Cosmos:A Spacetime Odyssey

Genre Science documentary

Based on Cosmos: A PersonalVoyageby Carl SaganAnn DruyanSteven Soter

Written by Ann DruyanSteven Soter

Directed by Brannon BragaBill PopeAnn Druyan

Presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Composer(s) Alan Silvestri

Country of origin United States

Original language(s) English

No. of seasons 1

No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes)

Production

Executiveproducer(s)

Seth MacFarlaneAnn DruyanBrannon BragaMitchell Cannold

Producer(s) Livia HanichSteven HoltzmanJason Clark

Location(s) Santa Fe, New Mexico

Cosmos: A Spacetime OdysseyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 American sciencedocumentary television series.[2] The show is a follow-up tothe 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, whichwas presented by Carl Sagan on the Public BroadcastingService and is considered a milestone for scientificdocumentaries. This series was developed to bring back thefoundation of science to network television at the height ofother scientific-based television series and films. The show ispresented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who, as ayoung high school student, was inspired by Sagan. Amongthe executive producers are Seth MacFarlane, whosefinancial investment was instrumental in bringing the show tobroadcast television, and Ann Druyan, a co-author and co-creator of the original television series.[3][4] The show isproduced by Brannon Braga, and Alan Silvestri composedthe backing score.[5]

The series loosely follows the same thirteen-episode formatand storytelling approach that the original Cosmos used,including elements such as the "Ship of the Imagination" andthe "Cosmic Calendar", but features information updatedsince the 1980 series along with extensive computer-generated graphics and animation footage augmenting thenarration.

The series premiered on March 9, 2014,[6] simultaneously inthe United States across ten 21st Century Fox networks. Theremainder of the series aired on the Fox Network, with theNational Geographic Channel rebroadcasting the episodes thenext night with extra content.[7] The series has beenrebroadcast internationally in dozens of other countries bylocal National Geographic and Fox stations. The seriesconcluded on June 8, 2014, with home media release of theentire series on June 10, 2014. Cosmos has been criticallypraised, winning several television broadcasting awards and aPeabody Award for educational content.

Contents1 Background2 Development3 Broadcast

Culver City, California

Cinematography Bill Pope

Editor(s) John DuffyEric LeaMichael O'Halloran

Running time 41–44 minutes[1]

Productioncompany(s)

Cosmos StudiosFuzzy Door ProductionsSanta Fe Studios

Release

Original network FoxNational GeographicChannel

Picture format 16:9 HDTV

Original release March 9 – June 8, 2014

Chronology

Preceded by Cosmos: A PersonalVoyage

Nature timeline

3 Broadcast4 Cast5 Episodes6 Reception

6.1 Criticism7 Media release8 References9 External links

BackgroundThe original 13-part Cosmos: A Personal Voyage first aired in1980 on the Public Broadcasting System, and was hosted byCarl Sagan. The show has been considered highly significantsince its broadcast; David Itzkoff of The New York Timesdescribed it as "a watershed moment for science-themedtelevision programming".[8] The show has been watched byat least 400 million people across 60 different countries,[8]

and until the 1990 documentary The Civil War, remained thenetwork's highest rated program.[9]

Following Sagan's death in 1996, his widow Ann Druyan, theco-creator of the original Cosmos series along withSteven Soter, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasseTyson sought to create a new version of the series,aimed to appeal to as wide an audience as possibleand not just to those interested in the sciences.They had struggled for years with reluctanttelevision networks that failed to see the broadappeal of the show.[8]

DevelopmentSeth MacFarlane had met Druyan through Tyson atthe 2008 kickoff event for the Science &Entertainment Exchange, a new Los Angeles officeof the National Academy of Sciences, designed toconnect Hollywood writers and directors withscientists.[10] A year later, at a 2009 lunch in NewYork City with Tyson, MacFarlane learned of theirinterest to re-create Cosmos. He was influenced byCosmos as a child, believing that Cosmos served to"[bridge] the gap between the academic communityand the general public".[10] At the time MacFarlane

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cosmic speed-up

Solar Systemwater

Single-celled life

photosynthesis

Multicellularlife

Land life

Dark energy

Dark matter

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Life

Primor Milky Way Galaxy

NGC 188 star clusterforms

Alpha Centauri forms

Earliest Earth(-4.54)

Earliest life

Earliest oxygen

Atmospheric oxygen

Earliest sexualreproduction

Cambrian explosion

Earliest humans

Axis scale: billions of years.also see {{Human timeline}} and {{Life timeline}}

Animator SethMacFarlane wasinstrumental in obtainingnetwork funding forCosmos: A SpacetimeOdyssey, and also servesas an executive producer.

