Carl Sagan : Cosmos

Carl Sagan : Cosmos

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Discussion

MartG

20,679 posts

204 months

Sunday 21st July 2013
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Video is now 'private' frown

Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Tuesday 23rd July 2013
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APanda said:
Anyone watched 'The Sagan Series' by Reid Gower?

A few nicely edited Youtube videos with Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot voiceover.

Worth a watch I think.

ETA link: http://youtu.be/oY59wZdCDo0
I can't help but watch that video at least once a month.

Daxed

188 posts

195 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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Good quality trailer for the new series. Worth watching on a good screen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMJxjYRXYkU

jmorgan

36,010 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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Wonder what terrestrial this will filter to?

MartG

20,679 posts

204 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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jmorgan said:
Wonder what terrestrial this will filter to?
Hopefully BBC4 so no ads

LordGrover

33,545 posts

212 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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... or BBC2 HD

jmorgan

36,010 posts

284 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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Still on a CRT telly so no mind what format (blu ray player downscales nicely.... future proofing before you ask)

Nom de ploom

4,890 posts

174 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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DamienB said:
Sagan's book "The Demon-Haunted World" is also well worth a read.
+1, one of the best books I've ever read. if everyone should watch cosmos then imho everyone should read TDHW - early portents of Richard Dawkins.

out of curiosity did they ever meet or does Dawkins make many references if any to Sagan?

Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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Nom de ploom said:
+1, one of the best books I've ever read. if everyone should watch cosmos then imho everyone should read TDHW - early portents of Richard Dawkins.

out of curiosity did they ever meet or does Dawkins make many references if any to Sagan?
I don't think they ever appeared in public together as they worked in completely different fields, but Dawkins often quotes Sagan's "No major religion has ever said, 'This is better than we thought. The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant.' Instead they say, 'No. no. no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.'"

I don't really think Sagan's approach would have suited the likes of Dawkins, Dennet, Hitchens, etc. They are very much critical of religion while espousing Science, whereas Sagan rarely addressed religion directly.

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

255 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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Nom de ploom said:
DamienB said:
Sagan's book "The Demon-Haunted World" is also well worth a read.
+1, one of the best books I've ever read. if everyone should watch cosmos then imho everyone should read TDHW - early portents of Richard Dawkins.

out of curiosity did they ever meet or does Dawkins make many references if any to Sagan?
Plus another. Superb read. Sagan was a hell of a writer, and had such a superb presence on screen. It was quite risky at the time to intimate the things he did in Cosmos, etc.

Eric Mc

122,032 posts

265 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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I'm a huge fan of Sagan and read virtually everything he wrote. I'm less of a fan of Dawkins who, although he talks eminent sense most of the time, has an aggressive way about him that actually wants to make me disagree with him.

I liked Sagan's style.

I don't care much for Dawkins' style.

Like the song says, sometimes it's not what you say, it's the way that you say it.

TheHeretic

73,668 posts

255 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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I like Dawkins style, and especially Hitchens style. Love his 'I'm not going to dance around the subject. Here it is, warts and all'.

Great stuff.

qube_TA

8,402 posts

245 months

Thursday 25th July 2013
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I loved sagan's style, just thought he was brilliant.

Cosmos was the best thing on telly, ever.

Really looking forward to the new series with NDT, shame they didn't use the original Vangelis theme but never mind.


Art0ir

9,401 posts

170 months

Sunday 24th November 2013
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Anyone watch this then?

jmorgan

36,010 posts

284 months

Sunday 24th November 2013
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Started but on hold. Life got in the way. But forgot about it so will dig the box set out again.

putonghua73

615 posts

128 months

Monday 25th November 2013
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I'm on a science kick at the moment, and thanks to this thread, Amazon reader reviews of 'Cosmos', as well as Prof Brian Cox's reboot 'Wonders of the Universe' (Cox references watching Cosmos as one of his earliest inspirations as a kid) I started watching Cosmos on YouTube.

The first 2 episodes are hypnotic and utterly beautiful. Sagan can distill complex concepts into simple, compelling forms wrapped up in a humanistic worldview that espouses that we expand our consciousness and spirituality to come together to tackle the really big problems.

If you've thought about watching but have held back because of the fear that the series and science may be dated, Cosmos still feels very fresh - if anything, more important and urgent than before.