# Cosmos (TV series) was great. Other science shows you would recommend? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2017, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381 "2017-01-05T12:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/1 "2017-01-05T12:19:41Z")
My 13 year old son and I watched all the episodes of _Cosmos: A Personal Voyage_ (Sagan) and _Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey_ (Tyson). Both were great. I am looking for recommendations on other science-themed series. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/2 "2017-01-05T12:56:23Z")
Not on broadcast TV\*, but I really recommend the VSauce and Veritasium channels on YouTube. Also CodysLab, which is quite amateur in terms of production, but very sciency in content. \*I have a Roku, so I think of them as TV channels now. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/3 "2017-01-05T13:35:26Z")
I highly recommend James Burke’s series – **Connections** and **The Day the Universe Changed** were both on public TV. He followed up with **Connections[sup]2[/sup]** and **Connections[sup]3[/sup]** on The Learning Channel (back when it really WAS a “Learning Channel”). All highly interesting takes on scientific and technical progress. They’re all available on DVD, although pricey (a local library here has them for lending). I don’t know if anyone is streaming them. There were companion books for the two PBS series, and material from the TLC series made it into a couple of other books he wrote. He also did a year of Connections-like columns for _Scientific American_ that were later gathered into a single volume and published as **Circles**. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/4 "2017-01-05T13:37:04Z")
It’s technology, rather than science, but I reciommend the British series **The Secret Life of Machines** , which ran on the Discovery and Learning Channel here in the US > **[The Secret Life of Machines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Life_of_Machines)** > > The Secret Life of Machines is an educational television series presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod, in which the two explain the inner workings and history of common household and office machinery. According to Hunkin, the show's creator, the programme was developed from his comic strip The Rudiments of Wisdom, which he researched and drew for the Observer newspaper over a period of 14 years. Three separate groupings of the broadcast were produced and originally shown between 1988 and 1993... ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/5 "2017-01-05T14:25:47Z")
He might enjoy the \*Connections \*series by James Burke. Fascinating view of how one discovery triggers both other discoveries and social changes in unexpected ways. ETA: Dammit, **Cal** , you beat me again! ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/6 "2017-01-05T14:54:46Z")
“Edge of the Universe”. and, “The Real Death Star” both on Netflix. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/7 "2017-01-05T15:06:16Z")
Off the top of my head, the long-running PBS series Nova. History Detectives (both US and UK versions.) [The Ring of Truth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ4Oz2Xk2Ws&list=PL6MvlS2uHDjhadiMNqqTtZN7cD8IAD7dJ). (More to come when I google up titles for more vague memories.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/8 "2017-01-05T15:25:10Z")
Sorry, I don’t mean "both US and UK versions for History Detectives, that has only a US version. I’m thinking of the US and UK versions of TIme Team. [Australia, the First 4 Billion Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rArGi6lwds). [Your Inner Fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ttoKGxEKc). There are other recent series I’m thinking of, but am having trouble remembering the names. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/9 "2017-01-05T15:38:39Z")
PBS’s “NOVA” is consistently good, occasionally great, covering a wide-ranging array of scientific subjects. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/10 "2017-01-05T15:46:08Z")
I’m quite partial to Brian Cox’s BBC shows - the “Wonders of…” series: [the Solar System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System), [the Universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_Universe) & [Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_Life_(TV_series)) and also[Human Universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Universe) and[Forces of Nature.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forces_of_Nature_(TV_series)). BBC Science shows in general are awesome. There’s [Horizon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horizon_(BBC_TV_series)), which covers an enormous range of topics (and has a lot of reciprocation with the aforementioned _Nova_), although many feel it’s been a bit too dumbed-down the last decade. Then there’s [Attenborough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough_filmography), of course. With a 13 y.o., I also would think some of the BBC science ‘casual’ shows might be good - [Dara Ó Briain’s Science Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_%C3%93_Briain%27s_Science_Club), for instance. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/11 "2017-01-05T16:13:57Z")