Interior of the "Ship of theImagination": top, from the original1980 Cosmos series, with Carl Saganin the chair; bottom, from the 2014series, with Neil deGrasse Tyson inthe chair.

told Tyson, "I'm at apoint in my careerwhere I have somedisposable income ...and I’d like to spend iton somethingworthwhile."[11]

MacFarlane hadconsidered thereduction of effort forspace travel in recentdecades to be part of"our culture oflethargy".[8] MacFarlane, who has several series on the Fox network, was able tobring Druyan to meet the heads of Fox programming, Peter Rice and Kevin Reilly,and helped secure the greenlighting of the show.[8] MacFarlane admits that he is"the least essential person in this equation" and the effort is a departure from workhe's done before, but considers this to be "very comfortable territory for me

personally".[8] He and Druyan have become close friends, and Druyan stated that she believed that Sagan andMacFarlane would have been "kindred spirits" with their respective "protean talents".[8] In June 2012,MacFarlane provided funding to allow about 800 boxes of Sagan's personal notes and correspondences to bedonated to the Library of Congress.[10]

In a Point of Inquiry interview, Tyson discussed their goal of capturingthe "spirit of the original Cosmos", which he describes as "upliftingthemes that called people to action".[12] Druyan describes the themes ofwonder and skepticism they are infusing into the scripts, in an interviewwith Skepticality, "In order for it to qualify on our show it has to touchyou. It still has to be rigorously good science—no cutting corners onthat. But then, it also has to be that equal part skepticism and wonderboth."[13] In a Big Picture Science interview, Tyson credits the successof the original series for the proliferation of science programming, “Thetask for the next generation of Cosmos is a little bit different because Idon’t need to teach you textbook science. There’s a lot of textbookscience in the original Cosmos, but that’s not what you remember most.What most people who remember the original series remember most isthe effort to present science in a way that has meaning to you that caninfluence your conduct as a citizen of the nation and of the world—especially of the world.” Tyson states that the new series will containboth new material and updated versions of topics in the original series,but primarily, will service the “needs of today’s population". “We wantto make a program that is not simply a sequel to the first, but issues forth

from the times in which we are making it, so that it matters to those who is this emergent 21st century

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cosmic expansion

Earliest lightEarliest gravity

Dark energy

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Earliest universe(-13.8)

Earliest galaxyEarliest quasar

Omega Centauri forms

Andromeda Galaxyforms

Milky Way Galaxyspiral arms form

NASA video: Station Astronauts Do Experiment for Cosmos

Astrophysicist NeildeGrasse Tyson hosts andnarrates the show.

audience.”[14] Tyson considered that recent successes of science-oriented shows like The Big Bang Theory andCSI: Crime Scene Investigation, along with films like Gravity, showed that "science has become mainstream"and expects Cosmos "will land on hugely fertile ground".[11]

Tyson spoke about the "love-hate relationship" viewers had with the original series' Spaceship of theImagination, but confirmed during production that they were developing "vehicles of storytelling".[12] Tysonaffirmed that defining elements of the original series such as the Spaceship of the Imagination and the CosmicCalendar with improved special effects, as well as new elements, would be present. Animation for thesesequences was ultimately created by a team hand-picked by MacFarlane for the series.[11] Kara Vallowdeveloped and produced the animation, and the animation studio used was Six Point Harness in Los Angeles,California.[15] The sound of the Spaceship of the Imagination, and sound design in general, was created by RickSteele, who said of the show: "Cosmos has been, by far, the most challenging show of my career."[16] Theupdated Spaceship was designed to "remain timeless and very simple", according to MacFarlane, using theceiling to project future events and the floor for those in the past, to allow Tyson, as the host, to "take [theviewer] to the places that he’s talking about".[17]

BroadcastIn August 2011, theshow was officiallyannounced forprimetime broadcast inthe spring of 2014. Theshow is a co-productionof Druyan's CosmosStudios, MacFarlane'sFuzzy DoorProductions, andNational GeographicChannel; Druyan,MacFarlane, CosmosStudios' Mitchell

Cannold, and director Brannon Braga are the executive producers.[3]

Fox's CEO Kevin Reilly considered that the show would be a risk and outside the network's typicalprogramming, but that "we believe this can have the same massive cultural impact that the original seriesdelivered," and committed the network's resources to the show.[3] The show would first be broadcast on Fox, re-airing the same night on the National Geographic Channel.[3]

In Canada, the show was broadcast simultaneously on Global, National Geographic Channel and Nat GeoWild.[18] A preview of the show's first episode was aired for student filmmakers at the White House StudentFilm Festival on February 28, 2014.[19]

Cosmos premiered simultaneously in the US across ten Fox networks: Fox, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Sports 1, FoxSports 2, National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, and Fox Life. According to FoxNetworks, this was the first time that a TV show was set to premiere in a global simulcast across their networkof channels.[20]

The Fox network broadcast averaged about 5.8 million viewers in Nielsen’s affiliate-based estimates for the 9o’clock hour Sunday, as well as a 2.1 rating/5 share in adults 18-49. The under-50 audience was roughly 60%men. Viewing on other networks raised these totals to 8.5 million and a 2.9 rating in the demo, according toNielsen.[21]

CastNeil deGrasse Tyson as himselfCarl Sagan as himselfPeter Emshwiller as George TiltonPiotr Michael as Edmund MuskieSeth MacFarlane as Giordano BrunoJohn Steven Rocha as Robert BellarminePaul Telfer as an angry scholarMichael Chochol as Jan OortKirsten Dunst as Cecilia Payne-GaposchkinCary Elwes as Edmond Halley and Robert HookeRichard Gere as Clair PattersonJonathan Morgan Heit as John HerschelMartin Jarvis as Humphry DavyTom Konkle as Samuel PepysMarlee Matlin as Annie Jump CannonHeiko Obermoller as Hermann EinsteinJulian Ovenden as Michael FaradayNadia Rochelle Pfarr as Malala YousafzaiEnn Reitel as Albert EinsteinWesley Salter as James Clerk MaxwellAmanda Seyfried as Marie TharpAlexander Siddig as Isaac NewtonPatrick Stewart as William HerschelOliver Vaquer as Joseph von FraunhoferJulie Wittner as Sarah FaradayMarc Worden as Harrison BrownAlfred Molina as Ibn al-Haytham[22]

Episodes

No. Title Directedby Written by Original air

date

Prod.code [23]

U.S.viewers

(millions)

"Standing Up in the Milky Brannon Ann Druyan and 5.77[26] /

The Earth's location within the VirgoSupercluster.

