Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. 2014. GB. Blu-ray. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. 780 minutes. £19.99
About the reviewer: Dr Simon Goodwin is a Reader in Astrophysics in the astronomy group at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Sheffield University. His most recent publications include: The M-dwarfs in Multiples (MinMs) survey I. Stellar multiplicity among low-mass stars within 15pc - K Ward-Duong, J Patience, R J De Rosa, J Bulger, A Rajan, S P Goodwin, R J Parker, D W McCarthy and C Kulesa / MNRAS, 449, 2618-2637 (2015); Multiplicity in Early Stellar Evolution - B Reipurth, C J Clarke, A P Boss, S P Goodwin, L F Rodriguez, K G Stassun, A Tokovinin and H Zinnecker, in ‘Protostars & Planets VI’ (2014);
Email: s.goodwin@sheffield.ac.uk
I really enjoyed this and thought it was a well done and interesting coverage of a wide variety of science topics. Its won several awards and deserves them - this is how science TV should be done. I watched Cosmos with some trepidation. Firstly, it is bringing up-to-date Carl Sagan's famous Cosmos: A Personal Journey series from 1980, so these were big boots to fill. Secondly, much TV science coverage is weak, and often either too simple, wrong, or both (e.g. the BBCs dreadful Space series from 2001 with Sam Neill). But this is excellent.
This isn't just a series about space and cosmology. It is about many areas of science, and also how science is done, and what science tells us about the world. It is presented by a scientist and involves Sagan's widow, so we have two people involved who really want to get things right.
I was impressed by the emphasis on the scientific method. Neil deGrasse Tyson presents the series, he is a scientist and so not a perfect presenter in terms of delivery, but more than makes up for this in his clear passion for science and a fascination for the science and the stories behind it. He tells the story of how Carl Sagan inspired him personally (he visited Sagan's house) when young and I think does a good job of passing that passion on.
The visual effects are really good, and would make excellent little sections to show students as they are often stunning. (OK, sometimes they are a bit wrong or simplified, but this isn't too important and often it'd be impossible to get it 'right'.) Quite a few have made it onto YouTube so can be used easily. I certainly want to use some in lectures - the animation of the formation of the Moon is one of the best I have seen, and scientifically pretty accurate.
The more ‘sci fi’ effects are interspersed with cartoon-like animations of events in the history of science which are extremely well done and a great introduction to the work of many scientists. This ranges from the obvious (Newton, Galileo etc.) to some stories I didn't know.
There are thirteen episodes of about forty-five minutes each. The best place to get a summary is the Wikipedia page on the series ). My favourite episode was number seven. Starting from wondering about the age of the Earth it describes how Clair Patterson got the age of the Earth at 4.5Gyr from radiometric dating, but then expanded on this to the story of how Patterson fought the petrol companies over the dangers of lead. This was a story I didn't know at all, and covers a fascinating array of issues from designing experiments, care in interpretation to financial/political pressures on scientists. This would make a fascinating start for a discussion of all sorts of considerations. It matches well with episode twelve on global warming. (I also really enjoyed the episode on continental drift.)
The series is a clever merger of cutting-edge science and scientific questions with a description of the history and basic science behind them, often told in human stories, but without losing sight of the science and logic behind them. I already knew much of the science explained in the series, but it still managed to keep my attention. I found the history and some of the human stories extremely interesting: I learnt many more details of Bruno's 'heresy', much more about the 'Harvard Computers,' and I had no idea Fourier was the first to postulate the greenhouse effect.
I would recommend this to anybody interested in science, it will cover things that are new to you (but everything that was familiar to me they did a good job of covering without oversimplifying). I think this is suitable for kids 12+, and excellent for 15+. Various aspects could be used to help understand various topics, as well as to stimulate debate on the scientific method, the role of science and scientists, and just to add a nice 'wow factor' (some of the visual effects are great).
An excellent series: interesting, engaging and visually exciting; and - most importantly - gets its science spot-on.
Dr Simon Goodwin