a coil of wires.
Tyson continues to note that despite losing some of his mental capacity, Faraday concluded that electricity and magnetism were connected by unseen fields, and postulated that light may also be tied to these forces. Using a sample of the optical glass that Davy had him make, Faraday discovered that an applied magnetic field could affect the polarization of light passing through the glass sample (a dielectric material), leading to what is called the Faraday effect and connecting these three forces. Faraday postulated that these fields existed across the planet, which would later by called Earth's magnetic field generated by the rotating molten iron inner core, as well as the phenomena that caused the planets to rotate around the sun. Faraday's work was initially rejected by the scientific community due to his lack of mathematical support, but James Clerk Maxwell would later come to rework Faraday's theories into the Maxwell's equations that validated Faraday's theories. Their combined efforts created the basis of science that drives the principles of modern communications today.
Reception[edit]
The episode received a 1.1/3 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.46 million American viewers watching on Fox. It placed third and last in its timeslot behind The Good Wife and Rosemary's Baby; and eleventh out of fifteenth for the night. [3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Bowman, Sabienna (May 11, 2014). "Cosmos a Spacetime Odyssey Episode 10 “The Electric Boy”". TV Equals. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (May 11, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' -- "The Electric Boy" (Background for Sunday's Episode)". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (May 13, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dad' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; 'Revenge', 'Cosmos' & 'Dateline' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
External links[edit]
"The Electric Boy" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
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Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
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The Immortals (Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey)
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"The Immortals"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 11
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
May 18, 2014
Running time
43 minutes
Guest actors


Christiane Amanpour as Enheduanna

Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The Electric Boy" Next →
 "The World Set Free"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"The Immortals" is the eleventh episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on May 18, 2014, on Fox, and aired on May 19, 2014, on National Geographic Channel.[1] The episode was written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and directed by Brannon Braga. The episode explores the possibility of the interstellar spread of life and possible alien encounters. The episode also presents the hypothesis of panspermia, where the origin of life is attributed to comets or asteroids carrying radiation-resistant organisms.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



Carl Sagan with a replica of the Mars Viking program lander
This episode covers the nature of how life may have developed on Earth and the possibility of life on other planets. Tyson begins by explaining how the human development of writing systems enabled the transfer of information through generations, describing how Princess Enheduanna (Christiane Amanpour) ca. 2280 BCE would be one of the first to sign her name to her works, and how Gilgamesh collected stories, including that of Utnapishtim documenting a great flood comparable to the story of Noah's Ark. Tyson explains how DNA similarly records information to propagate life, and postulates theories of how DNA originated on Earth, including evolution from a shallow tide pool, or from the ejecta of meteor collisions from other planets. In the latter case, Tyson explains how comparing the composition of the Nakhla meteorite in 1911 to results collected by the Viking program demonstrated that material from Mars could transit to Earth, and the ability of some microbes to survive the harsh conditions of space. With the motions of solar systems through the galaxy over billions of years, life could conceivably propagate from planet to planet in the same manner.
Tyson then moves on to consider if life on other planets could exist. He explains how Project Diana, performed in the 1960s, showed that radio waves are able to travel in space, and that all of humanity's broadcast signals continue to radiate into space from our planet. Tyson says that projects have since looked for similar signals potentially emanating from other solar systems and that the development and lifespan of extraterrestrial civilizations must be considered for such detection to be realized. According to Tyson, civilizations can be wiped out by cosmic events like supernovae, natural disasters such as the Toba disaster, or even self-destruct through war or other means, making probability estimates difficult. Tyson describes how elliptical galaxies, in which some of the oldest red dwarf stars exist, would offer the best chance of finding established civilizations. He concludes that human intelligence properly applied should allow our species to avoid such disasters and enable us to migrate beyond the Earth before the Sun's eventual transformation into a red giant. Tyson ends the episode with a quote that humanity still has many "rivers" (voyages to come) to cross.
Reception[edit]
The episode received a 1.1/3 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.24 million American viewers watching on Fox. It placed second out of third in its timeslot between The Good Wife and The Women of SNL; and ninth out of fourteenth for the night.[3]
Jennifer Ouellette wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "After several wonderful narrative- and character-driven episodes, it's a bit of a letdown to have the series lapse back into the tenuous connections and aimless wandering of earlier episodes. 'The Immortals' talks a lot about the power of story; too bad it doesn't heed its own counsel in this case."[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Gannon, Megan (May 17, 2014). "'Cosmos' Tackles Life and Death in Sunday's Episode". Space.com. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (May 17, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' -- "The Immortals" (Preview & Background for Sunday's Episode)". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 20, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Ouellette, Jennifer (May 19, 2014). "'Cosmos' recap: 'The Immortals' and the origins of life". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
External links[edit]
"The Immortals" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
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Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
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 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
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The World Set Free (Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey)
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Jump to: navigation, search


"The World Set Free"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 12
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
June 1, 2014
Running time
40 minutes
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The Immortals" Next →
 "Unafraid of the Dark"

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"The World Set Free" is the twelfth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on June 1, 2014, on Fox, and aired on June 2, 2014, on National Geographic Channel. The episode was written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and directed by Brannon Braga. The episode explores global warming, humanity's effect on the Earth's atmosphere, and what we can do to mitigate it, including a look at alternative energy technologies.[1] The episode also examines the planet Venus to inspect the runaway greenhouse effect.[2] The episode's title alludes to H.G. Wells' novel published in 1914, The World Set Free, where Wells predicts that humanity will develop destructive nuclear weapons, perpetuating a devastating global war and forcing the world to come to its senses to create a peaceful society that harnesses the power of atomic energy.


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 The increase in surface temperatures on Earth due to global warming
This episode explores the nature of the greenhouse effect and the evidence demonstrating the existence of global warming from humanity's influence. Tyson begins by describing the long-term history of the planet Venus; based on readings from the Venera series of probes to the planet, the planet had once had an ocean and an atmosphere, but due to the release of carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions, the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus caused the surface temperatures to increase and boiled away the oceans.
Tyson then notes the delicate nature of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can influence Earth's climate due to the greenhouse effect, and that levels of carbon dioxide have been increasing since the start of the 20th century. Evidence has shown this to be from mankind's consumption of oil, coal, and gas instead of from volcanic eruptions due to the isotopic signature of the carbon dioxide. The increase in carbon dioxide has led to an increase in temperatures, in turn leading to positive feedback loops of the melting polar ice caps and thawing-out of the permafrost to increase carbon dioxide levels.
As early as 1896 Svante Arrhenius published a scientific paper regarding Man's emission of carbon dioxide, followed by E.O. Hulburt in the 1930s and Guy Callendar.
Tyson then notes that humans have discovered means of harvesting solar power. At the 1878 World's Fair Augustin Mouchot won a gold medal for his solar power concentrator. In 1913 Frank Shuman constructed a solar powered irrigation plant in Egypt, with a view to transforming Sahara to arable land. Tyson points out that in both cases, the economics and ease of using cheap coal and oil caused these inventions to be overlooked at the time. Today, solar and wind-power systems would be able to collect enough solar energy from the Sun easily. Tyson then compares the motivation for switching to these cleaner forms of energy to the efforts of the Space Race and emphasizes that it is not too late for humanity to correct its course.
Reception[edit]
The episode received a 1.3/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.52 million American viewers watching on Fox. It placed third and last in its timeslot behind Believe and The Good Wife; and tenth out of fifteenth for the night.[3]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Gannon, Megan (May 31, 2014). "'Cosmos' Visits Venus to Talk Climate Change Sunday Night". Space.com. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ The Daily Galaxy (May 31, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' -- "Ancient Greenhouse Worlds" (Background for Sunday's Episode)". The Daily Galaxy. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (June 3, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Bachelorette' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
External links[edit]
"The World Set Free" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


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Documentary films about global warming


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Unafraid of the Dark
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


"Unafraid of the Dark"
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episode
Episode no.
Episode 13
Directed by
Ann Druyan
Written by
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Narrated by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Produced by
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Featured music
Alan Silvestri
Editing by
John Duffy
 Michael O'Halloran
 Eric Lea
Original air date
June 8, 2014
Running time
44 minutes
Episode chronology

← Previous
 "The World Set Free" Next →
—

List of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
"Unafraid of the Dark" is the thirteenth and last episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and its series finale. It premiered on June 8, 2014, on Fox and aired on June 9, 2014, on the National Geographic Channel. The episode was written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and directed by Ann Druyan, making this her series directorial debut. The episode explores the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, as well as the contributions and theories of Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, who furthered our understanding of "supernovae, neutron stars and 'standard candles.'"[1] The finale reveals a recording of life on Earth - the final message on the golden record of the space probe, Voyager.[2] The episode ends with Carl Sagan's (host of the original Cosmos) iconic speech on Earth as the "Pale Blue Dot."[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Episode summary
2 Reception
3 References
4 External links

Episode summary[edit]



 The Pale Blue Dot, taken by Voyager I from outside the orbit of Neptune
Tyson begins the episode by noting how the destruction of the Library of Alexandria lost much of humanity's knowledge to that point. He then contrasts on the strive for humanity to continue to discover new facts about the universe and the need to not close off further discovery.
Tyson then proceeds to describe the discovery of cosmic rays by Victor Hess through high-altitude balloon trips, where radiation increased the farther one was from the surface. Swiss Astronomer Fritz Zwicky, in studying supernovae, postulated that these cosmic rays originated from these events instead of electromagnetic radiation. Zwicky would continue to study supernovae, and by looking at standard candles that they emitted, estimated the movement of the galaxies in the universe. His calculations suggested that there must be more mass in the universe than those apparent in the observable galaxies, and called this dark matter. Initially forgotten, Zwicky's theory was confirmed by the work of Vera Rubin, who observed that the rotation of stars at the edges of observable galaxies did not follow expected rotational behavior without considering dark matter. This further led to the discovery of dark energy by Edwin Hubble to account for the known rate of expansion of the universe beyond the visible and dark matter mass.
Tyson then describes the interstellar travel, using the two Voyager probes. Besides the abilities to identify several features on the planets of the solar system, Voyager I was able to recently demonstrate the existence of the Sun's variable heliosphere which help buffer the Solar System from interstellar winds. Tyson describes Carl Sagan's role in the Voyager program, including creating the Voyager Golden Record to encapsulate humanity and Earth's position in the universe, and convincing the program directors to have Voyager I to take a picture of Earth from beyond the orbit of Neptune, creating the image of the Pale Blue Dot. Tyson concludes the series by emphasizing Sagan's message on the human condition in the vastness of the cosmos, and to encourage viewers to continue to explore and discover what else the universe has to offer.
The series concludes with the empty-seated Ship of the Imagination leaving Earth and traveling through space as Tyson looks on from planet Earth.
Reception[edit]
The episode received a 1.1/3 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.09 million American viewers watching on Fox.[4]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Saunders, Cherie (June 6, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Cosmos’ Goes ‘Dark’ for Season Finale". Eurweb.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ Girard, Raoul (June 7, 2014). "The Final Journey of the Legendary Cosmos". FrenchTribune.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
3.Jump up ^ Delhi Daily News (June 7, 2014). "Cosmos explores 'Dark Energy' in series finale". DelhiDailyNews.com. Retrieved June 7, 2014.
4.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (June 10, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: NBA Finals Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
External links[edit]
"Unafraid of the Dark" at the Internet Movie Database
Official website


