Customer Reviews

The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide

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"THE HUNT FOR ANOTHER EARTH IS ON." E.T. for real! Space science presented at layman's' level. Astronomy too in "The COSMOS: A Beginner's Guide." The visual images and footage are amazing and breathtaking. It's the fastest three hours of scientific documentary educational viewing you may ever see. A joy to behold while you are learning. Space science doesn't have all the answers, but they have some cosmic-tech equipment. It's all come a long way since Sputnik and the US first manned space travel.

Adam Hart-Davis has a doctoral degree, but knows how to present science in common language and with entertaining style. This BBC show travels the world to see how outer space is being investigated and documented.

BONUS includes a viewer's guide with additional information. A "Gallery of Apollo Astronauts" pictures 24 men individually along with text facts.

SUBTITLES--SUBTITLES--SUBTITLES--SUBTITLES

Six episodes, 169 minutes total, 2 discs.

1 LIFE in the COSMOS

___Meet Alien hunters and SETI Institute (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). Potential of an estimated 10,000 detectable, communicatable civilizations are in our galaxy. Are there alien life-forms and can we communicate? Bacteria & micro-organisms search for on Mars and beyond.

2 BUILDING the UNIVERSE

___How was the Universe made? Geneva, Switzerland, is recreating the Big Bang. The Big Bang theory (explosive creative event 14 billion years ago) developed after Edwin Hubble's 1920s study. New evidence is uncovered. This episode also shows the probe of stardust.

3 SEEING the UNIVERSE

___State-of-the-art tech telescopes view the cosmos. Can they see back in time? Hubble Space telescope and the artists show space beyond in color. As good as a fine art lesson. See photos of the universe of today and the past.

4 SPACE EXPLORATION

___50 year old space technology is looked at in this episode as well as where technology is at today. Utah dessert astronaut training ground is for Mars travel. Deep space, new Earth escape engineering, and more.

5 VIOLENT UNIVERSE

___Tracking space explosions is amazing work and visually dynamic. See GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) the biggest bangs since "the Big Bang." Photographs by a spaceship (SWIFT). Videos of solar flares too.

6 OTHER WORLDS

___See the world's equipment that is looking for other planets (and life?) Cutting-edge astronomy. The moon's "last gasp" look suggests it may be geologically alive. Saturn's moons are also revealing new science. And water has been discovered on other planets. Is life possible there?

For elementary age through retired (like me). Entertaining documentary. Educational. Should be in school and public libraries. If you enjoy space information and astronomy, here is a good look, along with some space history.

Science teachers: Episodes are class period length.