The diversity of species as shown viathe Tree of Life.

1 Way" Braga Steven Soter March 9, 2014 101 8.5[27]

The show begins with a brief introduction recorded by President of theUnited States Barack Obama describing the "spirit of discovery" thatthe series aspires to give to its viewers.[24][25]

Tyson opens the episode to reflect on the importance of Sagan'soriginal Cosmos, and the goals of this series. He introduces the viewerto the "Ship of the Imagination", the show's narrative device to explorethe universe's past, present, and future. Tyson takes the viewer to showwhere Earth sits in the scope of the known universe, defining theEarth's "address" within the Virgo Supercluster. Tyson explains howhumanity has not always seen the universe in this manner, anddescribes the hardships and persecution of Renaissance ItalianGiordano Bruno in challenging the prevailing geocentric model held bythe Catholic Church. To show Bruno's vision of the cosmic order heuses an animated adaptation of the Flammarion engraving, a 19thcentury illustration that has now become a common meme for the revealing of the mysteries of the Universe.

The episode continues onto the scope of time, using the concept of the Cosmic Calendar as used in the originalseries to provide a metaphor for this scale. The narration describes how if the Big Bang occurred on January 1,all of humankind's recorded history would be compressed into the last few seconds of the last minute onDecember 31. Tyson concludes the episode by recounting how Sagan inspired him as a student as well as hisother contributions to the scientific community.

2 "Some of the Things ThatMolecules Do" Bill Pope Ann Druyan and

Steven Soter March 16, 2014 102 4.95[28]

The episode covers several facets of the origin of life and evolution.Tyson describes both artificial selection via selective breeding, usingthe example of humankind's domestication of wolves into dogs, andnatural selection that created species like polar bears. Tyson uses theShip of the Imagination to show how DNA, genes, and mutation work,and how these led to the diversity of species as represented by the Treeof life, including how complex organs such as the eye came about as acommon element.

Tyson describes extinction of species and the five great extinctionevents that wiped out numerous species on Earth, while some species,such as the tardigrade, were able to survive and continue life. Tysonspeculates on the possibility of life on other planets, such as Saturn'smoon, Titan, as well as how abiogenesis may have originated life onEarth. The episode concludes with an animation from the originalCosmos showing the evolution of life from a single cell to humankindtoday.

3 "When Knowledge Conquered Brannon Ann Druyan and March 23, 2014 103 4.25[29]

The first page of Isaac Newton'sPhilosophiæ Naturalis PrincipiaMathematica

Fear" Braga Steven Soter

The episode begins with Tyson describing how pattern recognitionmanifested in early civilization as using astronomy and astrology topredict the passing of the seasons, including how the passage of acomet was often taken as an omen. Tyson continues to explain that theorigin of comets only became known in the 20th century due to thework of Jan Oort and his hypothesis of the Oort cloud.

Tyson then continues to relate the collaboration between EdmondHalley and Isaac Newton in the last part of the 17th century inCambridge. The collaboration would result in the publication ofPhilosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, the first major work todescribe the laws of physics in mathematical terms, despite objectionsand claims of plagiarism from Robert Hooke and financial difficultiesof the Royal Society of London. Tyson explains how this workchallenged the prevailing notion that God had planned out the heavens,but would end up influencing many factors of modern life, includingspace flight.

Tyson further describes Halley's contributions based on Newton's work,including determining Earth's distance to the sun, the motion of starsand predicting the orbit of then-unnamed Halley's Comet using Newton's laws. Tyson contrasts these scientificapproaches to understanding the galaxy compared to what earlier civilizations had done, and considers thisadvancement as humankind's first steps into exploring the universe. The episode ends with an animation of theMilky Way and Andromeda galaxies' merging based on the principles of Newton's laws.

4 "A Sky Full of Ghosts" BrannonBraga

Ann Druyan andSteven Soter March 30, 2014 105 3.91[30]

An artist's concept of a black hole'saccretion disk.

Representative Fraunhofer lines usedin astronomical spectroscopy todetermine the composition of distantstellar objects

Tyson begins the episode by explaining the nature of the speed of light and how much of what is seen of theobservable universe is from light emanated from billions of years in the past. Tyson further explains howmodern astronomy has used such analyses via deep time to identify the Big Bang event and the age of theuniverse.

Tyson proceeds to describe how the work of Isaac Newton, WilliamHerschel, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell contributed tounderstanding the nature of electromagnetic waves and gravitationalforce, and how this work led towards Albert Einstein's Theory ofRelativity, that the speed of light is a fundamental constant of theuniverse and gravity can be seen as distortion of the fabric of space-time. Tyson describes the concept of dark stars as postulated by JohnMichell which are not visible but detectable by tracking other starstrapped within their gravity wells, an idea Herschel used to discoverbinary stars.