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey


Cosmos: A Personal Voyage ·
 Carl Sagan
 

Episodes
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" ·
 "Some of the Things That Molecules Do" ·
 "When Knowledge Conquered Fear" ·
 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" ·
 "Hiding in the Light" ·
 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" ·
 "The Clean Room" ·
 "Sisters of the Sun" ·
 "The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" ·
 "The Electric Boy" ·
 "The Immortals" ·
 "The World Set Free" ·
 "Unafraid of the Dark"
 
Cat's Eye Nebula


Crew
Neil deGrasse Tyson (host) ·
 Ann Druyan (writer/director) ·
 Steven Soter (writer/director) ·
 Seth MacFarlane (executive producer) ·
 Brannon Braga (director) ·
 Bill Pope (director/cinematographer) ·
 Alan Silvestri (composer)
 

Related
Fox Broadcasting Company ·
 Fuzzy Door Productions ·
 National Geographic Channel
 

Portal Portal:Science ·
 Portal Portal:Astronomy
 

 


Categories: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey episodes
Television series finales


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Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


Cosmos:
 A Spacetime Odyssey
Cosmos spacetime odyssey titlecard.jpg
Genre
Science documentary
Based on
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
 by Carl Sagan
Ann Druyan
Steven Soter
Written by
Ann Druyan
 Steven Soter
Directed by
Brannon Braga
Bill Pope
 Ann Druyan
Presented by
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Composer(s)
Alan Silvestri
Country of origin
United States
Original language(s)
English
No. of episodes
13 (List of episodes)
Production

Executive producer(s)
Seth MacFarlane
Ann Druyan
Brannon Braga
Mitchell Cannold

Producer(s)
Livia Hanich
 Steven Holtzman
Editor(s)
John Duffy
 Eric Lea
 Michael O'Halloran
Location(s)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Culver City, California
Cinematography
Bill Pope
Running time
44 minutes
Production company(s)
Cosmos Studios
Fuzzy Door Productions
 Santa Fe Studios
Broadcast

Original channel
Fox
National Geographic Channel
Picture format
16:9 HDTV
Original run
March 9, 2014 – June 8, 2014
Chronology

Preceded by
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
External links
Website
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 American science documentary television series.[1] The show is a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which was presented by Carl Sagan on the Public Broadcasting Service and is considered a milestone for scientific documentaries. This series was developed to bring back the foundation of science to network television at the height of other scientific-based television series and films. The show is presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who, as a young college student, was inspired by Sagan. Among the executive producers are Seth MacFarlane, whose clout and financial investment were instrumental in bringing the show to broadcast television, and Ann Druyan, Sagan's widow and a co-creator of the original series.[2][3] The series loosely follows the same thirteen-episode format and storytelling approach that the original Cosmos used, including elements such as the "Ship of the Imagination" and the "Cosmic Calendar," but features information updated since the 1980 series along with extensive computer-generated graphics and animation footage augmenting the narration. The show is produced by Brannon Braga, and Alan Silvestri provides the backing score.[4]
The series premiered on March 9, 2014,[5] simultaneously in the US across ten 21st Century Fox networks. The remainder of the series aired on the Fox Network, with the National Geographic Channel rebroadcasting the episodes the next night with extra content.[6] The series has been rebroadcast internationally in dozens of other countries by local National Geographic and Fox stations. The series concluded on June 8, 2014, with home media release of the entire series on June 10, 2014.


Contents  [hide]
1 Background
2 Development
3 Broadcast
4 Media release
5 Episodes
6 Reception
7 References
8 External links

Background[edit]
The original 13-part Cosmos: A Personal Voyage first aired in 1980 on the Public Broadcasting System, and was hosted by Carl Sagan. The show has been considered highly significant since its broadcast; David Itzkoff of The New York Times described it as "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming."[7] The show has been watched by at least 400 million people across 60 different countries,[7] and until the 1990 documentary The Civil War, remained the network's highest rated program.[8]
Following Sagan's death in 1996, his widow Ann Druyan, the co-creator of the original Cosmos series along with Steven Soter, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson sought to create a new version of the series, aimed to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and not just to those interested in the sciences. They had struggled for years with reluctant television networks that failed to see the broad appeal of the show.[7]
Development[edit]



 Animator Seth MacFarlane was instrumental in obtaining network funding for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and also serves as an executive producer.
Seth MacFarlane had met Druyan through Tyson at the 2008 kickoff event for the Science & Entertainment Exchange, a new Los Angeles office of the National Academy of Sciences, designed to connect Hollywood writers and directors with scientists.[9] A year later, at a 2009 lunch in New York City with Tyson, MacFarlane learned of their interest to re-create Cosmos. He was influenced by Cosmos as a child, believing that Cosmos served to "[bridge] the gap between the academic community and the general public."[9] At the time MacFarlane told Tyson, "I'm at a point in my career where I have some disposable income ... and I’d like to spend it on something worthwhile."[10] MacFarlane had considered the reduction of effort for space travel in recent decades to be part of "our culture of lethargy."[7] MacFarlane, who has several series on the Fox network, was able to bring Druyan to meet the heads of Fox programming, Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly, and helped secure the greenlighting of the show.[7] MacFarlane admits that he is "the least essential person in this equation" and the effort is a departure from work he's done before, but considers this to be "very comfortable territory for me personally."[7] He and Druyan have become close friends, and Druyan stated that she believed that Sagan and MacFarlane would have been "kindred spirits" with their respective "protean talents."[7] In June 2012, MacFarlane provided funding to allow about 800 boxes of Sagan's personal notes and correspondences to be donated to the Library of Congress.[9]



 The interior of the "Ship of the Imagination," the top from the original Cosmos (with Sagan in the chair), and the bottom from the 2014 series (with Tyson in the chair). The new series uses computer-generated special effects to help aid in the show's narration.
In a Point of Inquiry interview, Tyson discussed their goal of capturing the "spirit of the original Cosmos," which he describes as "uplifting themes that called people to action."[11] Druyan describes the themes of wonder and skepticism they are infusing into the scripts, in an interview with Skepticality, "In order for it to qualify on our show it has to touch you. It still has to be rigorously good science—no cutting corners on that. But then, it also has to be that equal part skepticism and wonder both."[12] In a Big Picture Science interview, Tyson credits the success of the original series for the proliferation of science programming, “The task for the next generation of Cosmos is a little bit different because I don’t need to teach you textbook science. There’s a lot of textbook science in the original Cosmos, but that’s not what you remember most. What most people who remember the original series remember most is the effort to present science in a way that has meaning to you that can influence your conduct as a citizen of the nation and of the world—especially of the world.” Tyson states that the new series will contain both new material and updated versions of topics in the original series, but primarily, will service the “needs of today’s population." “We want to make a program that is not simply a sequel to the first, but issues forth from the times in which we are making it, so that it matters to those who is this emergent 21st century audience.”[13] Tyson considered that recent successes of science-oriented shows like The Big Bang Theory, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and films like Gravity, that "science has become mainstream" and expects Cosmos "will land on hugely fertile ground."[10]
Tyson comments on the "love-hate relationship" viewers had with the original series' Spaceship of the Imagination, but confirms that they are developing "vehicles of storytelling."[11] Tyson affirmed that defining elements of the original series such as the Spaceship of the Imagination and the Cosmic Calendar with improved special effects, as well as new elements, would be present. Animation for these sequences was created by a team hand-picked by MacFarlane for the series.[10] Kara Vallow developed and produced the animation, and the animation studio used was Six Point Harness in Los Angeles, California.[14] The sound of the Spaceship of the Imagination, and sound design in general, was created by Rick Steele, who said of the show: "Cosmos has been, by far, the most challenging show of my career."[15] The updated Spaceship was designed to "remain timeless and very simple," according to MacFarlane, using the ceiling to project future events and the floor for those in the past, to allow Tyson, as the host, to "take [the viewer] to the places that he’s talking about."[16]
Broadcast[edit]



 Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts and narrates the show.
In August 2011, the show was officially announced for primetime broadcast in the spring of 2014. The show is a co-production of Druyan's Cosmos Studios, MacFarlane's Fuzzy Door Productions, and National Geographic Channel; Druyan, MacFarlane, Cosmos Studios' Mitchell Cannold, and director Brannon Braga are the executive producers.[2]
Fox's CEO Kevin Reilly considered that the show would be a risk and outside the network's typical programming, but that "we believe this can have the same massive cultural impact that the original series delivered," and committed the network's resources to the show.[2] The show would first be broadcast on Fox, re-airing the same night on the National Geographic Channel.[2]
In Canada, the show was broadcast simultaneously on Global, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild.[17] A preview of the show's first episode was aired for student filmmakers at the White House Student Film Festival on February 28, 2014.[18]
Cosmos premiered simultaneously in the US across ten Fox networks: Fox, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, and Fox Life. According to Fox Networks, this was the first time that a TV show was set to premiere in a global simulcast across their network of channels.[19]
The Fox network broadcast averaged about 5.8 million viewers in Nielsen’s affiliate-based estimates for the 9 o’clock hour Sunday, as well as a 2.1 rating/5 share in adults 18-49. The under-50 audience was roughly 60% men. Viewing on other networks raised these totals to 8.5 million and a 2.9 rating in the demo, according to Nielsen.[20]
Media release[edit]
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 10, 2014. The set contains all 13 episodes, plus an audio commentary on the first episode, and three featurettes: "Celebrating Carl Sagan: A Selection from the Library of Congress Dedication," "Cosmos at Comic-Con 2013" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – The Voyage Continues." Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the interactive Cosmic Calendar.[21]
Episodes[edit]

