The essential episodes of Cosmos
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Cosmos — each pick states its reason.
- 01
The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean
At the beginning of this cosmic journey across space and time, Dr. Carl Sagan takes us to the edge of the universe aboard a spaceship of the imagination. Through beautiful special effects, we witness quasars, exploding galaxies, star clusters, supernovas, and pulsars. Returning to our solar system, we enter a re-creation of the Alexandrian Library, the seat of learning on Earth 2,000 years ago.
- 02
A descent through the hellish atmosphere of Venus to explore its broiling surface serves as a warning to our world about the possible consequences of the increasing greenhouse effect. Then Dr. Sagan leads us on a tour of our solar system to see how other heavenly bodies have suffered from various cosmic catastrophes.
- 03
The Ship of the Imagination, unfettered by ordinary limits on speed and size, drawn by the music of cosmic harmonies, can take us anywhere in space and time. It has been idling for more than three decades, and yet it has never been overtaken. Its global legacy remains vibrant. Now, it's time once again to set sail for the stars.
- 04
An exploration of how light, time, and gravity combine to distort our perceptions of the universe. We eavesdrop on a series of walks along a beach in the year 1809. William Herschel, whose many discoveries include the insight that telescopes are time machines, tells bedtime stories to his son John, who will grow up to make some rather profound discoveries of his own. A stranger lurks nearby. All three of them figure into the funhouse reality of tricks that light plays with time and gravity.
- 05
The keys to the cosmos have been lying around for us to find all along. Light, itself, holds so many of them, but we never realized they were there until we learned the basic rules of science.
- 06
The little known but heroic story of a guy from Iowa that can't really be told without going all the way back to the time long before the Earth was formed - to the origin of the elements in the hearts of stars. The tempestuous youth of the Earth effectively erased all traces of its beginnings. How did we ever learn its true age?
- 07
The constellation of the Pleiades provides a vehicle for us to explore a series of paradoxes and epochal discoveries for humanity. The untold story of the modern "sisters of the sun," the early 20th century female astronomers, led by two deaf women, at Harvard who catalogued the stars. It's also the story of the young British woman who joined forces with them, her defiance of the world's leading expert, and how she taught the world what the stars are really made of.
- 08
The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth
The past is another planet - many, actually - and we will bring several of them back to life and ride the Ship of the Imagination to a vision of the Earth a quarter of a billion years into the future. Join us on a journey through space and time to grasp how the autobiography of the Earth is written in its atoms, its oceans, its continents, and all living things.
- 09
Our world of high technology and instantaneous electronic communication with each other and with our robotic emissaries at the solar system's frontier is demystified through the inspiring life story of the man whose genius Albert Einstein revered. Michael Faraday, a child of 19th century poverty, someone from whom nothing much was expected, inventor of the motor and the generator, a lifelong fundamentalist Christian, he is the bridge to the world of smartphones, tablets and so much else.
- 10
Life itself sends its own messages across billions of years. It is written within us, in our DNA. But will we survive the damage caused by our global civilization? Neil shares a hopeful vision of what our future could be if we take our scientific knowledge to heart.
- 11
Our journey begins with a trip to another world and time, an idyllic beach during the last perfect day on the planet Venus, right before a runaway greenhouse effect wreaks havoc on the planet, boiling the oceans and turning the skies a sickening yellow. We then trace the surprisingly lengthy history of our awareness of global warming and alternative energy sources, taking the Ship of the Imagination to intervene at some critical points in time.
- 12
We know less now about the universe than educated Europeans did before the discovery of the Americas. All those billions of galaxies, all those stars, planets and moons--they amount to a meager 4 per cent of what really awaits out there. This awareness is the humility that distinguishes science from other human activities. It savors the fact that even bigger mysteries, mysteries like dark energy, await us.
- 13
The Fleeting Grace of the Habitable Zone
There is no refuge from change in the cosmos. There will come a time in the life of the sun when Earth will no longer be a home for us. Explore the story of our ancestors who rose to a comparable challenge, as well as a long-term vision of our future on other worlds.
- 14
Discover a new vision of genesis at the bottom of the blood-red sea of the infant Earth and the story of Victor Goldschmidt, the man who found the first clues to life's beginnings in a green jewel called olivine. As he searched for the origins of life, he risked his own, daring to toy with his Nazi tormentors.
- 15
Seven Wonders of the New World
Young Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson first discovered their passion for science at the New York World's Fairs of the past. Visit the dazzling pavilions of the 2039 New York World's Fair, where problems currently considered intractable may have been solved through public commitment and scientific imagination. A child's journey comes full circle, presenting a future bright with possibilities.
Shows like Cosmos
The closest matches on shared genres, ranked by match strength and popularity.
- 01Mystery·Nature·HistoryThe essential episodes of What on Earth?2015·Science
What on Earth? is a documentary series using satellite images of strange geological occurrences and man-made structures on Earth to examine such matters as the planet's extreme locations, phenomena and species. - 02Mystery·Nature·HistoryThe essential episodes of The Sky at Night1957–present·BBC FourOur team of astronomers tell us what's on view in the night sky.
- 03Mystery·Nature·HistoryThe essential episodes of Lost Treasures of Egypt2019–presentSame network — National Geographic·
- 04Mystery·Nature·HistoryThe essential episodes of Strip the Cosmos2014–2020·Science
In each episode of Strip the Cosmos, stunning CGI strips major planets, moons, black holes, stars and galaxies of gases, minerals, rock, magma and gravitational force-fields – layer by layer – revealing the destiny,… - 05Mystery·History·AdventureThe essential episodes of Expedition Unknown2015–present·DiscoveryIn the hit series Expedition Unknown, Travel Channel's witty explorer Josh Gates seeks answers to some of the world's most captivating unsolved stories and legends.
- 06Nature·HistoryThe essential episodes of NOVA1974–present·PBS
NOVA brings you stories from the frontlines of science and engineering, answering the big questions of today and tomorrow, from how our ancestors lived, to whether parallel universes exist, to how technology will…