Tyson then describes the nature of black holes, their enormousgravitational forces that can even capture light, and their discovery via X-ray sources such as Cygnus X-1.Tyson uses the Ship of Imagination to provide a postulate of the warping of spacetime and time dilation as oneenters the event horizon of the black hole, and the possibility that these may lead to other points within ouruniverse or others, or even time travel. Tyson ends on noting that Herschel's son, John would be inspired byhis father to continue to document the known stars as well as contributions towards photography that play onthe same nature of deep time used by astronomers.

Animated sequences in this episode feature caricatures of William and John Herschel; Patrick Stewartprovided the voice for William in these segments.

5 "Hiding in the Light" Bill Pope Ann Druyan andSteven Soter April 6, 2014 104 3.98[31]

This episode explores the wave theory of light as studied byhumankind, noting that light has played an important role in scientificprogress, with such early experiments from over 2000 years agoinvolving the camera obscura by the Chinese philosopher Mozi. Tysondescribes the work of the 11th century Arabic scientist Ibn al-Haytham,considered to be one of the first to postulate on the nature of light andoptics leading to the concept of the telescope, as well as one of the firstresearchers to use the scientific method.

Tyson proceeds to discuss the nature of light as discovered by humankind. Work by Isaac Newton usingdiffraction through prisms demonstrated that light was composed of the visible spectrum, while findings ofWilliam Herschel in the 19th century showed that light also consisted of infrared rays. Joseph von Fraunhoferwould later come to discover that by magnifying the spectrum of visible light, gaps in the spectrum would beobserved. These Fraunhofer lines would later be determined to be caused by the absorption of light byelectrons in moving between atomic orbitals (in the show illustrated by the Bohr model) when it passedthrough atoms, with each atom having a characteristic signature due to the quantum nature of these orbitals.This since has led to the core of astronomical spectroscopy, allowing astronomers to make observations aboutthe composition of stars, planets, and other stellar features through the spectral lines, as well as observing themotion and expansion of the universe, and the hypothesized existence of dark matter.

Supernova SN 1987A demonstratedthe existence of neutrinos.

Meteor fragments from Meteor Craterin Arizona were used to estimate theage of the Earth and other materials inthe Solar System.

6 "Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" Bill Pope Ann Druyan andSteven Soter

April 13, 2014 106 3.49[32]

This episode looks to the nature of the cosmos on the micro and atomicscales, using the Ship of the Imagination to explore these realms. Tysondescribes some of the micro-organisms that live within a dew drop,demonstrating parameciums and tardigrades. He proceeds to discusshow plants use photosynthesis via their chloroplasts to convert sunlightinto chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water intooxygen and energy-rich sugars. Tyson then discusses the nature ofmolecules and atoms and how they relate to the evolution of species.He uses the example set forth by Charles Darwin postulating theexistence of the long-tongued Morgan's sphinx moth based on thenature of the comet orchid with pollen far within the flower. He furtherdemonstrates that scents from flowers are used to trigger olfactorycenters in the brain, stimulating the mind to threats as to aid in thesurvival of the species.

Tyson narrates how two Greek philosophers contributed to our understanding of science. Thales was amongthe first thinkers to examine a "universe governed by the order of natural laws that we could actually figureout," and Democritus postulated that all matter was made up of combinations of atoms in a large number ofconfigurations. He then describes how carbon forms the basic building block for life on Earth due to its uniquechemical nature. Tyson explains the basic atomic structure of protons, neutrons, and electrons, and the processof nuclear fusion that occurs in most stars that can overcome the electrostatic forces that normally keeps atomsfrom touching each other. He then discusses the existence of neutrinos that are created by these nuclearprocesses, and that typically pass through all matter, making them virtually undetectable. He explains howsubterranean water pool facilities lined with special detectors like the Super-Kamiokande are used to detectneutrinos when they collide with water molecules, and how neutrinos from supernova SN 1987A in the LargeMagellanic Cloud were detected three hours before the photons of light from the explosion were observed dueto the neutrinos' ability to pass through matter of the dying sun. Tyson concludes by noting that there areneutrinos from the Big Bang still existing in the universe but due to the nature of light, there is a "wall ofinfinity" that cannot be observed beyond.

7 "The Clean Room" BrannonBraga

Ann Druyan andSteven Soter April 20, 2014 107 3.74[34]

This episode is centered around how science, in particular the work ofClair Patterson (voiced in animated sequences by Richard Gere[33]) inthe middle of the 20th century, was able to determine the age of theEarth. Tyson first describes how the Earth was formed from thecoalescence of matter some millions of years after the formation of theSun, and while scientists can examine the formations in rock stratum todate some geological events, these can only trace back millions ofyears. Instead, scientists have used the debris from meteor impacts,such as the Meteor Crater in Arizona, knowing that the material fromsuch meteors coming from the asteroid belt would have been made atthe same time as the Earth.

The Harvard Computers that helped toclassify the types of stars

Tyson then outlines the work Patterson did as a graduate under his adviser Harrison Brown to provide anaccurate count of lead in zircon particles from Meteor Crater, and to work with similar results being collectedby George Tilton on uranium counts; with the established half-life of uranium's radioactive decay to lead, thiswould be used to estimate the age of the Earth. Patterson found that his results were contaminated by leadfrom the ambient environment, compared to Tilton's results, and required the construction of the first ultra-high cleanroom to remove all traces of environmental lead. With these clean results, Patterson was able toestimate the age of the Earth to 4.5 billion years.