No.
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
U.S. viewers
 (millions)

1
"Standing Up in the Milky Way" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter March 9, 2014 5.77[24] / 8.5[25]



 The Earth's location within the Virgo Supercluster.
The show begins with a brief introduction recorded by President of the United States Barack Obama describing the "spirit of discovery" that the series aspires to give to its viewers.[22][23]
Tyson opens the episode to reflect on the importance of Sagan's original Cosmos, and the goals of this series. He introduces the viewer to the "Ship of the Imagination," the show's narrative device to explore the universe's past, present, and future. Tyson takes the viewer to show where Earth sits in the scope of the known universe, defining the Earth's "address" within the Virgo Supercluster. Tyson explains how humanity has not always seen the universe in this manner, and describes the hardships and persecution of Renaissance Italian Giordano Bruno in challenging the prevailing geocentric model held by the Catholic Church. To show Bruno's vision of the cosmic order he uses an animated adaptation of the Flammarion engraving, a 19th century illustration that has now become a common meme for the revealing of the mysteries of the Universe.
The episode continues onto the scope of time, using the concept of the Cosmic Calendar as used in the original series to provide a metaphor for this scale. The narration describes how if the Big Bang occurred on January 1, all of mankind's recorded history would be compressed in the last second of the last minute on December 31. Tyson concludes the episode by recounting how Sagan inspired him as a student as well as his other contributions to the scientific community.
2
"Some of the Things That Molecules Do" Bill Pope Ann Druyan and Steven Soter March 16, 2014 4.95[26]



 The diversity of species as shown via the Tree of Life.
The episode covers several facets of the origin of life and evolution. Tyson describes both artificial selection via selective breeding, using the example of mankind's domestication of wolves into dogs, and natural selection that created species like polar bears. Tyson uses the Ship of the Imagination to show how DNA, genes, and mutation work, and how these led to the diversity of species as represented by the Tree of life, including how complex organs such as the eye came about as a common element.
Tyson describes extinction of species and the five great extinction events that wiped out numerous species on Earth, while some species, such as the tardigrade, were able to survive and continue life. Tyson speculates on the possibility of life on other planets, such as Saturn's moon, Titan, as well as how abiogenesis may have originated life on Earth. The episode concludes with an animation from the original Cosmos showing the evolution of life from a single cell to mankind today.
3
"When Knowledge Conquered Fear" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter March 23, 2014 4.25[27]



 The first page of Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica The episode begins with Tyson describing how pattern recognition manifested in early civilization as using astronomy and astrology to predict the passing of the seasons, including how the passage of a comet was often taken as an omen. Tyson continues to explain that the origin of comets only became known in the 20th century due to the work of Jan Oort and his hypothesis of the Oort cloud.
Tyson then continues to relate the collaboration between Edmond Halley and Isaac Newton in the last part of the 17th century in Cambridge. The collaboration would result in the publication of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, the first major work to describe the laws of physics in mathematical terms, despite objections and claims of plagiarism from Robert Hooke and financial difficulties of the Royal Society of London. Tyson explains how this work challenged the prevailing notion that God had planned out the heavens, but would end up influencing many factors of modern life, including space flight.
Tyson further describes Halley's contributions based on Newton's work, including determining Earth's distance to the sun, the motion of stars and predicting the orbit of then-unnamed Halley's Comet using Newton's laws. Tyson contrasts these scientific approaches to understanding the galaxy compared to what earlier civilizations had done, and considers this advancement as mankind's first steps into exploring the universe. The episode ends with an animation of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies' merging based on the principles of Newton's laws.
4
"A Sky Full of Ghosts" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter March 30, 2014 3.91[28]



 An artist's concept of a black hole's accretion disk.
Tyson begins the episode by explaining the nature of the speed of light and how much of what is seen of the observable universe is from light emanated from billions of years in the past. Tyson further explains how modern astronomy has used such analyses via deep time to identify the Big Bang event and the age of the universe.
Tyson proceeds to describe how the work of Isaac Newton, William Herschel, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell contributed to understanding the nature of electromagnetic waves and gravitational force, and how this work led towards Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, that the speed of light is a fundamental constant of the universe and gravity can be seen as distortion of the fabric of space-time. Tyson describes the concept of dark stars as postulated by John Michell which are not visible but detectable by tracking other stars trapped within their gravity wells, an idea Herschel used to discover binary stars.
Tyson then describes the nature of black holes, their enormous gravitational forces that can even capture light, and their discovery via X-ray sources such as Cygnus X-1. Tyson uses the Ship of Imagination to provide a postulate of the warping of spacetime and time dilation as one enters the event horizon of the black hole, and the possibility that these may lead to other points within our universe or others, or even time travel. Tyson ends on noting that Herschel's son, John would be inspired by his father to continue to document the known stars as well as contributions towards photography that play on the same nature of deep time used by astronomers.
Animated sequences in this episode feature caricatures of William and John Herschel; Patrick Stewart provided the voice for William in these segments.
5
"Hiding in the Light" Bill Pope Ann Druyan and Steven Soter April 6, 2014 3.98[29]



 Representative Fraunhofer lines used in astronomical spectroscopy to determine the composition of distant stellar objects
This episode explores the wave theory of light as studied by mankind, noting that light has played an important role in scientific progress, with such early experiments from over 2000 years ago involving the camera obscura by the Chinese philosopher Mozi. Tyson describes the work of the 11th century Arabic scientist Ibn al-Haytham, considered to be one of the first to postulate on the nature of light and optics leading to the concept of the telescope, as well as one of the first researchers to use the scientific method.
Tyson proceeds to discuss the nature of light as discovered by mankind. Work by Isaac Newton using diffraction through prisms demonstrated that light was composed of the visible spectrum, while findings of William Herschel in the 19th century showed that light also consisted of infrared rays. Joseph von Fraunhofer would later come to discover that by magnifying the spectrum of visible light, gaps in the spectrum would be observed. These Fraunhofer lines would later be determined to be caused by the absorption of light by electrons in moving between atomic orbitals (in the show illustrated by the Bohr model) when it passed through atoms, with each atom having a characteristic signature due to the quantum nature of these orbitals. This since has led to the core of astronomical spectroscopy, allowing astronomers to make observations about the composition of stars, planets, and other stellar features through the spectral lines, as well as observing the motion and expansion of the universe, and the existence of dark matter.
6
"Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" Bill Pope Ann Druyan and Steven Soter April 13, 2014 3.49[30]



 Supernova SN 1987A demonstrated the existence of neutrinos.
This episode looks to the nature of the cosmos on the micro and atomic scales, using the Ship of the Imagination to explore these realms. Tyson describes some of the micro-organisms that live within a dew drop, demonstrating parameciums and tardigrades. He proceeds to discuss how plants use photosynthesis via their chloroplasts to convert sunlight into chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen and energy-rich sugars. Tyson then discusses the nature of molecules and atoms and how they relate to the evolution of species. He uses the example set forth by Charles Darwin postulating the existence of the long-tongued Morgan's sphinx moth based on the nature of the comet orchid with pollen far within the flower. He further demonstrates that scents from flowers are used to trigger olfactory centers in the brain, stimulating the mind to threats as to aid in the survival of the species.
Tyson narrates how Greek philosophers Thales and Democritus postulated that all matter was made up of combinations of atoms in a large number of configurations, and describes how carbon forms the basic building block for life on Earth due to its unique chemical nature. Tyson explains on the basic atomic structure of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and the process of nuclear fusion that occurs in most stars that can overcome the electrostatic forces that normally keeps atoms from touching each other. He then discusses the existence of neutrinos that are created by these nuclear processes, and that typically pass through all matter, making them virtually undetectable. He explains how subterranean water pool facilities lined with special detectors like the Super-Kamiokande are used to detect neutrinos when they collide with water molecules. how neutrinos from supernova SN 1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud were detected three hours before the photons of light from the explosion were observed due to the neutrinos' ability to pass through matter of the dying sun. Tyson concludes by noting that there are neutrinos from the Big Bang still existing in the universe but due to the nature of light, there is a "wall of infinity" that cannot be observed beyond.
7
"The Clean Room" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter April 20, 2014 3.74[32]



 Meteor fragments from Meteor Crater in Arizona were used to estimate the age of the Earth and other materials in the Solar System.
This episode is centered around how science, in particular the work of Clair Patterson (voiced in animated sequences by Richard Gere[31]) in the middle of the 20th century, was able to determine the age of the Earth. Tyson first describes how the Earth was formed from the coalescence of matter some millions of years after the formation of the Sun, and while scientists can examine the formations in rock stratum to date some geological events, these can only trace back millions of years. Instead, scientists have used the debris from meteor impacts, such as the Meteor Crater in Arizona, knowing that the material from such meteors coming from the asteroid belt would have been made at the same time as the Earth.
Tyson then outlines the work Patterson did as a graduate under his adviser Harrison Brown to provide an accurate count of lead in zircon particles from Meteor Crater, and to work with similar results being collected by George Tilton on uranium counts; with the established half-life of uranium's radioactive decay to lead, this would be used to estimate the age of the Earth. Patterson found that his results were contaminated by lead from the ambient environment, compared to Tilton's results, and required the construction of the first ultra-high cleanroom to remove all traces of environmental lead. With these clean results, Patterson was able to estimate the age of the Earth to 4.5 billion years.
Tyson goes on to explain that Patterson's work in performing lead-free experiments directed him to investigate the sources for lead. Tyson notes how lead does not naturally occur at Earth's surface but has been readily mined by humans (including the Roman Empire), and that lead is poisonous to humans. Patterson examined the levels of lead in the common environment and in deeper parts of the oceans and Antarctic ice, showing that lead had only been brought to the surface in recent times. He would discover that the higher levels of lead were from the use of tetraethyllead in leaded gasoline, despite long-established claims by Robert A. Kehoe and others that this chemical was safe. Patterson would continue to campaign against the use of lead, ultimately resulting in government-mandated restrictions on the use of lead. Tyson ends by noting that similar work by scientists continues to be used to help alert mankind to other fateful issues that can be identified by the study of nature.
8
"Sisters of the Sun" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter April 27, 2014 3.66[33]



