Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (2014)

Scientist Carl Sagan was not someone who was a worldwide celebrity and therefore I had never heard of him. Reading up on him I understood her regularly visited the talkshows and presented various programmes which helped to make science more popular. One of those programs was Cosmos. I never saw the original version, but Neil deGrasse Tyson has breathed new life into the show. After seeing Interstellar I was inspired to check it out.

The first episode immediately hooked me, as Tyson doesn’t only show the immense scale of the universe (and make you realize how insignificant human life is), but also how long it has existed by using a cosmic calendar. It shows that we only came into being on the last day of the year. During 13 episodes various subjects are shown: the galaxy, various scientific breakthroughs and the scientists responsible for them.

Tyson tells the stories in a fascinating and inspiring way, keeping your attention fully. It also helps that the show looks stunning, by making use of great computer animations showing the galaxy, cells and everything in between. It is eye candy. With his spaceship, the ship of the imagination, he flies everywhere. The discoveries by the scientiests are shown in an animated style, which is a nice break from the CGI imagery. The subjects mentioned are interesting and this is one of those shows which I’m sure will inspire children to become more interested in science.