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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Vision for All Mankind, Jul 11 2004
After watching COSMOS for the third time, I am continously impressed by the bravery and insight of Dr. Sagan's vision for humanity. COSMOS's overarching theme is an introduction to the natural sciences for the general public. Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics are wonderfully reduced to their core concepts. Dr. Sagan may be the only person I know who manages to explain Einstein's special relativity without algebra. For those amongst the general public who wish to understand just what a four dimensioned universe is, there is no better series today than COSMOS. Dr. Sagan stays true to his populist belief that science belongs not only to the scientists, but to all humanity.However, anyone with a university degree will probably be familiar with the science Dr. Sagan speaks of. The shining jewel of COSMOS is not its scientific content, but its deeply humanistic message of hope. We have all heard about the cruelty of the so called "real world" and "human nature." But Dr. Sagan shows us that human bravery and intelligence has transformed our world for the better and that our world is what we make of it. In one of the most poignant moments of the entire series, Dr. Sagan describes the human longing for an explanation of the universe as an eternal part of our species. We, citizens of the 21st century, are the first generation of human beings priviledged with some of the answers to the questions that have fascinated our ancestors. Dr. Sagan also outlines the philosophy and history of science. This is especially essential to today's society in which science has become increasing gadgety. While cell phones, computers, the internet, designer drugs populate every segment of our society, the philosophy of critical thinking, factual analysis and of questioning every statement, the very heart of science remains as rare today as ever. Our present civlization is forever indebited to those brave men and women who choose the pain of truth rather the comfort of lies. For those who ever wondered how we human beings progressed from tribal hunters to technogical beings, Dr. Sagan's documentary provides a riveting account. Finally and perhaps most importantly, Dr. Sagan's documentary provides a unifying vision for the future of human kind. We have reached a time in the development of our species when the power in our hands is extraordinary. The destiny of our world and our species is fully in the our own hands. We can either use this power to continously squabble amongst ourselves, to fight our pointless wars and to poison our environment with blatant waste and race headlong to self annihilation, or... we can set aside our differences, recognize the fragility of our world and embrace the common destiny of humanity to explore the final frontier. Dr. Sagan does not pretend that this journey will be an easy one; every age and time has had those who would at the expense of our world, stirr up hatred, fear and greed. However, by showing that science is our candle in the dark, Dr. Sagan encourages each one of us to struggle against the irrationality and ignorance inside each of us to literally reach for the stars. From the beginning of time to the future of our world, Dr. Sagan's account of the struggle of the human mind to attain sentience is highly passionate while at the same time even and objective. Science, he describes, is the ultimate manifestation of our humanity, the quest of starstuff to understand itself. I am pleased to say that as the light from Dr. Sagan's house continue to pierce the darkness of Ithaca's gorges to inspire me, so too does his visionary work: COSMOS.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
brilliant, Sep 2 2009
Carl Sagan was a brilliant man and an agile communicator. You really get his sense of passion for anything scientific. He will explain every concept deeply while still remaining clear and easy to understand. He knows when to stop before dwelving in details that would loose the non-scientific viewer. Many of the presented concept are introduced via a sometimes extensive historical recreation. It can be longwinded at times with an overflow of details, but it's a minor nitpicking.
As a bonus, the 70-80's style and special effects are often hilarious! :o)
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5.0 out of 5 stars
"The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be", Dec 1 2007
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This landmark series narrated and co-written by astronomer, astrophysicist, professor, and author Dr. Carl Edward Sagan (Nov. 1934 to Dec. 1996) is the most watched series in public television history.
Sagan takes us on "a personal voyage" through the cosmos (from the Greek meaning universe, harmony) in his "ship of the imagination."
To me, this series is and was so popular for many reasons. One reason is the diversified scientific information (especially historical information) it presents. Along with this you have Sagan's narration with his deep, articulate, punctuating voice. As well, the background music (classical, electronic, and even some "Pink Floyd") is superb and all images (with some new footage) are mesmerizing.
There are many things Sagan says that makes you think. For example, the words that title this review are the first words Sagan utters. Other personal favorite quotations include:
(1) "The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics but it is not the path to knowledge. And there's no place for it in the endeavor of science."
(2) "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
(3) "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
(4) "The Earth and every living thing are made of star stuff."
(5) "You have to know the past to understand the present."
There is no need to update this series. However, brief updates are provided for many episodes. Sagan narrates these updates that were recorded a decade after the original broadcast.
To get an idea of the wide-range of topics covered, I will give the names of the chapters or scenes of each episode. Note that each episode begins with an "opening" and finishes with "end credits." (The exception is episode #1 that has an "Ann Druyan Introduction"-Druyan was Sagan's third and final wife as well as the co-writer of this series along with Steven Soter-before the opening.)
Also, I will provide additional information in [square brackets] where I feel it is necessary to do so.
Episode #1:
(1) The Cosmos (2) Spaceship universe (3) Spaceship galaxy (4) Spaceship stars (5) Spaceship solar system
(6) Planet Earth (7) Alexandrian library [great ancient library in the Egyptian city of Alexandria] (8) Ages of science (9) Cosmic calendar.
