Cosmos w/ Neil the Grass Tyson

[viscousmemories]

Official Trailer from Comic-Con | COSMOS | FOX...

[The Lone Ranger]

Some of the footage appears to have been from the original Cosmos. Is this to be an update of the original, or more like a sequel?

In my opinion, Neil deGrasse Tyson is Carl Sagan's legitimate successor; he's a wonderful explainer and popularizer. Some in the scientific community disparaged Sagan as a "mere popularizer," and not a "legitimate scientist." That always struck me as a remarkably stupid, arrogant, and short-sighted attitude. To my mind, the whole point of science is to share knowledge and understanding. Anyone who sneers at attempts to share our understanding with non-scientists as "mere popularizing" is betraying what science is all about, in my opinion.

I noticed that there's a brief clip of a Focault's pendulum swinging toward Tyson's face. I suspect that this is a demonstration of one of Sagan's points about the reliability and replicability of science. He pointed out that a Focault's pendulum easily contains enough inertia to kill a person if it hits him in the head.

But energy and momentum are conserved. So, Sagan once claimed that he would happily bet his life on this basic physical principle and place his head just ahead of the upswing of a Focault's pendulum -- betting that the Conservation of Energy/Momentum principle would not suddenly be rescinded, resulting in his messy death. I don't know if Sagan ever actually did that, but it looks like Tyson took up the challenge.

In any event, I'll have to look up the series. I'm guessing it'll be available on dvd/blu-ray sooner or later?

[LadyShea]

Is private

[Demimonde]

Private.

Here is an interview of Tyson discussing the continuation of the series, which I am listening too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixhQoG2fPzQ

[Ari]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

In my opinion, Neil deGrasse Tyson is Carl Sagan's legitimate successor; he's a wonderful explainer and popularizer.

At the end of more than a few of his talks I want to yell "Fuck yeah! Science!"
You can tell he's passionate about it and drags people into his wonder.

[Kael]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

Anyone who sneers at attempts to share our understanding with non-scientists as "mere popularizing" is betraying what science is all about, in my opinion.

That echoes my thoughts perfectly, and is no small part of the reasons I want to teach. I would, of course, be delighted to engage in or contribute to original research, but it seems painfully and distressingly obvious to me that dissemination and education of the things we already know, and especially the methods and nature of scientific inquiry itself, is rapidly becoming a far higher priority. Modern knowledge and technology are well past the point that anyone can be an effective citizen in a free society without understanding even the basics of how they work, and more importantly how we got here.

I'd love to see more scientists, but more than that I'd love to see more scientists being educators, whether they do a lot of original research or not. That part will follow quite naturally from increasing the level of understanding in the voting and tax-paying lay population.

[SR71]

Thanks Kael! I also thought it was a wonderful sentiment worthy of praise and reinforcement, but you've done a much better job of it! Nice one, TLR!

[Miisa]

I think they just changed the link for the video after Comic-Con:

Official Trailer from Comic-Con | COSMOS | FOX...

[The Lone Ranger]

Yeah, I unabashedly love science.

To me, it's a never-ending source of amazement, wonder, and a strange blend of humility and pride that a bunch of glorified apes have worked out how the stars shine and how life on Earth has evolved from bacteria to creatures that can design and build spaceships.

I swear, I spend half my time in the classroom wanting to grab my students by the shoulders, and shake them while demanding: "Don't you realize how amazing all of this is!?"


Nothing dreamed up by the human mind is even half so amazing and awe-inspiring as is reality.



And I can never decide what I find more mystifying: that so many non-scientists fail to be awestruck by the amazing things we've learned and are continuing to learn -- or that so many scientists seem disinclined to share this wondrous knowledge and understanding.

[thedoc]

One of the things I find so amazing about science and what it teaches us, is the scale of things. Especially when you consider how small things are and how big things are. The other aspect is that of time and the scale of how long things have been here, and how long some things take to happen. TLR, I believe you live in the Appalachian Mts. and appreciate the time scale of the formation of what exists now. I beileve the original Mountains were estimated to be aproximately 25,000 feet tall and folded rather than broken when pushed up, in section they would have looked like a sine wave.

[Dingfod]

It's science, bitches.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

It's science, bitches.