Tyson goes on to explain that Patterson's work in performing lead-free experiments directed him to investigatethe sources for lead. Tyson notes how lead does not naturally occur at Earth's surface but has been readilymined by humans (including the Roman Empire), and that lead is poisonous to humans. Patterson examinedthe levels of lead in the common environment and in deeper parts of the oceans and Antarctic ice, showing thatlead had only been brought to the surface in recent times. He would discover that the higher levels of leadwere from the use of tetraethyllead in leaded gasoline, despite long-established claims by Robert A. Kehoe andothers that this chemical was safe. Patterson would continue to campaign against the use of lead, ultimatelyresulting in government-mandated restrictions on the use of lead. Tyson ends by noting that similar work byscientists continues to be used to help alert humankind to other fateful issues that can be identified by the studyof nature.

8 "Sisters of the Sun" BrannonBraga

Ann Druyan andSteven Soter April 27, 2014 108 3.66[35]

This episode provides an overview of the composition of stars, andtheir fate in billions of years. Tyson describes how early human wouldidentify stars via the use of constellations that tied in with variousmyths and beliefs, such as the Pleiades. Tyson describes the work ofEdward Charles Pickering to capture the spectra of multiple starssimultaneously, and the work of the Harvard Computers or "Pickering'sHarem", a team of women researchers under Pickering's mentorship, tocatalog the spectra. This team included Annie Jump Cannon, whodeveloped the stellar classification system, and Henrietta Swan Leavitt,who discovered the means to measure the distance from a star to theearth by its spectra, later used to identify other galaxies in the universe.Later, this team included Cecilia Payne, who would develop a goodfriendship with Cannon; Payne's thesis based on her work with Cannonwas able to determine the composition and temperature of the stars, collaborating with Cannon's classificationsystem.

Tyson then explains the lifecycle of stars, being borne out from interstellar clouds. He explains how stars likethe Sun keep their size due to the conflicting forces of gravity that pulls the gases in, and the expansion fromescaping gases from the fusion reactions at its core. As the Sun ages, it will grow hotter and brighter to thepoint where the balance between these reactions will fail, causing the Sun to first expand into a red giant, andthen collapse into a white dwarf, the collapse limited by the atomic forces. Tyson explains how larger starsmay form even more collapsed forms of matter, creating novas and supernovas depending on their size andleading to pulsars. Massive stars can collapse into black holes. Tyson then describes that stars can only be solarge, using the example of Eta Carinae which is considered an unstable solar mass that could become ahypernova in the relatively near future. Tyson ends describing how all matter on Earth is the same stuff thatstars are made of, and that light and energy from the stars is what drives life on Earth.

"The Lost Worlds of Planet Brannon Ann Druyan and

A map of Earth's tectonic plates

Michael Faraday presenting hisexperiments with electromagnetism ata Christmas Lecture, 1856

9 Earth" Braga Steven Soter May 4, 2014 110 4.08[36]

This episode explores the palaeogeography of Earth over millions ofyears, and its impact on the development of life on the planet. Tysonstarts by explaining that the lignin-rich trees evolved in theCarboniferous era about 300 million years ago, were not edible byspecies at the time and would instead fall over and become carbon-richcoal. Some 50 million years later, near the end of the Permian period,volcanic activity would burn the carbonaceous matter, releasing carbondioxide and acidic components, creating a sudden greenhouse gaseffect that warmed the oceans and released methane from the oceanbeds, all leading towards the Permian–Triassic extinction event, killing90% of the species on Earth.

Tyson then explains the nature of plate tectonics that would shape the landmasses of the world. Tyson explainshow scientists like Abraham Ortelius hypothesized the idea that land masses may have been connected in thepast, Alfred Wegener who hypothesized the idea of a super-continent Pangaea and continental drift despite theprevailing idea of flooded land-bridges at the time, and Bruce C. Heezen and Marie Tharp who discovered theMid-Atlantic Ridge that supported the theory of plate tectonics. Tyson describes how the landmasses of theearth lay atop the mantle, which moves due to the motion and heat of the earth's outer and inner core.

Tyson moves on to explain the asteroid impact that initiated the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event,leaving small mammals as the dominant species on earth. Tyson proceeds to describe more recent geologicevents such as the formation of the Mediterranean Sea due to the breaking of the natural dam at the Strait ofGibraltar, and how the geologic formation of the Isthmus of Panama broke the free flow of the Atlantic Oceaninto the Pacific, causing large-scale climate change such as turning the bulk of Africa from lush grasslands intoarid plains and further influencing evolution towards tree-climbing mammals. Tyson further explains how theinfluence of other planets in the Solar System have small effects on the Earth's spin and tilt, creating thevarious ice ages, and how these changes influenced early human's nomadic behavior. Tyson concludes theepisode by noting how Earth's landmasses are expected to change in the future and postulates what may be thenext great extinction event.