 The Harvard Computers that helped to classify the types of stars
This episode provides an overview of the composition of stars, and their fate in billions of years. Tyson describes how early man would identify stars via the use of constellations that tied in with various myths and beliefs, such as the Pleiades. Tyson describes the work of Edward Charles Pickering to capture the spectra of multiple stars simultaneously, and the work of the Harvard Computers or "Pickering's Harem", a team of women researchers under Pickering's mentorship, to catalog the spectra. This team included Annie Jump Cannon, who developed the stellar classification system, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt, who has discovered the means to measure the distance from a star to the earth by its spectra, later used to identify other galaxies in the universe. Later, this team included Cecilia Payne, who would develop a good friendship with Cannon; Payne's thesis based on her work with Cannon was able to determine the composition and temperature of the stars, collaborating with Cannon's classification system.
Tyson then explains the lifecycle of stars, being borne out from interstellar clouds. He explains how stars like the Sun keep their size due to the conflicting forces of gravity that pulls the gases in, and the expansion from escaping gases from the fusion reactions at its core. As the Sun ages, it will grow hotter and brighter to the point where the balance between these reactions will fail, causing the Sun to first expand into a red giant, and then collapse into a white dwarf, the collapse limited by the atomic forces. Tyson explains how larger stars may form even more collapsed forms of matter, creating novas and supernovas depending on their size and leading to pulsars. Massive stars can collapse into black holes. Tyson then describes that stars can only be so large, using the example of Eta Carinae which is considered an unstable solar mass that could become a hypernova in the relatively near future. Tyson ends describing how all matter on Earth is the same stuff that stars are made of, and that light and energy from the stars is what drives life on Earth.
9
"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter May 4, 2014 4.08[34]



 A map of Earth's plate tectonics
This episode explores the palaeogeography of Earth over millions of years, and its impact on the development of life on the planet. Tyson starts by explaining that the lignin-rich trees evolved in the Carboniferous era about 300 million ago, were not edible by species at the time and would instead fall over and become carbon-rich coal. Some 50 million years later, near the end of the Permian period, volcanic activity would burn the carbonaceous matter, releasing carbon dioxide and acidic components, creating a sudden greenhouse gas effect that warmed the oceans and released methane from the ocean beds, all leading towards the Permian–Triassic extinction event, killing 90% of the species on Earth.
Tyson then explains on the nature of plate tectonics that would shape the landmasses of the world. Tyson explains how scientists like Abraham Ortelius hypothesized the idea that land masses may have been connected in the past, Alfred Wegener who hypothesized the idea of a super-continent Pangaea and continental drift despite the prevailing idea of flooded land-bridges at the time, and Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp who discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge that supported the theory of plate tectonics. Tyson describes how the landmasses of the earth lay atop the mantle, which moves due to the motion and heat of the earth's outer and inner core.
Tyson moves on to explain the asteroid impact that initiated the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, leaving small mammals as the dominant species on earth. Tyson proceeds to describe more recent geologic events such as the formation of the Mediterranean Sea due to the breaking of the natural dam at the Strait of Gibraltar, and how the geologic formation of the Isthmus of Panama broke the free flow of the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific, causing large-scale climate change such as turning the bulk of Africa from lush grasslands into arid plains and further influencing evolution towards tree-climbing mammals. Tyson further explains how the influence of other planets in the Solar System have small effects on the Earth's spin and tilt, creating the various ice ages, and how these changes influenced early human's nomadic behavior. Tyson concludes the episode by noting how Earth's landmasses are expected to change in the future and postulates what may be the next great extinction event.
10
"The Electric Boy" Bill Pope Ann Druyan and Steven Soter May 11, 2014 3.46[35]



Michael Faraday presenting his experiments with electromagnetism at a Christmas Lecture, 1856
This episode provides an overview of the nature of electromagnetism, as discovered through the work of Michael Faraday. Tyson explains how the idea of another force of nature, similar to gravitational forces, had been postulated by Isaac Newton before. Tyson continues on Faraday, coming from poor beginnings, would end up becoming interested in studying electricity after reading books and seeing lectures by Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Davy would hire Faraday after seeing extensive notes he had taken to act as his secretary and lab assistant.
After Davy and chemist William Hyde Wollaston unsuccessfully tried to build on Hans Christian Ørsted's discovery of the electromagnetic phenomena to harness the ability to create motion from electricity, Faraday was able to create his own device to create the first electric motor by applying electricity aligned along a magnet. Davy, bitter over Faraday's breakthrough, put Faraday on the task of improving the quality of high-quality optical glass, preventing Faraday from continuing his research. Faraday, undeterred, continued to work in the Royal Institution, and created the Christmas Lectures designed to teach science to children. Following Davy's death, Faraday returned to full time efforts studying electromagnetism, creating the first electrical generator by inserting a magnet in a coil of wires.
Tyson continues to note that despite losing some of his mental capacity, Faraday concluded that electricity and magnetism were connected by unseen fields, and postulated that light may also be tied to these forces. Using a sample of the optical glass that Davy had him make, Faraday discovered that an applied magnetic field could affect the polarization of light passing through the glass sample (a dielectric material), leading to what is called the Faraday effect and connecting these three forces. Faraday postulated that these fields existed across the planet, which would later be called Earth's magnetic field generated by the rotating molten iron inner core, as well as the phenomena that caused the planets to rotate around the sun. Faraday's work was initially rejected by the scientific community due to his lack of mathematical support, but James Clerk Maxwell would later come to rework Faraday's theories into the Maxwell's equations that validated Faraday's theories. Their combined efforts created the basis of science that drives the principles of modern communications today.
11
"The Immortals" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter May 18, 2014 3.24[36]



Carl Sagan with a replica of the Mars Viking program lander
This episode covers how life may have developed on Earth and the possibility of life on other planets. Tyson begins by explaining how the human development of writing systems enabled the transfer of information through generations, describing how Princess Enheduanna ca. 2280 BCE would be one of the first to sign her name to her works, and how Gilgamesh collected stories, including that of Utnapishtim documenting a great flood comparable to the story of Noah's Ark. Tyson explains how DNA similarly records information to propagate life, and postulates theories of how DNA originated on Earth, including evolution from a shallow tide pool, or from the ejecta of meteor collisions from other planets. In the latter case, Tyson explains how comparing the composition of the Nakhla meteorite in 1911 to results collected by the Viking program demonstrated that material from Mars could transit to Earth, and the ability of some microbes to survive the harsh conditions of space. With the motions of solar systems through the galaxy over billions of years, life could conceivably propagate from planet to planet in the same manner.
Tyson then moves on to consider if life on other planets could exist. He explains how Project Diana performed in the 1940s showed that radio waves are able to travel in space, and that all of humanity's broadcast signals continue to radiate into space from our planet. Tyson notes that projects have since looked for similar signals potentially emanating from other solar systems. Tyson then explains that the development and lifespan of extraterrestrial civilizations must be considered for such detection to be realized. He notes that civilizations can be wiped out by cosmic events like supernovae, natural disasters such as the Toba disaster, or even self-destruct through war or other means, making probability estimates difficult. Tyson describes how elliptical galaxies, in which some of the oldest red dwarf stars exist, would offer the best chance of finding established civilizations. Tyson concludes that human intelligence properly applied should allow our species to avoid such disasters and enable us to migrate beyond the Earth before the Sun's eventual transformation into a red giant. Princess Enheduanna's animation is modeled on CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who also did Enheduanna's voice.
12
"The World Set Free" Brannon Braga Ann Druyan and Steven Soter June 1, 2014 3.52[37]



 The increase in surface temperatures on Earth due to global warming
This episode explores the nature of the greenhouse effect (discovered by Joseph Fourier and Svante Arrhenius), and the evidence demonstrating the existence of global warming from humanity's influence. Tyson begins by describing the long-term history of the planet Venus; based on readings from the Venera series of probes to the planet, the planet had once had an ocean and an atmosphere, but due to the release of carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions, the runaway greenhouse effect on Venus caused the surface temperatures to increase and boiled away the oceans.
Tyson then notes the delicate nature of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can influence Earth's climate due to the greenhouse effect, and that levels of carbon dioxide have been increasing since the start of the 20th century. Evidence has shown this to be from mankind's consumption of oil, coal, and gas instead of from volcanic eruptions due to the isotopic signature of the carbon dioxide. The increase in carbon dioxide has led to an increase in temperatures, in turn leading to positive feedback loops of the melting polar ice caps and dethawing of the permafrost to increase carbon dioxide levels.
Tyson then notes that humans have discovered means of harvesting solar power, such as Augustin Mouchot's solar-driven motor in the 19th century, and Frank Shuman's solar-based steam generator in the 1910's. Tyson points out that in both cases, the economics and ease of using cheap coal and oil caused these inventions to be overlooked at the time. Today, solar and wind-power systems would be able to collect enough solar energy from the sun easily. Tyson then compares the motivation for switching to these cleaner forms of energy to the efforts of the Space race and emphasizes that it is not too late for humanity to correct its course.
13
"Unafraid of the Dark" Ann Druyan Ann Druyan and Steven Soter June 8, 2014 3.09[38]