And if it doesn't make you feel small, you don't understand it.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger

I swear, I spend half my time in the classroom wanting to grab my students by the shoulders, and shake them while demanding: "Don't you realize how amazing all of this is!?"

Even though I taught a subject that was a bit more mundane and down to earth, I felt the same way when students didn't show any interest at all. I always thought the heat treatment of steel was very interesting, along with the working of copper alloys.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by thedoc

And if it doesn't make you feel small, you don't understand it.

What I almost wrote instead: Thanks to Carl Sagan, when I ponder the immensity of the cosmos, I feel how insignificant this little blue dot we live on is.

[thedoc]

It's interesting to think about the linage of science explainers over the years. I really enjoyed Issac Asimov, and then Carl Sagan, and now Neal deGrasse Tyson, Timothy Ferris did some good shows, I still have and watch "The Creation of the Universe". And talking about science explainers on a more basic level, does anyone remember 'Watch Mr. Wizzard'?

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

What I almost wrote instead: Thanks to Carl Sagan, when I ponder the immensity of the cosmos, I feel how insignificant this little blue dot we live on is.

And if the little blue dot is insignificant, where does that leave people?

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

What I almost wrote instead: Thanks to Carl Sagan, when I ponder the immensity of the cosmos, I feel how insignificant this little blue dot we live on is.

And yet if Earth is the only place where there is intelligent life (sort of) that can contemplate the universe and try to discover it's secrets, Doesn't that make us just a bit less than insignificant?

[thedoc]

Untill it can be demonstrated that there is, or has been, other intelligent life 'out there' with advanced technology, we are unique and special. I would be overjoyed to see proof of LGM.

[Dingfod]

Originally Posted by thedoc

And if the little blue dot is insignificant, where does that leave people?

Damned insignificant.

Originally Posted by thedoc

And yet if Earth is the only place where there is intelligent life (sort of) that can contemplate the universe and try to discover it's secrets, Doesn't that make us just a bit less than insignificant?

Not to the universe, only to us.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Dingfod

Damned insignificant.

Not to the universe, only to us.

And that's enough for me to feel good about.

[Crumb]

I've always enjoyed this guy:

James Burke, The Day The Universe Changed: 1 "The...

He is hard to beat for a good sense of perspective.

[thedoc]

Originally Posted by Crumb

I've always enjoyed this guy:
James Burke, The Day The Universe Changed: 1 "The Way We Are" - YouTube

He is hard to beat for a good sense of perspective.

I believe James Burke also did a series called "Connections" where he traced how several unrelated discoveries came together to create a new technology.

Phillip Morrison did a series called "The ring of Truth" in a similar vein.

[LadyShea]

I like Brian Cox too. He's smiley.

Also, I watched a documentary about fractal geometry (which fascinates me on so many levels) and Benoit Mandelbrot discussed his life and himself and how he came to his discovery and he was an amazing, down to Earth guy that thought outside the box

[slimshady2357]

Originally Posted by Crumb

I've always enjoyed this guy:
James Burke, The Day The Universe Changed: 1 "The Way We Are" - YouTube

He is hard to beat for a good sense of perspective.

James Burke is the shit. The Day the Universe Changed and the original Connections series are completely brilliant. Connections in particular is just awesome, the last episode asks questions about where mankind is heading that are still relevant today, 35 years later.

Connections2 and Connections3 are good popcorn watching for sure, very interesting and informative. But they don't have the over-arching philosophical questioning of the first series.

With much respect to Carl Sagan who I also love watching, no one beats James Burke in my mind.

[The Lone Ranger]

Yeah, I love Burke myself. In addition to his brilliance at showing how things are interrelated, he has a wonderful, often-subtle sense of humor. I used to show excerpts from The Day the Universe Changed to my students in an Introductory-level course on Biological Evolution. Half his puns and wordplays went right over their heads, alas; they sometimes wondered what I was chuckling about.



I've thought on more than one occasion that I'd love to do something like that: travel to all sorts of exotic places; meet all sorts of brilliant and fascinating people; discuss fascinating things with them; and share those wonderful experiences with others.

But then, to steal a phrase from Garrison Keillor; I have a face made for radio.