Didn’t notice that the son was 13. He might enjoy [3-2-1 Contact](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iufWWceXqWo), both for the science content and to laugh about the cheesy 1970s/1980s look of it. Or for similar reasons, how about classic episodes of [The Electric Company](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqUnL89WkM), which starred Morgan Freeman and Spiderman? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/12 "2017-01-05T16:30:06Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > PBS’s “NOVA” is consistently good, occasionally great, covering a wide-ranging array of scientific subjects. Seconded. Lots of good stuff on that show. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/13 "2017-01-05T16:41:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Didn’t notice that the son was 13. He might enjoy [3-2-1 Contact](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iufWWceXqWo), both for the science content and to laugh about the cheesy 1970s/1980s look of it. Or for similar reasons, how about classic episodes of [The Electric Company](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqUnL89WkM), which starred Morgan Freeman and Spiderman? Speaking of Morgan Freeman, what was the science series he narrated? “Through the Wormhole”? I think it was on The Science Channel or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/14 "2017-01-05T17:35:44Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Sorry, I don’t mean "both US and UK versions for History Detectives, that has only a US version. I’m thinking of the US and UK versions of TIme Team. > > [Australia, the First 4 Billion Years](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rArGi6lwds). > > [Your Inner Fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ttoKGxEKc). > > There are other recent series I’m thinking of, but am having trouble remembering the names. I second both of these. Ever notice how evangelists don’t talk about the “missing link” anymore? It’s because of the research these people do (and the shows that broadcast the wonderful information). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/15 "2017-01-05T18:05:47Z")
I’ve been trying to remember (and Google up) the name of a series that was on PBS in 2014 or 2015 that was maybe 3 or 4 episodes and IIRC was about extremes in miniaturization and in measuring short times and such. Had a section on how nanoparticles make the colors in stained glass, and one on Bose-Einstein condensates, maybe. I think the host was the guy who sounds like Ron Howard. It was good even though I do remember it so vaguely. Anyone remember that one? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/16 "2017-01-05T18:10:06Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > Ever notice how evangelists don’t talk about the “missing link” anymore? Sure they do, they just use different words: “micro-evolution” is OK: species can change minor cosmetic aspects of themselves, but “macro-evolution” – the former “missing link” of species change – is clearly ridiculous because “God Says No” ™. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/17 "2017-01-05T18:17:49Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Speaking of Morgan Freeman, what was the science series he narrated? “Through the Wormhole”? I think it was on The Science Channel or something similar. Yes, it was called _[Through the Wormhole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through_the_Wormhole)_. Nice bit of [typecasting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FngXOUxklR4)🙂 on the first episode: > [@](#): > > 1. “Is There a Creator?” June 9, 2010 > It’s perhaps the biggest, most controversial mystery in the cosmos. Did our Universe just come into being by random chance, or was it created by a God who nurtures and sustains all life? The latest science is showing that the four forces governing our universe are phenomenally finely tuned. So finely that it had led many to the conclusion that someone, or something, must have calibrated them. While skeptics hold that new findings are neither conclusive nor evidence of a divine creator, some cutting edge physicists are already positing who this God is: an alien gamester who’s created our world as the ultimate SIM game for his own amusement. It’s an answer as compelling as it is disconcerting. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/18 "2017-01-06T09:57:08Z")
_Through the Wormhole_ didn’t really work for me - I think, subconsciously, I’m aware Freeman is just an actor (in fact, this feels like stunt casting) and that doesn’t work for me the way Sagan, de Grasse Tyson and Cox do. Hell, even Dara O’Brian has a science degree. I’m more than OK with non-scientists doing nature shows, it seems (see: Attenborough), but it somehow rankles with cosmic/general science. Weird hangup. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/19 "2017-01-06T11:36:37Z")
_The Beginning and End of the Universe_, a 2-part series available on Netflix, was quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/20 "2017-01-06T13:14:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Not on broadcast TV\*, but I really recommend the VSauce VSauce is awesome. Updates nowhere near often enough, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381.md?page=2)