 Earth as a pale blue dot in the middle of the rightmost band of light, taken by Voyager I from outside the orbit of Neptune
Tyson begins the episode by noting how the destruction of the Library of Alexandria lost much of humanity's knowledge to that point. He then contrasts on the strive for humanity to continue to discover new facts about the universe and the need to not close off further discovery.
Tyson then proceeds to describe the discovery of cosmic rays by Victor Hess through high-altitude balloon trips, where radiation increased the farther one was from the surface. Swiss Astronomer Fritz Zwicky, in studying supernovae, postulated that these cosmic rays originated from these events instead of electromagnetic radiation. Zwicky would continue to study supernovae, and by looking at standard candles that they emitted, estimated the movement of the galaxies in the universe. His calculations suggested that there must be more mass in the universe than those apparent in the observable galaxies, and called this dark matter. Initially forgotten, Zwicky's theory was confirmed by the work of Vera Rubin, who observed that the rotation of stars at the edges of observable galaxies did not follow expected rotational behavior without considering dark matter. This further led to the discovery of dark energy by Edwin Hubble to account for the known rate of expansion of the universe beyond the visible and dark matter mass.
Tyson then describes the interstellar travel, using the two Voyager probes. Besides the abilities to identify several features on the planets of the solar system, Voyager I was able to recently demonstrate the existence of the Sun's variable heliosphere which help buffer the Solar System from interstellar winds. Tyson describes Carl Sagan's role in the Voyager program, including creating the Voyager Golden Record to encapsulate humanity and Earth's position in the universe, and convincing the program directors to have Voyager I to take a picture of Earth from beyond the orbit of Neptune, creating the image of the Pale Blue Dot. Tyson concludes the series by emphasizing Sagan's message on the human condition in the vastness of the cosmos, and to encourage viewers to continue to explore and discover what else the universe has to offer.
The series concludes with the empty-seated Ship of the Imagination leaving Earth and traveling through space as Tyson looks on from planet Earth.
Reception[edit]
[icon] This section requires expansion. (June 2014)
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey has received very positive reviews from critics, and received a Metacritic rating of 82 out of 100 based on 19 reviews.[39]
The miniseries won the 4th Critics' Choice Television Award for "Best Reality Series," with Tyson awarded for "Best Reality Host."[40] The miniseries was also nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in News and Information" for the 30th TCA Awards[41] and 12 Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series."[42][43] The program won the Emmy for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming" and "Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera)" and Silvestri won the Emmys for both "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" and "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)."[44]
The new miniseries has been criticized by some Christians and the religious right for some of the views expressed by the show.[45] Christian fundamentalists were upset that the scientific theories covered in the show "squashed" the creation story in the Christian bible.[46] The Catholic League was upset that the science show "smears" Catholicism. A spokesman for the League noted how the show focused on Giordano Bruno who was persecuted by the Catholic Church for showing the Earth revolved around the Sun, and stated that the show "skipped Copernicus and Galileo—two far more consequential men in proving and disseminating the heliocentric theory—because in their cases, the Church's role was much more complicated."[47]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Overbye, Dennis (March 4, 2014). "A Successor to Sagan Reboots ‘Cosmos’". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rose, Lacey (August 5, 2011). "Fox Orders Seth MacFarlane's 'Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
3.Jump up ^ Sellers, John (August 5, 2011). "Seth MacFarlane to Produce Sequel to Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos'". Reuters. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
4.Jump up ^ "Alan Silvestri to Score ‘Cosmos – A Spacetime Odyssey’". Film Music Reporter. January 14, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
5.Jump up ^ "Library of Congress Officially Opens The Seth MacFarlane Collection of Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive". News from the Library of Congress. November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
6.Jump up ^ Stieber, Zachary (March 9, 2014). "‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ Premiere: Air Date, Time, TV Channel, Live Stream". Epoch Times. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Itzkoff, Dave (August 5, 2011). "‘Family Guy’ Creator Part of ‘Cosmos’ Update". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
8.Jump up ^ Blake, Meredith (May 13, 2013). "2013 Upfronts: Fox, Seth MacFarlane to reboot Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c "Science geek Seth MacFarlane donates to Carl Sagan’s notes collection". Washington Post. November 12, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
10.^ Jump up to: a b c Shear, Lynn (January 11, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson: Cosmos’s Master of the Universe". Parade. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
11.^ Jump up to: a b "Neil deGrasse Tyson — Space Chronicles". Center for Inquiry. April 2, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
12.Jump up ^ "Ankylosaur of the Cosmos". Skepticality. September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Niederhoff, Gary (March 12, 2012). "Big Picture Science – Seth’s Cabinet of Wonders". SETI. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
14.Jump up ^ McNally, Victoria (March 6, 2014). "Learn More About the Awesome Animation Sequences in Cosmos From Producer Kara Vallow". The Mary Sue. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
15.Jump up ^ Andersen, Asbjoern (June 16, 2014). "Creating The Breathtaking Sound Of ‘COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey’". A Sound Effect. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
16.Jump up ^ Bierly, Mandi (March 8, 2014). "Seth MacFarlane explains the new ship on 'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
17.Jump up ^ "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey". Shaw Media. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
18.Jump up ^ Coleman, Miriam (March 8, 2014). "President Obama to Introduce 'Cosmos' Premiere". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
19.Jump up ^ "Fox Networks Group Announces First-Ever Simultaneous Cross-Network Global Premiere Event For "COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY" On Sunday, March 9" (Press release). National Geographic Channels. February 14, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
20.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 11, 2014). "'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' Premieres Out of this World With a Total Audience of 40 Million Expected Worldwide". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
21.Jump up ^ Lambert, David (April 23, 2014). "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey - Finalized Box Art, Extras on Press Release for Neil deGrasse Tyson's Show". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
22.Jump up ^ Hibberd, James (March 8, 2014). "Obama to introduce Fox's 'Cosmos'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
23.Jump up ^ President Obama's Intro to Cosmos, 2014 on YouTube
24.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 11, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time' & 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
25.Jump up ^ Collins, Scott (March 10, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Cosmos' premiere ratings: 40M first week?". Los Angeles Time. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
26.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (March 18, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Resurrection', 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Cosmos', 'American Dad' & 'Believe' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
27.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (March 25, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dad' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes', 'Revenge' & 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
28.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (April 1, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife', 'Resurrection', 'Crisis', '60 Minutes' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
29.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (April 8, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dream Builders', 'America's Funniest Home Videos' & 'Resurrection' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
30.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (April 15, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'The Amazing Race', 'Cosmos', 'The Mentalist' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
31.Jump up ^ Gannon, Megan (April 19, 2014). "'Cosmos' App Puts the Universe in Your Smartphone". Space.com. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
32.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (April 22, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up; 'Dateline', 'American Dream Builders', 'The Good Wife' & 'Believe' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
33.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (April 29, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Revenge' & 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Up; 'Believe', '60 Minutes', 'Dateline' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
34.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 6, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'Dateline' & 'Resurrection' Adjusted Up; 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2014.
35.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (May 13, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dad' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; 'Revenge', 'Cosmos' & 'Dateline' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
36.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (May 20, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
37.Jump up ^ Kondolojy, Amanda (June 3, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Bachelorette' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
38.Jump up ^ Bibel, Sara (June 10, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: NBA Finals Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
39.Jump up ^ "Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey : Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
40.Jump up ^ "Critics' Choice TV Awards 2014 winners and highlights". CBS News. June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
41.Jump up ^ Ausiello, Michael (July 19, 2014). "TCA Awards 2014: Good Wife, OITNB, True Detective, Veep, Breaking Bad, RuPaul Among Winners". TVLine. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
42.Jump up ^ Fullerton, Huw (July 10, 2014). "Emmy Awards 2014: the nominations in full". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph.co.uk). Retrieved July 10, 2014.
43.Jump up ^ Mooney, Chris (July 10, 2014). ""Cosmos" Just Got Nominated for 12 Emmys". Mother Jones (Foundation For National Progress). Retrieved July 11, 2014.
44.Jump up ^ Weinstein, Shelli (August 16, 2014). "‘OITNB’s’ Uzo Aduba, Jimmy Fallon Win Emmy Guest Comedy Acting Awards". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
45.Jump up ^ Arel, Dan (June 14, 2014). "13 ways Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “Cosmos” sent the religious right off the deep end". Salon. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
46.Jump up ^ McElwee, Sean (June 23, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson v. the Right: Cosmos, Christians and the Battle for American Science". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
47.Jump up ^ Gryboski, Michael (March 11, 2014). "'Cosmos' Accused of Taking a Jab at Catholics". Christian Post. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
External links[edit]
Official website at Fox
Official website at National Geographic Channel
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey at the Internet Movie Database


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Cosmos (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For the TV series, see Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.
Cosmos
Cosmos book.gif
Front cover

Author
Carl Sagan
Cover artist
Adolf Schaller
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Popular science
Publisher
Random House, New York

Publication date
 1980
Media type
Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages
365
ISBN
0-394-50294-9
OCLC
6280573

Dewey Decimal
 520
LC Class
QB44.2 .S235
Preceded by
Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science
Followed by
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Cosmos (1980) is a popular science book by astronomer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan. Its 13 illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos TV series, which the book was co-developed with and intended to complement, explore the mutual development of science and civilization. Spurred in part by the popularity of the TV series, Cosmos spent 50 weeks on the Publishers Weekly best-sellers list and 70 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list to become the best-selling science book ever published at the time. In 1981, it received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book. The book's unprecedented success ushered in a dramatic increase in visibility for science-themed literature. The success of the book also jumpstarted Sagan's literary career. The sequel to Cosmos is Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994).[1]
One of Sagan's main purposes for this book (and the television series) was to have a chance to explain complex scientific ideas to anyone interested in learning. He wished to distance himself more from hard science, as he sometimes "didn't have the patience" for it. Sagan also believed the television was one of the greatest teaching tools ever invented, so he wished to capitalize on his chance to educate the world.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Summary
2 Style and contents
3 Popularity
4 Impact
5 Critical reception
6 See also
7 Bibliographical information
8 References
9 Further reading

