# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/21 "2017-01-06T15:02:26Z")
Some other sciency YouTube channels I enjoy are Sixty Symbols (physics), Periodic Videos (chemistry), Deep Sky Videos (astronomy), SciShow and SciShow Space, and some of the Crash Course series, especially the one on Astronomy, hosted by Phil Plait. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/22 "2017-01-06T15:28:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Not on broadcast TV\*, but I really recommend the VSauce and Veritasium channels on YouTube. I came in to mention Veritasium. It is really good. Explains concepts clearly without talking down to you. Uses a lot of good demonstrations. I wish the presenter would get someone to hold the camera for him more often instead of shooting the videos selfie-style. But otherwise, it’s awesome. _Nova_ is the gold standard on TV. One of my all-time-favorite TV watching experiences was the Nova episode “[Secrets of the Viking Sword](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-viking-sword.html)”. It talks about how ancient swords were made, how the Vikings got the materials to make really advanced steel blades, etc. It brings together the science, history, religion. All kinds of cool stuff. The PBS series _Secrets of the Dead_ is kind of uneven. In some of the better episodes, they start with the discovery of some artifact and then show how researchers unravel the history of it using science and history. Other episodes are less interesting, just kind of mediocre documentaries presented in a straightforward narrative. But when they show the detective work that went into figuring out the story behind whatever they found, it’s very good. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/23 "2017-01-06T16:54:22Z")
I’ll add to the chorus of NOVA recommendations. Check out their 3-parter: “The Elegant Universe” with Brian Greene, based on his book of the same name. It’s about string theory, but it also gives some nice background on relativity and quantum mechanics. Oh, and one of my favorite NOVA episodes is “Ancient Computer,” about the Antikythera mechanism–a really cool archaeological mystery. Another good PBS show was _Scientific American: Frontiers_. It ran for several seasons. I’m not sure if it is currently airing in syndication anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/24 "2017-01-06T18:05:36Z")
Bill Nye has a new show coming up on Netfix, [Bill Nye Saves The World](http://www.indiewire.com/2016/08/netflix-bill-nye-saves-the-world-2017-1201721795/). Its a talk show, “Each episode will tackle a topic from a scientific point of view, dispelling myths, and refuting anti-scientific claims that may be espoused by politicians, religious leaders or titans of industry.” Can’t wait! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/25 "2017-01-06T18:18:28Z")
Also on PBS, _Secrets of the Dead, Nazi Mega Weapons, How We Got To Now…_ Pretty much anything on PBS, actually. I was not impressed at all with Tyson’s _StarTalk._ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/26 "2017-01-06T18:22:03Z")
“[Outrageous Acts of Science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outrageous_Acts_of_Science)” has some good stuff. Each episode features a top twenty of popular videos as chosen by their staff of scientists & engineers, who discuss the science behind these videos. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/27 "2017-01-06T18:22:23Z")
Another vote for the James Burke shows. I would love to see those updated (especially with myself as host). ---
**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 6, 2017, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/28 "2017-01-06T19:45:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Another vote for the James Burke shows. I would love to see those updated (especially with myself as host). More recently Richard Hammons, of Top Gear fame, also had a series from the BBC similar to that, but concentrating on engineering: Engineering Connections: > **[Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hammond%27s_Engineering_Connections)** > > Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections is a British documentary series originally broadcast on the National Geographic Channel, and later on BBC2. It is presented by Richard Hammond, and looks at how engineers and designers use historic inventions and clues from the natural world in ingenious ways to develop new buildings and machines. The show's format is very similar to that of James Burke's 1978 documentary series, Connections. The first series premièred on 8 September 2008, on National ... He also hosted the 400th year recreation of The Gunpowder Plot for ITV, where it was investigated using real gun powder to see if the plot by Guy Fawkes and others would had succeeded. > **[The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gunpowder_Plot:_Exploding_The_Legend)** > > The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding the Legend was a British television show, hosted by Richard Hammond that recreated elements of the Gunpowder Plot in which Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Lords. > First aired on ITV1 on 1 November 2005, this £1 million programme centres on a reconstruction of the Houses of Parliament as they were in 1605 (the current ones had not yet been built at the time of the Gunpowder Plot), constructed using period equivalent methods wherever possible. This was ... The dramatic experiment, conducted on the Advantica Spadeadam test site and overseen by Arup, proved unambiguously that the explosion would have, at the very least, killed all those attending the State Opening of Parliament in the Lords chamber,[3] including, according to historical consultant Justin Pollard, King James I and VI of Scotland, Archbishop Bancroft, Lord Northampton and the philosopher Francis Bacon.[4][5] And a link to that show that could be taken down soon: Sometimes one wants to see how science and engineering work to make things to "Boom!" :) ---
**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 6, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/29 "2017-01-06T20:04:31Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Secrets of the Dead_ Yeah, that’s a great one. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381/30 "2017-01-06T20:26:41Z")
The Science Channel’s series How The Universe Works. Especially the ones narrated by Mike Rowe. He has such a nice voice. And another vote for any series done by Brian Cox. Through the Wormhole was rather disappointing. It was a lot of woo dressed up in science-y clothing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-tv-series-was-great-other-science-shows-you-would-recommend/776381.md?page=1)