Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Last week, Fox News and Neil deGrasse Tyson helped to revive one of the best Science programs of all time. Cosmos: A Personal Voyage aired for the first time almost thirty years ago with Carl Sagan showing audiences the universe and more. Carl Sagan's way of breaking down the most complex concepts of the cosmos into ideas that everyone can understand made this science program fun to people that were not nerds. It gave many people a new love for science, and gave a new generation a passion for science. Since then we have found out so much more about space, have taken a planet out of the accepted Solar System, put a man made object outside our solar system, and have multiple rovers on Mars. One of them even sends us tweets. Today, not too many "youngsters" have that kind of passion for science. They want the most "hip and happening" jobs, and do not care about what science their country is working on. People do not want to be the same space explorers that we were in the 1960's when the United States and Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. Presidential administrations have been cutting more and more from space exploration and science budgets, and this has made private companies like SpaceX step up to the interplanetary plate. Last Sunday, Fox and Neil deGrasse Tyson have set out to change this.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is not Neil deGrasse Tyson making a science television program similar to Carl Sagan's. Neil deGrasse Tyson likes to call it a continuation of Sagan's program. It is, like the old program, trying to get people fascinated about science again but in a much newer way. Tyson and the space ship Imagination take you through stunning visuals of the universe and more. He teaches you about how the Earth was made, the origin of the universe, and many more concepts of space and science. The show also dives into the more religious aspect with topics like Copernicus being condemned for his heliocentric representation of the universe. Instead of the widely accepted idea that everything revolved around the Earth, Copernicus thought that the Earth revolved around the Sun instead. Tyson has managed to take all the important things about the universe and how it was made, and teach them like he was just having a conversation with you. Some might say the show jumps around too much from place to place, but they all correlate in a way that makes it work so well. It is almost as if you were flipping through the pages of a Science textbook. Well, one written better than what most schools use. If you do not know much about life and the universe, Cosmos is a great way to learn the basics in a fun and beautiful way.

In general, not too many people like watching "educational" programs. Most people find them boring, hard to watch, and a waste of time. There are those few programs that manage to break that barrier, such as Mythbusters and Top Gear UK, and we believe that Cosmos is one of those. Through a combination of breathtaking visuals, beautiful images of our universe, and a simplistic conversation style way of explaining the universe, Cosmos makes science fun for anyone. Nerds, and not so nerdy people can enjoy the show for its entertainment value, and to learn something new about science in a fun, casual way. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Fox have found a way to get everyone excited about science, and we hope everyone gets to watch it.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey airs Sundays at 9/8c on Fox and Monday at 10/9c on National Geographic