Cosmos discussion thread

[he_who_is_nobody]

I know I said this last week, but I have to say it again. This week’s episode is my favorite one thus far. I loved the discussion about the Pleiades and how different cultures thought it came into existence. I also loved the story of Annie Cannon and Cecilia Payne discovering the secrets of the stars. I also thought it was great how they once again showed that authority and dogma are not always correct in the story of Payne’s discovery. However, the best part of the last episode was the hypernova. I hope that I am able to see one in my lifetime.

One small thing I disliked was the sound from all the different novas made. They are in space; there is no sound in space.

 

[DutchLiam84]

I also loved the "tribute" to Carl again. The last bit was exactly copied from Sagan's Cosmos.

 

[he_who_is_nobody]

This week’s episode was wonderfully done. I loved how they tied in climate change, continental drift, extinction, evolution, and deep time into one cohesive episode. This episode has apparently driven the creationists nuts. Once again, they made it a point to hammer against accepted scientific consensus as unquestioned fact. I love this underlining theme of the show.

My only gripe with this episode was that they mentioned a mammal (complete with CGI), but never gave its name. I feel that this must have been an oversight on the show’s part.

 

[he_who_is_nobody]

Newton had Hook, Darwin had Owen, and Faraday had Davy. One wonders if the former of each pairing was made better because of their latter.

The last episode of Cosmos was wonderfully done from start to finish. This episode went back to the theme that greatness can come from anywhere. Michael Faraday had such a humble beginning, but given the right chance in life, he was able to change the world. His story and the earlier story of Joseph von Fraunhofer make me wish that we invested far more into education across the globe. Imagine a world where every child with a mind like Faraday’s was given the opportunities education brings them. As Tyson said in the earlier episode; “You never know where the next genius will come from. How many of them do we leave in the rubble?” One also wonders how much more Faraday could have discovered if he was not stricken with poor mental health in the latter part of his life.