10 "The Electric Boy" Bill Pope Ann Druyan andSteven Soter May 11, 2014 109 3.46[37]

This episode provides an overview of the nature of electromagnetism,as discovered through the work of Michael Faraday. Tyson explainshow the idea of another force of nature, similar to gravitational forces,had been postulated by Isaac Newton before. Tyson continues onFaraday, coming from poor beginnings, would end up becominginterested in studying electricity after reading books and seeing lecturesby Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Davy would hire Faradayafter seeing extensive notes he had taken to act as his secretary and labassistant.

After Davy and chemist William Hyde Wollaston unsuccessfully triedto build on Hans Christian Ørsted's discovery of the electromagneticphenomena to harness the ability to create motion from electricity, Faraday was able to create his own device

Carl Sagan with a replica of the MarsViking program lander

to create the first electric motor by applying electricity aligned along a magnet. Davy, bitter over Faraday'sbreakthrough, put Faraday on the task of improving the quality of high-quality optical glass, preventingFaraday from continuing his research. Faraday, undeterred, continued to work in the Royal Institution, andcreated the Christmas Lectures designed to teach science to children. Following Davy's death, Faradayreturned to full time efforts studying electromagnetism, creating the first electrical generator by inserting amagnet in a coil of wires.

Tyson continues to note that despite losing some of his mental capacity, Faraday concluded that electricity andmagnetism were connected by unseen fields, and postulated that light may also be tied to these forces. Using asample of the optical glass that Davy had him make, Faraday discovered that an applied magnetic field couldaffect the polarization of light passing through the glass sample (a dielectric material), leading to what is calledthe Faraday effect and connecting these three forces. Faraday postulated that these fields existed across theplanet, which would later be called Earth's magnetic field generated by the rotating molten iron inner core, aswell as the phenomena that caused the planets to rotate around the sun. Faraday's work was initially rejectedby the scientific community due to his lack of mathematical support, but James Clerk Maxwell would latercome to rework Faraday's theories into the Maxwell's equations that validated Faraday's theories. Theircombined efforts created the basis of science that drives the principles of modern communications today.

11 "The Immortals" BrannonBraga

Ann Druyan andSteven Soter May 18, 2014 111 3.24[38]

This episode covers how life may have developed on Earth and thepossibility of life on other planets. Tyson begins by explaining how thehuman development of writing systems enabled the transfer ofinformation through generations, describing how Princess Enheduannaca. 2280 BC would be one of the first to sign her name to her works,and how Gilgamesh collected stories, including that of Utnapishtimdocumenting a great flood comparable to the story of Noah's Ark.Tyson explains how DNA similarly records information to propagatelife, and postulates theories of how DNA originated on Earth, includingevolution from a shallow tide pool, or from the ejecta of meteorcollisions from other planets. In the latter case, Tyson explains howcomparing the composition of the Nakhla meteorite in 1911 to results collected by the Viking programdemonstrated that material from Mars could transit to Earth, and the ability of some microbes to survive theharsh conditions of space. With the motions of solar systems through the galaxy over billions of years, lifecould conceivably propagate from planet to planet in the same manner.

Tyson then moves on to consider if life on other planets could exist. He explains how Project Diana performedin the 1940s showed that radio waves are able to travel in space, and that all of humanity's broadcast signalscontinue to radiate into space from our planet. Tyson notes that projects have since looked for similar signalspotentially emanating from other solar systems. Tyson then explains that the development and lifespan ofextraterrestrial civilizations must be considered for such detection to be realized. He notes that civilizationscan be wiped out by cosmic events like supernovae, natural disasters such as the Toba disaster, or even self-destruct through war or other means, making probability estimates difficult. Tyson describes how ellipticalgalaxies, in which some of the oldest red dwarf stars exist, would offer the best chance of finding establishedcivilizations. Tyson concludes that human intelligence properly applied should allow our species to avoid suchdisasters and enable us to migrate beyond the Earth before the Sun's eventual transformation into a red giant.Princess Enheduanna's animation is modeled on CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who also did Enheduanna's

The increase in surface temperatureson Earth due to global warming

Earth as a pale blue dot in themiddle of the band of light,taken by Voyager I fromoutside the orbit of Neptune

voice.

12 "The World Set Free"Brannon

BragaAnn Druyan and

Steven Soter June 1, 2014 112 3.52[39]

This episode explores the nature of the greenhouse effect (discoveredby Joseph Fourier and Svante Arrhenius), and the evidencedemonstrating the existence of global warming from humanity'sinfluence. Tyson begins by describing the long-term history of theplanet Venus; based on readings from the Venera series of probes to theplanet, the planet once had an ocean and an atmosphere, but due to therelease of carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions, the runawaygreenhouse effect on Venus caused the surface temperatures to increaseand boiled away the oceans.

Tyson then notes the delicate nature of the amount of carbon dioxide inthe atmosphere can influence Earth's climate due to the greenhouseeffect, and that levels of carbon dioxide have been increasing since thestart of the 20th century. Evidence has shown this to be from humankind's consumption of oil, coal, and gasinstead of from volcanic eruptions due to the isotopic signature of the carbon dioxide. The increase in carbondioxide has led to an increase in temperatures, in turn leading to positive feedback loops of the melting polarice caps and dethawing of the permafrost to increase carbon dioxide levels.