Episode #2:
(1) Spaceship cosmic matter (2) Heike crab [crabs with curious markings on their backs] (3) Artificial selection
(4) Natural selection (5) Watchmaker (6) Cosmic calendar (7) Evolution (8) DNA (9) Miller-Urey experiment [experiment in 1950s where the stuff of life was made] (10) Alien life (11) Update
Episode #3:
(1) Astronomers vs Astrologers (2) Astrology (3) Laws of nature (4) Constellations (5) Astronomers
(6) Ptolomy/Copernicus (7) [Johannes] Kepler (8) Kepler and Tycho Brahe (9) Kepler's laws [of planetary motion] (10) The Somnium [one of the first works of science fiction written by Kepler]
Episode #4:
(1) Heaven and Hell (2) Tunguska [a place in central Siberia] Event (3) Comets (4) Collisions with Earth (5) Planetary evolution (6) Venus [second planet from the sun] (7) Descent to Venus (8) Change (9) Death of worlds (10) Conclusion (11) Update
Episode #5:
(1) Martians (2) [Percival] Lowell (3) Edgar Rice Burroughs (4) [Robert] Goddard (5) Inhabited Planets (6) Mars (7) Viking Lander [probe that landed on Mars in 1976] (8) Life on Mars? (9) Mars' rover [a roving vehicle] (10) Terraforming [changing an alien landscape for one suitable for humans] Mars (11) Update
Episode #6:
(1) Voyager, JPL [respectively, spacecraft that surveyed our solar system & eventually became interstellar and Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA (2) Traveler's routes (3) Dutch renaissance (4) [Christiaan] Huygens (5) Huygens-conclusion (6) Traveler's tales (7) Jovian [or Jupiter, fifth planet from the sun] system (8) Europa and Io [two moons of Jupiter] (9) Voyager ship's log (10) Saturn and Titan [respectively, sixth planet from the sun and its largest moon] (11) Update
Episode #7:
(1) What are the stars? (2) Brooklyn schoolroom [Sagan was born in Brooklyn] (3) Mythology of the stars (4) Ancient Greek scientists (5) Science blossoms (6) Democritus [lived 430 BC] (7) Pythagoras [lived in the sixth century BC] (8) Plato and others (9) Distance to the stars (10) Evidence of other planets [beyond the solar system]
Episode #8:
(1) Constellations (2) Time and space (3) [Einstein's] Relativity(4) Leonardo da Vinci (5) Interstellar Travel (6) Time travel (7) Solar systems (8) Cosmic time frame (9) Dinosaurs (10) Immensity of Space (11) Update
Episode #9:
(1) Apple pie (2) The very large (3) Atoms (4) Chemical elements (5) Nuclear forces (6) The stars and our sun (7) Death of stars (8) Star stuff (9) Gravity in Wonderland (10) Children of the stars (11) Update
Episode #10:
(1) Big Bang [leading theory for the origin of the universe] (2) Galaxies (3) Astronomical anomalies (4) Doppler Effect [important effect of sound and light waves] (5) [Milton] Humason (6) Dimensions (7) The universe (8) India
(9) Oscillating universe (10) VLA [very large array of radio telescopes] (11) Update
Episode #11:
(1) Intelligence (2) Whales (3) Genes and DNA (4) The Brain (5) The City (6) Libraries (7) Books (8) Computers (9) Other brains (10) Voyager
Episode #12:
(1) Close Encounters (2) Refutations (3) UFOs (4) [Jean Franscois] Champollion's Egypt (5) Hieroglyphics (6) Rosetta Stone (7) SETI [Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence] (8) Arecibo [Radio/Radar Observatory located in Puerto Rico] (9) Drake Equation [equation formulated by Frank Drake for estimating the number of advanced technical civilizations in the Galaxy] and contact (10) Encyclopedia Galactica (11) Update
Episode #13: (my personal favorite)
(1) Tlingit and Aztec Indians (2) Who speaks for Earth? (3) Nuclear war and balance of terror (4) Alexandrian library (5) Hypatia [the last scientist who worked in the Alexandrian Library] (6) Big Bang and the stuff of life (7) Evolution of life (8) Star stuff (9) What humans have done (10) Who speaks for Earth? (11) Update
The DVDs are practically perfect in picture and sound quality. All the DVDs are remastered, restored, and enhanced.
Finally, there is a book titled "Cosmos" (1980). Sagan elaborates in this book: "The book and the television series evolved together. In some sense each is based on the other...[the] book goes more deeply into many topics than does the television series...each episode of the television series follows fairly closely the corresponding chapter of [the] book; and...the pleasure of each will be enhanced by reference to the other."
In conclusion, if you want to learn something and be entertained at the same time, then you must see this landmark series!!!
(First broadcast on PBS in 1980; updates recorded 1990; 13 one hour episodes; full screen; 7 discs)
<<Stephen Pletko, London, Ontario, Canada>>
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