Summary[edit]
Cosmos has 13 heavily illustrated chapters, corresponding to the 13 episodes of the Cosmos television series.[3] In the book, Sagan explores 15 billion years of cosmic evolution and the development of science and civilization.[4] Cosmos traces the origins of knowledge and the scientific method, mixing science and philosophy, and speculates to the future of science.[5] The book also discusses the underlying premises of science by providing biographical anecdotes about many prominent scientists throughout history, placing their contributions into the broader context of the development of modern science.[6] Cornell News Service characterized the book as "an overview of how science and civilization grew up together."[7]
The book covers a broad range of topics, comprising Sagan's reflections on anthropological, cosmological, biological, historical, and astronomical matters from antiquity to contemporary times. Sagan reiterates his position on extraterrestrial life—that the magnitude of the universe permits the existence of thousands of alien civilizations, but no credible evidence exists to demonstrate that such life has ever visited earth.[8] The book, as well as the television series, contains a number of Cold War undertones including subtle references to self-destruction and the futility of the arms race.[9]
Style and contents[edit]
Cosmos utilizes a light, conversational tone to render complex scientific topics readable for a lay audience. On many topics, the book encompasses a more concise, refined presentation of previous ideas about which Sagan had written.[8] One critic characterized the book as containing religious rhetoric in its descriptions of science and the universe.[6] Peter Lawler, a political science professor, believes Sagan's religious rhetoric was very intentional. He believes Sagan uses images of God to describe what contact with extraterrestrial life may bring. Sagan also uses religious images as loose metaphors to help explain large, difficult concepts.[10]
Cosmos is not just about the mysteries of space. Sagan leads every chapter with a philosophical quote to remind readers that the universe is not simply stars and planets, but a link between all things. He reminds readers that "we are all star stuff," and, though it seems humans are currently alone in space, the universe was not created for our race to thrive, but that we are a product of something much larger. Sagan's book explicitly supports the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life, as he believes the extraterrestrials will be able to spur an enormous change in life on Earth.
Popularity[edit]
Shortly after release, Cosmos became the best-selling science book ever published in the English language,[11][12][13][14] and was the first science book to sell more than half a million copies.[15] Though spurred in part by the popularity of the television series, Cosmos became a best-seller by its own regard, reaching hundreds of thousands of readers.[16] It was only surpassed in the late 1980s by Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time.[17] Cosmos spent 50 weeks on the Publishers Weekly best-seller's list,[7] and 70 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.[18] Cosmos sold over 900,000 copies while on these lists,[19] and continued popularity has allowed Cosmos to sell about five million copies internationally.[20] Shortly after Cosmos was published, Sagan received a $2 million advance for the novel Contact.[21] This was the largest release given for an unwritten fiction book at the time.[15] The success of Cosmos made Sagan "wealthy as well as famous."[22] It also ushered in a dramatic increase in visibility for science books, opening up new options and readership for the previously fledgling genre.[19] Science historian Bruce Lewenstein of Cornell University noted that among science books "Cosmos marked the moment that something different was clearly going on."[16]
After the success of Cosmos, Sagan turned into an early scientific celebrity. He appeared on many television programs, wrote a regular column for Parade, and worked to continually advance the popularity of the science genre.[23]
Impact[edit]
Lewenstein also noted the power of the book as a recruitment tool. Along with Microbe Hunters and The Double Helix, he described Cosmos as one of the "books that people cite as 'Hey, the reason I'm a scientist is because I read that book'."[16] Particularly in astronomy and physics, he said, the book inspired many people to become scientists.[21] Sagan has also been called the "most successful popularizing scientist of our time," for his ability to draw such a large and varied audience.[10]
The popularity of Sagan's Cosmos has been referenced in arguments supporting increased space exploration spending.[24] Sagan's book was also referenced in Congress by Arthur C. Clarke in a speech promoting an end to Cold War anti-ICBM spending, instead arguing that the anti-ICBM budget would be better spent on Mars exploration.[25]
Critical reception[edit]
Reception for Sagan's work was, for the most part, very positive. In The New York Times Book Review, novelist James Michener praised Cosmos as "a cleverly written, imaginatively illustrated summary of [Sagan's]... ruminations about our universe... His style is iridescent, with lights flashing upon unexpected juxtapositions of thought."[26] David Whitehouse of the British Broadcasting Corporation went so far as to say that "there is not a book on astronomy – in fact not one on science – that comes close to the eloquence and intellectual sweep of Cosmos... If we send just one book to grace the libraries of distant worlds..., let it be Cosmos."[27] Kirkus Reviews described the book as "Sagan at his best."[28] In 1981, Cosmos received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book.[29]
See also[edit]
##Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
##Carl Sagan
Bibliographical information[edit]
##Sagan, Carl (2002). Cosmos. Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-50832-5.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Pale Blue Dot". Powell's Books. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
2.Jump up ^ Golden, Frederic, Peter Stoler, and Calif. 1980. "The Cosmic Explainer He-e-e-re's Carl, bringing you nothing less than the universe." Time 116, no. 16: 62. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 10, 2013).
3.Jump up ^ "Cosmos: Bibliographical Data". Book Depository. The Book Depository International Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
4.Jump up ^ "Cosmos: Full Description". Book Depository. The Book Depository International Ltd. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
5.Jump up ^ "Cosmos: About this Edition". Borders. Borders, Inc. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
6.^ Jump up to: a b Lessel, Thomas (May 1985). "Science and the Sacred Cosmos: The Ideological Rhetoric of Carl Sagan.". Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (2): 175–187.
7.^ Jump up to: a b Brand, David; Blaine P. Friedlander, Jr (2001-02-19). "From somber Silent Spring to creative Cosmos, author's style can make difference in selling science, says Cornell researche". Cornell News (Cornell University). Retrieved 3 January 2010.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Michener, James (25 January 1981). "Ten Million Civilizations Nearby". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
9.Jump up ^ Tyson, Neil deGrasse (January–February 2013). "Another round of Cosmos". Columbia Journalism Review 51 (5): 30–33.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Lawler, Peter Augustine (September–October 1998). "Aliens in the cosmos or, the curious affair of Carl Sagan and E.T.". American Enterprise 9 (5): 47–49.
11.Jump up ^ "Carl Sagan to lecture at Stanford April 23". Stanford News Service (Standford University). 2012-04-04. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
12.Jump up ^ "Carl Sagan: Founder and First President of The Planetary Society". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
13.Jump up ^ Garreau, Joel (2003-07-21). "Science's Mything Links As the Boundaries of Reality Expand, Our Thinking Seems to Be Going Over the Edge". Washington Post (The Washington Post Company). Retrieved 3 January 2010.
14.Jump up ^ "Meet Dr. Carl Sagan". The Science Channel. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
15.^ Jump up to: a b "Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding". National Science Foundation. 2004. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c Lewenstein, Bruce (2002-03-08). "How Science Books Drive Public Discussion". National Institute for Standards and Technology. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
17.Jump up ^ Shermer p. 490
18.Jump up ^ Brand, David (1996-12-20). "Carl Sagan, Cornell astronomer, dies today (Dec. 20) in Seattle". Cornell News (Cornell University). Retrieved 3 January 2010.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Nord, David; Joan Shelley Rubin (2009). "Science Books Since 1945". A History of the Book in America: Volume 5: The Enduring Book: Print Culture. Michael Schudson. UNC Press. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-8078-3285-1. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
20.Jump up ^ Ruprecht, Louis (1996). "Book Reviews". Journal of the American Academy of Religion (Oxford Journals) LXIV (2): 459–464. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lxiv.2.459. ISSN 1477-4585. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
21.^ Jump up to: a b Lewenstein, Bruce (March 2007). "Why should we care about science books?". Journal of Science Communication (International School for Advanced Studies) 6 (1). ISSN 1824-2049. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
22.Jump up ^ Morrison, David (2007). Man for the Cosmos: Carl Sagan's Life and Legacy as Scientist, Teacher, and Skeptic. Skeptical Inquirer January/February, 31(1), pp. 29-38.
23.Jump up ^ Lawler, Peter (Summer 1999). "Aliens, the Cosmos, and the Foundations of Political Life.". Perspectives on Political Science 28 (3): 131. doi:10.1080/10457099909602354.
24.Jump up ^ Extensions of Remarks - Friday, November 18, 1983, 129 Cong. Rec. E5773 (1983).
25.Jump up ^ Senate - Wednesday, October 10, 1984, 130 Cong. Rec. 31165 (1984)
26.Jump up ^ Dicke, William (1996-12-21). "Carl Sagan, an Astronomer Who Excelled at Popularizing Science, Is Dead at 62". New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
27.Jump up ^ Whitehouse, David (1999-10-15). "Sci/Tech Carl Sagan: A life in the cosmos". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
28.Jump up ^ "Reviews". Kirkus Book Review. DC Public Library. 2010. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
29.Jump up ^ "Cosmos". Goodreads. 2002-05-07. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
Further reading[edit]
Library resources about
Cosmos (book) 
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries

##Shermer, Michael (August 2002). "This View of Science: Stephen Jay Gould as Historian of Science and Scientific Historian, Popular Scientist and Scientific Popularizer". Social Studies of Science (London: SAGE Publications) 32 (4): 489–525. doi:10.1177/0306312702032004001. ISSN 0306-3127. OCLC 2242476. Retrieved 2010-04-02.