Tyson then notes that humans have discovered means of harvesting solar power, such as Augustin Mouchot'ssolar-driven motor in the 19th century, and Frank Shuman's solar-based steam generator in the 1910s. Tysonpoints out that in both cases, the economics and ease of using cheap coal and oil caused these inventions to beoverlooked at the time. Today, solar and wind-power systems would be able to collect enough solar energyfrom the sun easily. Tyson then compares the motivation for switching to these cleaner forms of energy to theefforts of the Space race and emphasizes that it is not too late for humanity to correct its course.

13 "Unafraid of the Dark" AnnDruyan

Ann Druyan andSteven Soter June 8, 2014 113 3.09[40]

Tyson begins the episode by noting how the destruction of the Library ofAlexandria lost much of humanity's knowledge to that point. He thencontrasts on the strive for humanity to continue to discover new facts aboutthe universe and the need to not close off further discovery.

Tyson then proceeds to describe the discovery of cosmic rays by Victor Hessthrough high-altitude balloon trips, where radiation increased the farther onewas from the surface. Swiss Astronomer Fritz Zwicky, in studyingsupernovae, postulated that these cosmic rays originated from these eventsinstead of electromagnetic radiation. Zwicky would continue to studysupernovae, and by looking at standard candles that they emitted, estimatedthe movement of the galaxies in the universe. His calculations suggested thatthere must be more mass in the universe than those apparent in the observablegalaxies, and called this dark matter. Initially forgotten, Zwicky's theory wasconfirmed by the work of Vera Rubin, who observed that the rotation of stars

The crew of Cosmos at the 74thAnnual Peabody Awards. From left toright: Ann Druyan, Neil deGrasseTyson, Mitchell Cannold and BrannonBraga

at the edges of observable galaxies did not follow expected rotational behavior without considering darkmatter. This further led to the proposal of dark energy as a viable theory to account for the universe'sincreasing rate of expansion.

Tyson then describes the interstellar travel, using the two Voyager probes. Besides the abilities to identifyseveral features on the planets of the solar system, Voyager I was able to recently demonstrate the existence ofthe Sun's variable heliosphere which help buffer the Solar System from interstellar winds. Tyson describesCarl Sagan's role in the Voyager program, including creating the Voyager Golden Record to encapsulatehumanity and Earth's position in the universe, and convincing the program directors to have Voyager I to take apicture of Earth from beyond the orbit of Neptune, creating the image of the Pale Blue Dot. Tyson concludesthe series by emphasizing Sagan's message on the human condition in the vastness of the cosmos, and toencourage viewers to continue to explore and discover what else the universe has to offer.

The series concludes with the empty-seated Ship of the Imagination leaving Earth and traveling through spaceas Tyson looks on from planet Earth.

ReceptionCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey has received highly positive reviewsfrom critics, receiving a Metacritic rating of 83 out of 100 based on 19reviews.[41]

The miniseries won the 4th Critics' Choice Television Award for "BestReality Series", with Tyson awarded for "Best Reality Host".[42] Theminiseries was also nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Newsand Information" for the 30th TCA Awards[43] and 12 Emmy Awards,including "Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series".[44][45] Theprogram won the Emmy for "Outstanding Writing for NonfictionProgramming" and "Outstanding Sound Editing for NonfictionProgramming (Single or Multi-Camera)", and Silvestri won the Emmysfor both "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" and"Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original DramaticScore)".[46] The series won a 2014 Peabody Award within the Education category.[47] In 2014, the Committeefor Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) presented Cosmos with the Robert B. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking."Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey opened the eyes of a new generation to humanity’s triumphs, its mistakes, andits astounding potential to reach unimagined heights."[48]

Criticism

The new miniseries has been criticized by some Christians and the religious right for some of the viewsexpressed by the show.[49] Christian fundamentalists were upset that the scientific theories covered in the showopposed the creation myth in the Bible.[50] The Catholic League was upset that the science show "smears"Catholicism. A spokesman for the League noted how the show focused on Giordano Bruno, who was persecuted

by the Catholic Church for showing the Earth revolved around the Sun, and stated that the show "skippedCopernicus and Galileo—two far more consequential men in proving and disseminating the heliocentric theory—because in their cases, the Church's role was much more complicated".[51]

Media release

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 10, 2014[52] by 20th Century FoxHome Entertainment. The set contains all 13 episodes, plus an audio commentary on the first episode, and threefeaturettes: "Celebrating Carl Sagan: A Selection from the Library of Congress Dedication", "Cosmos at Comic-Con 2013" and "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – The Voyage Continues". Exclusive to the Blu-ray version isthe interactive Cosmic Calendar.[53]

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Reporter. Retrieved June 28, 2012.4. Sellers, John (August 5, 2011). "Seth MacFarlane to Produce Sequel to Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' " . Reuters. Retrieved

October 29, 2012.5. "Alan Silvestri to Score 'Cosmos – A Spacetime Odyssey' " . Film Music Reporter. January 14, 2014. Retrieved

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Stream" . Epoch Times. Retrieved March 16, 2014.8. Itzkoff, Dave (August 5, 2011). " 'Family Guy' Creator Part of 'Cosmos' Update" . The New York Times. Retrieved

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2012.15. McNally, Victoria (March 6, 2014). "Learn More About the Awesome Animation Sequences in Cosmos From Producer

Kara Vallow" . The Mary Sue. Retrieved March 6, 2014.16. Andersen, Asbjoern (June 16, 2014). "Creating The Breathtaking Sound Of 'COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey' " . A

