Carl Sagan’s Cosmos
A couple of weeks ago I purchased Carl Sagan’s 1979 TV series, Cosmos on DVD. Actually, it aired in 1980 but was filmed in 1979 and 1979 sounds way cooler than 1980.
It totally rocks!
Sure, he’s wearing beige and, sure, there has been progress in astronomy since the series was produced but I found myself learning plenty of new stuff with every episode. (Did you know that Eratosthenes calculated the earth’s circumference to within a margin of 5-10% back in 240BCE?).
What I love about the scientific method is that when done properly you present the facts as best you know them but remain open to future discoveries and you also disclose known weaknesses. In this series at the end of many of the episodes Sagan appears (looking greyer) with a “10 years later update” and very little of the original content needed revision. The only bit that stands out is that in one of the episodes he presents some of the experiments showing the creation of organic molecules in the laboratory and 10 years later added that they now believe it’s likely that the organic molecules may have formed in the icy bodies of comets.
Also, this was produced at a very uncertain time when the threat of all-out nuclear war seemed quite possible and many of his comments about the future of the human race are bracketed with “if we don’t destroy ourselves first”.
This series is a brilliant way to get an excellent perspective on our place in history and in the universe. It’s factual, balanced and remarkably well-produced. They even managed to avoid the temptation to use the snazzy synthesised music of the era (or is that ‘error’?) and instead opted for tasteful classical music.
Sagan had a very broad understanding of our universe and had a knack for presenting it in an extremely digestible way. With that understanding came an enthusiasm that remains contagious even after his death.
If you come across this series in your video store or for sale in a shop I’d encourage you to do yourself a favour and pick it up. And if you know me (this includes Dale, Ken, Frank and Jack), give me a yell if you want to borrow it and I’ll get it to you.
Tags: Astronomy, carl sagan, cosmos, dvd, evolution
Nice, I’ve owned it for a few years now and it is easily the most inspirational TV series I have ever seen. I’ve watched every episode at least three times, some many more (yep, I’m obsessed lol).
Also if you enjoyed Cosmos, I highly recommend Jacob Bronowski’s “The Ascent of Man” – it is of a similar vein (13 hour long episodes covering the history and nature of science) but done by the BBC 10 years earlier. In a way I find its content is more interesting, but it definitely lacks the Sagan factor.
Cheers
Ian
Thanks for the recommendation Ian. I’d heard of it before and only recently heard similar comparisons to Cosmos with regard to quality. I’ll definitely keep my eyes open for the series (to go alongside my almost obsessive David Attenborough collection!).
The Ascent of Man is almost always in Whitcoulls in their BBC collection, and goes for about $80-90. I know what you mean about Attenboruough – I have the Life Collection Boxed set plus quite a few other DVDs, I never seem to get tired of listening to him lol.
I manged to get a copy of Cosmos on interloan from the National Library. It cost me $5! Must check to see if they have the Ascent of Man.
I have just gotten re-acquainted with Carl Sagan, having watched COSMOS when it first came out so many years ago. I bought the DVD set last month, after much searching. I find it still inspiring and refreshing, and I’ve re-discovered facts I’ve long forgotten or never knew. What a charming charismatic presenter, his casual style and elegance in thought and manner just allowed me to enjoy this series as I did almost thirty years ago. Thank you Carl, you’ve truly broadened our event horizons and I only hope your messages of peace and hope through responsible scientific progress will ring through the generations. You are much missed by Anne and your family, and your wider family around the world.
Hi Brian, I’ve recently re-watched a couple of episodes and agree; they’re well presented and informative. (I do wish they’d avoided the temptation to do the whole ‘spaceship of the imagination’ thing though – it’s pretty embarrassing and unnecessary IMO).
Thanks for commenting and if you haven’t already, I recommend also checking out The Ascent of Man and Civilisation too.