[hide]
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Carl Sagan


Scientific career
Pioneer plaque ·
 Faint young Sun paradox ·
 Cosmic Calendar ·
 Voyager Golden Record ·
 Pale Blue Dot ·
 Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)
 
Carl Sagan


Books



Science

Mars and the Mind of Man (1971) ·
 The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective (1973) ·
 The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977) ·
 Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979) ·
 Cosmos (1980) ·
 The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War (1983) ·
 Comet (1985) ·
 A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race (1990) ·
 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1993) ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) ·
 The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995) ·
 Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997) ·
 The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)
 


Fiction

Contact (1985)
 


Media
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980 TV series) ·
 Contact (1997 film) ·
 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014 TV series)
 

Family
Lynn Margulis (first wife) ·
 Dorion Sagan (son) ·
 Jeremy Sagan (son) ·
 Linda Salzman Sagan (second wife) ·
 Nick Sagan (son) ·
 Ann Druyan (third wife)
 

Sagan Prizes
Carl Sagan Memorial Award ·
 Carl Sagan Medal ·
 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science
 

Recognition
Sagan Planet Walk ·
 Carl Sagan Memorial Station ·
 2709 Sagan ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Tribute to Carl Sagan ·
 Symphony of Science ·
 The Sagan series
 

Other
Quotes ·
 In popular culture ·
 Sagan's number
 

 


Categories: 1980 books
Astronomy books
Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book winning works
Popular science books
Works by Carl Sagan





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Pale Blue Dot (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space)
Jump to: navigation, search

For Voyager's famous photograph of a distant Earth, see Pale Blue Dot.
Pale Blue Dot
SaganPaleBlueDot.jpg
Author
Carl Sagan
Language
English

Publication date
 1994
ISBN
0-679-43841-6
OCLC
30736355

Dewey Decimal
 919.9/04 20
LC Class
QB500.262 .S24 1994
Preceded by
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Followed by
The Demon-Haunted World
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) is a non-fiction book by Carl Sagan. It is the sequel to Cosmos: A Personal Voyage and was inspired by the "Pale Blue Dot" photograph, for which Sagan provides a poignant description. In this book, Sagan mixes philosophy about the human place in the universe with a description of the current knowledge about the Solar System. He also details a human vision for the future.[1]


Contents  [hide]
1 Book summary
2 Chapters
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

Book summary[edit]
The first part of the book examines the claims made throughout history that Earth and the human species are unique. Sagan proposes two reasons for the persistence of the idea of a geocentric, or Earth-centered universe: human pride in our existence, and the threat of torturing those who dissented from it, particularly during the time of the Roman Inquisition. However, he also admits that the scientific tools to prove the Earth orbited the Sun were (until the last few hundred years) not accurate enough to measure effects such as parallax, making it difficult for astronomers to prove that the geocentric theory was false.
After saying that we have gained humility from understanding that we are not literally the center of the universe, Sagan embarks on an exploration of the entire solar system. He begins with an account of the Voyager program, in which Sagan was a participating scientist. He describes the difficulty of working with the low light levels at distant planets, and the mechanical and computer problems which beset the twin spacecraft as they aged, and which could not always be diagnosed and fixed remotely. Sagan then examines each one of the major planets, as well as some of the moons—including Titan, Triton, and Miranda—focusing on whether life is possible at the frontiers of the solar system.
Sagan argues that studying other planets provides context for understanding the Earth—and protecting humanity's only home planet from environmental catastrophe. He believes that NASA's decision to cut back exploration of the Moon after the Apollo program was a short-sighted decision, despite the expense and the failing popularity of the program among the United States public. Sagan says future exploration of space should focus on ways to protect Earth and to extend human habitation beyond it. The book was published the year after the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter, an event Sagan uses to highlight the danger Earth faces from the occasional asteroid or comet large enough to cause substantial damage if it were to hit Earth. He says we need the political will to track large extraterrestrial objects, or we risk losing everything. Sagan argues that in order to save the human race, space colonization and terraforming should be utilized.
Later in the book, Sagan's wife, Ann Druyan, challenges readers to pick one of the other planetary dots photographed and featured in the book, and imagine that there are inhabitants on that world who believe that the universe was created solely for themselves. She shared Sagan's belief that humans are not as important as they think they are.
The first edition of the book includes an extensive list of illustrations and photographs, mostly provided by NASA. Other editions reference various figures which are not included.
Chapters[edit]
Wanderers: An Introduction
1.You Are Here
2.Aberrations of Light
3.The Great Demotions
4.A Universe Not Made for Us
5.Is There Intelligent Life on Earth?
6.The Triumph of Voyager
7.Among the Moons of Saturn
8.The First New Planet
9.An American Ship at the Frontiers of the Solar System
10.Sacred Black
11.Evening and Morning Star
12.The Ground Melts
13.The Gift of Apollo
14.Exploring Other Worlds and Protecting This One
15.The Gates of the Wonder World Open
16.Scaling Heaven
17.Routine Interplanetary Violence
18.The Marsh of Camarina
19.Remaking the Planets
20.Darkness
21.To the Sky!
22.Tiptoeing Through the Milky Way
See also[edit]

Portal icon Astronomy portal
Portal icon Books portal
Portal icon Spaceflight portal
Carl Sagan
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
Cosmos (book)
"Pale Blue Dot"
"The Blue Marble"
References[edit]
Sagan, Carl (1994). Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1st ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-43841-6.
1.Jump up ^ "Pale Blue Dot Media Reviews and Publisher's Notes on biblio.com".
External links[edit]
Library resources about
Pale Blue Dot (book) 
Online books
Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries

Sagan's rationale for human spaceflight Article about Carl Sagan and Pale Blue Dot
Audio Recording of Carl Sagan reading The Pale Blue Dot at the United States Library of Congress Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive
A new picture of Earth taken through the rings of Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft on September 15, 2006. More information about photo.
We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot. A short, fan-made film on The Pale Blue Dot, released a decade after Sagan's death. The posthumous narration is from Sagan himself, taken from one version of the audiobook version of "Pale Blue Dot".
A partial video tour of the Sagan Planet Walk monument in Ithaca, NY


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Carl Sagan


Scientific career
Pioneer plaque ·
 Faint young Sun paradox ·
 Cosmic Calendar ·
 Voyager Golden Record ·
 Pale Blue Dot ·
 Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)
 
Carl Sagan


Books



Science

Mars and the Mind of Man (1971) ·
 The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective (1973) ·
 The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977) ·
 Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979) ·
 Cosmos (1980) ·
 The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War (1983) ·
 Comet (1985) ·
 A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race (1990) ·
 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1993) ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) ·
 The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995) ·
 Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997) ·
 The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)
 


Fiction

Contact (1985)
 


Media
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980 TV series) ·
 Contact (1997 film) ·
 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014 TV series)
 

Family
Lynn Margulis (first wife) ·
 Dorion Sagan (son) ·
 Jeremy Sagan (son) ·
 Linda Salzman Sagan (second wife) ·
 Nick Sagan (son) ·
 Ann Druyan (third wife)
 

Sagan Prizes
Carl Sagan Memorial Award ·
 Carl Sagan Medal ·
 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science
 

Recognition
Sagan Planet Walk ·
 Carl Sagan Memorial Station ·
 2709 Sagan ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Tribute to Carl Sagan ·
 Symphony of Science ·
 The Sagan series
 

Other
Quotes ·
 In popular culture ·
 Sagan's number
 

 


Categories: 1994 books
Astronomy books
Works by Carl Sagan
Space colonization literature




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Comet (book)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Comet

Author
Carl Sagan
Country
United States
Language
English
Publisher
Random House

Publication date
 1985
Media type
Paperback
Pages
398 pp
ISBN
978-0-394-54908-8, 0394549082[1]
Comet (1985) is a popular-science book by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.[2] It describes the scientific nature of comets, as well as their varying roles and perceptions throughout history. The evolution of human understanding of comets is also detailed, and thinkers and astronomers such as Edmond Halley, Immanuel Kant, and William Huggins are discussed.
The publication of the book was months ahead of the 1986 appearance of Halley's Comet.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://www.powells.com/biblio/0345412223?&PID=33286
2.Jump up ^ http://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1610179


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
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Carl Sagan


Scientific career
Pioneer plaque ·
 Faint young Sun paradox ·
 Cosmic Calendar ·
 Voyager Golden Record ·
 Pale Blue Dot ·
 Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)
 
Carl Sagan


Books



Science

Mars and the Mind of Man (1971) ·
 The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective (1973) ·
 The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977) ·
 Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979) ·
 Cosmos (1980) ·
 The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War (1983) ·
 Comet (1985) ·
 A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race (1990) ·
 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1993) ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) ·
 The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995) ·
 Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997) ·
 The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)
 


Fiction

Contact (1985)
 


Media
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980 TV series) ·
 Contact (1997 film) ·
 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014 TV series)
 

Family
Lynn Margulis (first wife) ·
 Dorion Sagan (son) ·
 Jeremy Sagan (son) ·
 Linda Salzman Sagan (second wife) ·
 Nick Sagan (son) ·
 Ann Druyan (third wife)
 

Sagan Prizes
Carl Sagan Memorial Award ·
 Carl Sagan Medal ·
 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science
 

Recognition
Sagan Planet Walk ·
 Carl Sagan Memorial Station ·
 2709 Sagan ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Tribute to Carl Sagan ·
 Symphony of Science ·
 The Sagan series
 

Other
Quotes ·
 In popular culture ·
 Sagan's number
 

 


Categories: Works by Carl Sagan




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Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Billions and Billions
Billions and Billions.jpg
Author
Carl Sagan
Publisher
Ballantine Publishing Group

Publication date
 1997
Pages
322
ISBN
0-345-37918-7
OCLC
39234941
Preceded by
The Demon-Haunted World
Followed by
The Varieties of Scientific Experience
Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium, published by Random House in 1997 (ISBN 0-679-41160-7), is the last book written by renowned American astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan before his death in 1996.[1]
The book is a collection of essays Sagan wrote covering diverse topics like global warming, the population explosion, extraterrestrial life, morality, and the abortion debate. The last chapter is an account of his struggle with myelodysplasia, the disease which finally took his life in December 1996. Sagan's wife, Ann Druyan, wrote the epilogue of the book after his death.