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Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 8, 2014.18. "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" . Shaw Media. Retrieved March 9, 2014.19. Coleman, Miriam (March 8, 2014). "President Obama to Introduce 'Cosmos' Premiere" . Rolling Stone. Retrieved

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2014.25. President Obama's Intro to Cosmos, 2014 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcdYYISYh0I) on YouTube26. Kondolojy, Amanda (March 11, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time' & 'The Amazing

Race' Adjusted Up" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.27. Collins, Scott (March 10, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'Cosmos' premiere ratings: 40M first week?" . Los Angeles

Time. Retrieved March 27, 2014.28. Bibel, Sara (March 18, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Resurrection', 'America's Funniest Home

Videos', 'Cosmos', 'American Dad' & 'Believe' Adjusted Up" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.29. Kondolojy, Amanda (March 25, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'America's Funniest Home Videos', 'Once Upon a Time',

'American Dad' & 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes', 'Revenge' & 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down" . TV bythe Numbers. Retrieved March 27, 2014.

30. Bibel, Sara (April 1, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Good Wife', 'Resurrection', 'Crisis', '60 Minutes' & 'America'sFunniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; 'The Mentalist' Adjusted Down" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 1, 2014.

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32. Bibel, Sara (April 15, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Resurrection', 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'The AmazingRace', 'Cosmos', 'The Mentalist' & 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down" . TVby the Numbers. Retrieved April 15, 2014.

33. Gannon, Megan (April 19, 2014). " 'Cosmos' App Puts the Universe in Your Smartphone" . Space.com. RetrievedApril 20, 2014.

34. Kondolojy, Amanda (April 22, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' Adjusted Up; 'Dateline', 'AmericanDream Builders', 'The Good Wife' & 'Believe' Adjusted Down" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved April 22, 2014.

35. Bibel, Sara (April 29, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Revenge' & 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Up;'Believe', '60 Minutes', 'Dateline' & 'American Dream Builders' Adjusted Down" . TV by the Numbers. RetrievedMay 5, 2014.

36. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 6, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Simpsons', 'Dateline' &'Resurrection' Adjusted Up; 'The Good Wife' Adjusted Down" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2014.

37. Bibel, Sara (May 13, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'American Dad' & 'America's Funniest HomeVideos' Adjusted Up; 'Revenge', 'Cosmos' & 'Dateline' Adjusted Down" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 13, 2014.

38. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 20, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Amazing Race' & 'American Dream Builders'Adjusted Up" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 20, 2014.

39. Kondolojy, Amanda (June 3, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'The Bachelorette' Adjusted Up" . TV by the Numbers.Retrieved June 3, 2014.

40. Bibel, Sara (June 10, 2014). "Sunday Final Ratings: NBA Finals Numbers" . TV by the Numbers. Retrieved June 12,2014.

41. "Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey : Season 1" . Metacritic. Retrieved June 27, 2014.42. "Critics' Choice TV Awards 2014 winners and highlights" . CBS News. June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2014.43. Ausiello, Michael (July 19, 2014). "TCA Awards 2014: Good Wife, OITNB, True Detective, Veep, Breaking Bad, RuPaul

Among Winners" . TVLine. Retrieved July 20, 2014.44. Fullerton, Huw (July 10, 2014). "Emmy Awards 2014: the nominations in full" . The Daily Telegraph.

Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved July 10, 2014.45. Mooney, Chris (July 10, 2014). " "Cosmos" Just Got Nominated for 12 Emmys" . Mother Jones. Foundation For

National Progress. Retrieved July 11, 2014.46. Weinstein, Shelli (August 16, 2014). " 'OITNB's' Uzo Aduba, Jimmy Fallon Win Emmy Guest Comedy Acting Awards"

. Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2014.47. Steinberg, Brian (April 23, 2015). " 'Cosmos,' 'Adventure Time,' 'Doc McStuffins' Among Peabody Winners" .

Variety. Retrieved April 23, 2015.

Variety. Retrieved April 23, 2015.48. "Cosmos, Joe Schwarcz Win Skeptics' Critical Thinking Prize" . Skeptical Inquirer. CSICOP. July 2, 2016. Retrieved

August 18, 2016.49. Arel, Dan (June 14, 2014). "13 ways Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Cosmos" sent the religious right off the deep end" .

Salon. Retrieved June 26, 2014.50. McElwee, Sean (June 23, 2014). "Neil deGrasse Tyson v. the Right: Cosmos, Christians and the Battle for American

Science" . Huffington Post. Retrieved June 26, 2014.51. Gryboski, Michael (March 11, 2014). " 'Cosmos' Accused of Taking a Jab at Catholics" . Christian Post. Retrieved

June 26, 2014.52. Kramer, Miriam (June 10, 2014). " 'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey' Warps Into Stores Today" . Space.com. Retrieved

January 22, 2015.53. Lambert, David (April 23, 2014). "Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey - Finalized Box Art, Extras on Press Release for Neil

deGrasse Tyson's Show" . TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.

Wikiquote has quotationsrelated to: Cosmos: ASpacetime Odyssey

External linksOfficial website (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/cosmos-a-spacetime-odyssey/) at National Geographic ChannelCosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2395695/) at the Internet Movie Database

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