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Cosmos: Carl Sagan

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HankB

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If you never saw the first release of the series of Cosmos featuring Carl Sagan, you owe it to yourself to watch it. it is IMHO one of the best TV series ever produced. I have the DVDs and am watching them again as the reboot with Neil deGrasse Tyson rolls out.

I'm not particularly clear on the details, but I think that SETI has a lot to thank Sagan for. It was he that first revealed the Drake Equation to me.

Fresh from folding to honor Adak, I think I'll get back to BOINC and start crunching SETI. I first crunched that when it was the only DC project of which I was aware, predating BOINC by years. Time to get back to it, to honor the memory of Carl Sagan, at least as long as the Cosmos series runs.
 
My father said he used to watch Carl Sagan. I watched the first half of tonight's new Cosmos series, but had to stop. I was at my parents' place for dinner with my wife and son (11-months), and it was late for him to be up, so we had to jet... I do have the rest on DVR and will hopefully catch up soon! I love this stuff!!

My last favorite show about space time was "A Journey to the Edge of the Universe"... that was awesome!!
 
It's OK, but not great. I was hoping for something along a higher funded nova episode or something as I love astronomical things. A good portion of it is dumbed down and pretty boring while force-feeding this is why evolution is real people! down my throat. Trust me, I'm not a creationist, I firmly believe in evolution, but it is pretty heavy handed and repetitive.

I was hoping more for seeing the astronomy-side of things about our solar system, galaxy, and universe, not looking at how people (and everything) evolved from gloop in a pool.
 
I was hoping more for seeing the astronomy-side of things about our solar system, galaxy, and universe, not looking at how people (and everything) evolved from gloop in a pool.

I was interested in space as well, which is why I loved "A Journey to the Edge of the Universe". I have Cosmos on DVR, but haven't watched since the first half of the 1st episode. I wonder if I should not bother due to your post. My TV time is already limited and I actively watch some other shows: Justified, The Walking Dead, and The Americans.
 
I'll be watching ep3 here soon in the next day or so, I'll report back if it is any better.
 
I will have to watch "A Journey to the Edge of the Universe", I haven't seen that yet. Hopefully I can find some time this weekend to watch this, and the new one with Tyson. At times I find him a bit smug, but for the most part he has a good sense of humor. I actually met him once, but was not formally introduced, at a funeral of all places.
 
They're good but IMO do not measure up to the original series. How can you top Sagan's description of how Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the earth? His description of the library of Alexandria left me with a sense of loss and wondering where we might be today had we not slid back.
 
I recall watching the original as it aired as well. Sagan was able to create a lot of enthusiasm for astronomy, following up where NASA's space program left off.

In 2007 the History Channel ran a new Universe update for four seasons which was well done and brought the latest info and theories to the masses; here's a link to Wiki's episode guide:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Universe_(TV_series)
 
I'll be watching ep3 here soon in the next day or so, I'll report back if it is any better.
Any results yet? :)
I will have to watch "A Journey to the Edge of the Universe", I haven't seen that yet. Hopefully I can find some time this weekend to watch this, and the new one with Tyson. At times I find him a bit smug, but for the most part he has a good sense of humor. I actually met him once, but was not formally introduced, at a funeral of all places.
Watch it (A Journey...)!! It's awesome!!
 
Any results yet? :)

Watch it (A Journey...)!! It's awesome!!

Just watched it this morning. History lesson about Newton and Halley, relatively interesting (didn't know all of the things that Halley did).

Continued with the 'OK' level.
 
I liked the original Cosmos series. I watched it again a couple years ago on Netflix, but they don't have it for streaming anymore - only on their DVD service.

I've watched the first episode of the new series & have the others on DVR.
 
Having met both Carl and Neil, I will say that they are/were two very different types of scientists. While both are/were astronomers and science popularisers, Carl had the ability to engage almost everyone with his enthusiasm and wonder while Neil seems to be more of the "It's science, what isn't there to love" type.
I'm okay so far with the new Cosmos. I was really worried about being let down since I do think so highly of Carl's works but I think Neil is doing a great job with it and it has me wondering what the next version of Cosmos will reveal in 20 more years
I do have to agree that it seems to be a little more "dumbed down" than the original (although I don't know if that's bad). I would also be in agreement that it seems much time is dwelling upon fictional accounts and dismissing them (there is an agenda there), I think there is good to come out of that and does follow along with the theme of Cosmos which was/is to show that science can have the answers if we dare look past superstition
 
After reading about the show I was unaware that it was essentially made frlor children. I guess that makes a lot more sense when thinking about it that way.

I've now started watching The Universe (History Channel show) from the beginning. Much more along the lines of what I was looking for.
 
The two things I remember about Carl Sagan, one was his way of saying "Billions and billions of stars . . . ." and the second was his wild prediction of world catastrophe if the U.S. opposed Sadam Hussein in the Kuwait war in 1991.

"Following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Carl Sagan and other scientists predicted that burning oil wells could cause environmental damage comparable to nuclear winter.[16] Nearly 700 oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army and the fires were not fully extinguished until November 6, 1991, eight months after the end of the war.[17] The fires consumed an estimated six million barrels of oil daily."

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-winter#ixzz35NidVDAW

As we know now the prediction was far from accurate.

"However, pre-war claims of wide scale, long-lasting, and significant global environmental impacts were not borne out and found to be significantly exaggerated by the media and speculators,[19] with climate models at the time of the fires predicting only more localized effects such as a daytime temperature drop of ~10 °C within ~200 km of the source.[20]"

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/nuclear-winter#ixzz35Njogrqp
 
This wild prediction of world catastrophe if the U.S. opposed Sadam Hussein in the Kuwait war in 1991.

Which simply demonstrates that we are all governed first by our emotions and our logic is often shaped by what we feel rather than the facts. It's very hard to be objective even for a well trained scientist. :(
 
I'm actually reading the book at this time, not a lot of science in it, but a good story and guessing book.
one thing for sure, he did know his history, ( a lot less can be said for the history channel) in great detail.
 
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