Contents  [hide]
1 Chapters 1.1 Part I: The Power and Beauty of Quantification
1.2 Part II: What Are Conservatives Conserving?
1.3 Part III: Where Hearts and Minds Collide
2 "Billions and billions"
3 References
4 External links

Chapters[edit]
Part I: The Power and Beauty of Quantification[edit]
1. Billions and Billions
2. The Persian Chessboard
3. Monday Night Hunters
4. The Gaze of God and the Dripping Faucet
5. Four Cosmic Questions
6. So Many Suns, So Many Worlds
Part II: What Are Conservatives Conserving?[edit]
7. The World That Came in the Mail
8. The Environment: Where Does Prudence Lie?
9. Croesus and Cassandra
10. A Piece of the Sky Is Missing
11. Ambush: The Warming of the World
12. Escape from Ambush
13. Religion and Science: An Alliance
Part III: Where Hearts and Minds Collide[edit]
14. The Common Enemy
15. Abortion: Is It Possible to Be Both "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice"
16. The Rules of the Game
17. Gettysburg and Now
18. The Twentieth Century
19. In the Valley of the Shadow
"Billions and billions"[edit]
To help viewers of Cosmos distinguish between "millions" and "billions", Sagan stressed the "b". Sagan never did, however, say "billions and billions". The public's association of the phrase and Sagan came from a Tonight Show skit. Parodying Sagan's affect, Johnny Carson quipped "billions and billions".[2] The phrase has however now since become a humorous fictitious number—the Sagan.
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Sagan, Carl (1997). Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium. Random House. ISBN 0-679-41160-7.
2.Jump up ^ Carl Sagan takes questions more from his 'Wonder and Skepticism' CSICOP 1994 keynote, Skeptical Inquirer
External links[edit]
Description of the book including the epilogue by Ann Druyan
A review of the book
Video of skit from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson mentioning "billions and billions"


[hide]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Carl Sagan


Scientific career
Pioneer plaque ·
 Faint young Sun paradox ·
 Cosmic Calendar ·
 Voyager Golden Record ·
 Pale Blue Dot ·
 Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI)
 
Carl Sagan


Books



Science

Mars and the Mind of Man (1971) ·
 The Cosmic Connection: An Extraterrestrial Perspective (1973) ·
 The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977) ·
 Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979) ·
 Cosmos (1980) ·
 The Nuclear Winter: The World After Nuclear War (1983) ·
 Comet (1985) ·
 A Path Where No Man Thought: Nuclear Winter and the End of the Arms Race (1990) ·
 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are (1993) ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994) ·
 The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995) ·
 Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997) ·
 The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)
 


Fiction

Contact (1985)
 


Media
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980 TV series) ·
 Contact (1997 film) ·
 Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014 TV series)
 

Family
Lynn Margulis (first wife) ·
 Dorion Sagan (son) ·
 Jeremy Sagan (son) ·
 Linda Salzman Sagan (second wife) ·
 Nick Sagan (son) ·
 Ann Druyan (third wife)
 

Sagan Prizes
Carl Sagan Memorial Award ·
 Carl Sagan Medal ·
 Carl Sagan Award for Public Understanding of Science
 

Recognition
Sagan Planet Walk ·
 Carl Sagan Memorial Station ·
 2709 Sagan ·
 Pale Blue Dot: A Tribute to Carl Sagan ·
 Symphony of Science ·
 The Sagan series
 

Other
Quotes ·
 In popular culture ·
 Sagan's number
 




Stub icon This article about a science book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.






 


Categories: 1997 books
Science books
Works by Carl Sagan
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Contact (novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search



 This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. It should be expanded to provide more balanced coverage that includes real-world context. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (August 2010)
Contact
Contact Sagan.jpg
The cover

Author
Carl Sagan
Country
United States
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction novel
Publisher
Simon & Schuster

Publication date
 September 1985
Media type
Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages
432 pp
ISBN
0-671-43400-4
OCLC
12344811

Dewey Decimal
 813/.54 19
LC Class
PS3569.A287 C6 1985
Contact is a science fiction novel written by Carl Sagan and published in 1985. It deals with the theme of contact between humanity and a more technologically advanced, extraterrestrial life form. It ranked No. 7 on the 1985 U.S. bestseller list. The novel originated as a screenplay in 1979; when development of the film stalled, Sagan decided to convert the stalled film into a novel. The film concept was subsequently revived and eventually released in 1997 as the film Contact starring Jodie Foster.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary 1.1 The Message
1.2 The Machine
1.3 The Galaxy
2 Publication history
3 Mars Rover prediction
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Plot summary[edit]
The Message[edit]
As a child, Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway displays a strong aptitude for science. Dissatisfied with a seventh grade lesson, she goes to the library to convince herself that π is irrational. Later that year, her father Theodore dies. A man named John Straughton becomes her stepfather and does not show as much support for her interests. Ellie refuses to accept him as a family member and concludes that her mother only remarried out of weakness.
After graduating from Harvard, Ellie receives a doctorate from Caltech supervised by David Drumlin, a well known radio astronomer. She eventually becomes the director of "Project Argus", a telescope array in New Mexico dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). This puts her at odds with most of the scientific community, including Drumlin who tries to have the funding to SETI reduced. To his surprise, the project discovers a repeating series of 26 prime numbers coming from the Vega system 25 light years away.[1] Further analysis reveals information in the polarization modulation of the signal. This message is a retransmission of Adolf Hitler's opening speech at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin; the first television signal powerful enough to escape Earth's ionosphere.[2]
The President of the United States meets with Ellie to discuss the implications of the first confirmed communication from extraterrestrial beings. Ellie begins a relationship with her science advisor Ken der Heer. With the help of her Russian colleague Vaygay Lunacharsky, Ellie is able to set up redundant monitoring of the signal so that a telescope remains pointed at Vega at all times. A third message is discovered describing plans for an advanced machine. With no way of decoding the 30,000 pages, SETI scientists surmise that there must be a primer that they have missed.
The Machine[edit]
At the President's insistence, Ellie agrees to meet with two religious leaders, Billy Jo Rankin and Palmer Joss. A lifelong religious skeptic, Ellie tries to convince them that her faith in science is stronger than their faith in God by standing near a heavy Foucault pendulum and trusting that its amplitude will not increase. Although dismissing Rankin's outbursts, Ellie is intrigued by Joss' worldview. Shortly after, Ellie travels to Paris to discuss the machine with a newly formed consortium. The participants reach a consensus that the machine is a dodecahedron shaped vehicle with five seats. At the conference, Ellie meets Devi Sukhavati, a doctor who left India to marry the man she loved, only to lose him to infection a year later. The final piece of the message is discovered when S. R. Hadden, a billionaire in the cybernetics industry, asks Ellie to check for phase modulation. This reveals the primer allowing construction of the machine to begin.
The American and Soviet governments enter a race to construct identical copies of the machine. As errors in the Russian project are discovered, the American machine becomes the only option. Ellie applies to be one of the five passengers but her spot is given to David Drumlin instead. Despite heavy security, a group of extremists is able to get a bomb into one of the fabrication plants in Wyoming. During a visit by three astronomers, the bomb explodes, killing Drumlin and postponing completion of the machine indefinitely. Ellie's family also suffers when her mother has a stroke which causes paralysis. John Straughton accuses Ellie of ignoring her own mother for years.
Ellie learns that S. R. Hadden has taken up residence aboard a space station to prolong his life. While on board, he reveals that his company has been covertly building a third copy of the machine in Hokkaido, Japan. The activation date is set for December 31, 1999 and Ellie, Vaygay and Devi are given three of the spots. The other two are given to Abonneba Eda, a physicist credited with discovering the theory of everything and Xi Quiaomu, an archaeologist and expert on the Qin dynasty. The five board the machine thinking that the extraterrestrials will either give them an additional task or cancel the transmission from Vega so that the signal only lasts for another 25 years.
The Galaxy[edit]
Once activated, the dodecahedron transports the group through a series of wormholes to a place near the center of the Milky Way. The station contains an Earth-like beach where the five of them are split up. Ellie meets an extraterrestrial who has taken a form indistinguishable from her father. He tells her that he is part of a project to alter the properties of the universe by accumulating enough mass in Cygnus A. He also tells her that the wormholes were built by still more advanced beings who have left messages in transcendental numbers like π. Ellie is reunited with the other four travellers who have also met simulations of their loved ones. She captures video evidence of the encounter before the dodecahedron takes them back to Earth.
Upon returning, the passengers discover that what seemed like many hours took no time at all from Earth's perspective. They also find that all of their video footage has been erased, presumably by magnetic fields in the wormholes. After seeing that Hadden is apparently dead and that the transmission has somehow been stopped without a 25 year delay, government officials accuse the travellers of an international conspiracy. Ellie finds herself asking the world to take a leap of faith and believe what she and the others say happened to them. Palmer Joss becomes one of the few people willing to take this leap.
Ellie works on a program to compute the digits of π to record lengths in different bases. Ellie's mother dies before this project delivers its first result. A final letter from her informs Ellie that John Straughton, not Ted Arroway, is Ellie's biological father. When Ellie looks at what the computer has found, she sees a circle rasterized from 0s and 1s that appear after 1020 places in the base 11 representation of π. This gives her a way to convince the world of something greater – that intelligence is built into the universe itself.
Publication history[edit]
In 1981, Simon & Schuster gave Sagan a $2 million advance on the novel. At the time, "the advance was the largest ever made for a book that had not yet been written."[3]
The first printing was 265,000 copies. In the first two years it sold 1,700,000 copies. It was a main selection of Book-of-the-Month-Club.[4]
Sagan named the novel's protagonist, Eleanor Arroway, after two people: Eleanor Roosevelt, a "personal hero" of Sagan's wife, Ann Druyan, and Voltaire, whose last name was Arouet.[3]
The novel won the Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1986.
Mars Rover prediction[edit]
As the novel progresses into the future, relative to the time of writing, Sagan mentions various fictitious events. In particular, a Mars Rover mission was mentioned where one of two rovers "had become mired in a drifting dune".[5] This unintended prediction became reality when NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck on May 1, 2009.
See also[edit]

Portal icon Novels portal
Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence
Fermi paradox
His Master's Voice
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ A sequence of prime numbers is a commonly predicted first message from alien intelligence, since mathematics is considered a universal language, and it is conjectured that algorithms that produce successive prime numbers are sufficiently complicated so as to require intelligence to implement them.
2.Jump up ^ Sagan 1985. p. 94.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Davidson 1999.
4.Jump up ^ Spence
5.Jump up ^ Sagan 1985. p. 200.
Bibliography
Davidson, Keay. Carl Sagan: A Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
Sagan, Carl. Contact. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.
Spence, Jennifer. "Contact / 20th-Century American Bestseller". Retrieved 18 August 2010.
External links[edit]
Larry Klaes' in-depth analysis of the film and novel
Audio Review at The Science Fiction Book Review Podcast


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Carl Sagan








































































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Categories: 1985 novels
1980s science fiction novels
Wormholes in fiction
Works by Carl Sagan
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
American novels adapted into films
Novels set in New Mexico
Books critical of religion
Simon & Schuster books





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