Customer Reviews

A Science Odyssey - Mysteries of the Universe

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This two part program chronicles the quest to unify the particles and forces in physics, and the quest to understand the origin and fate of the universe.

The physics part showed that quarks were introduced to make sense of the myriads of fundamental particles observed in particle collisions, and that string theory with its advanced mathematics may one day unite all the forces of nature.

The astronomy part revolved around the big bang theory and showed how the universe started from a single point. Although I'm not with or against this theory, I'm still keeping an open mind to all possibilities, check (UNIVERSE-The Cosmology Quest) for an alternative discussion.

This is one of the best physics / cosmology films I have ever seen. I would recommend this to any lay person who is interested in these fields. The narrator and the experts are excellent at keeping up the tempo and explaining the science. Additionally, the order in which the topics are discussed is brilliant. The discussion of Heisenberg Uncertainty is particularly excellent (an often poorly covered topic).

(This review applies to the entire boxed set of Charles Osgood's "A Science Odyssey" with some comments directed towards this specific title in particular.)

We all hated science in school, right? Science was boring. Science was for nerds. Science was dry and dusty facts about rocks and larvae and the solar corona, which sounds kind of like a beer from the tropics.

Well, Virginia, science doesn't have to be dull, and this series is proof. "A Science Odyssey" is a superb, fascinating set of documentaries on the science *and* the humanity behind the science. It's all extremely literate, doesn't dumb-down its subject one bit, and is chock full of interesting scientists who are enthusiastic about their fields of endeavor. Yet this is science your grandmother could understand. These shows strike the perfect balance between being substantive and being accessible to the lay person.

"A Science Odyssey" ran on PBS late in 1999, and dealt with scientific learning through the 20th century, each episode starting in an appropriate 1900 location for that show's theme and ending in its modern counterpart. Rather than just deal with one narrow topic for two hours, each episode has a broad conceptual theme, and shows connections between each that are often not readily apparent: for example, "Mysteries of the Universe" deals with just what the title says. Once upon a time, not very long ago, we didn't know about black holes, pulsars, neutron stars, or even galaxies other than our own. In fact, the younger viewer may be surprised to learn just how short a time ago scientists thought our Milky Way galaxy was all there was. We also learn how tough it was to build the giant telescopes that allowed us to see far into the universe and learn that we are just one of billions of galaxies, and that they are all flying away from each other. The efforts of the men and women (but mostly men in those days) who advanced our benchmark of learning makes for riveting viewing.

Charles Osgood hosts, and fortunately does not talk in rhyme here. The scripts are extremely well-written, the "theatrics" are kept to a minimum and the historical footage is fascinating. It all moves very quickly, appropriate for this television sound-bite age, but you come away smarter after each one. This should not be out of print. In fact, it should be on DVD, but I'm not holding my breath. These shows were made for the millenium, and are probably considered too "dated" to be of interest today.

(P.S. 10/20/05: I'm happy to report I was wrong about my prediction--PBS has finally put these on DVD! [It's about time. What's the matter, PBS, did you run out of cooking videos and Andre Rieu?]

Also, a note if you do get these on DVD: For some unimaginable reason [other than stupidity], if you choose "Play" from the menu, THE DISCS DO NOT START AT THE BEGINNING. They start either after the Prologue, or after the Prologue and Introduction depending on the disk. You thus miss the whole "set up" of each episode, the central question or issue. So instead of pressing "Play" in the root menu, go into the chapter selections and start with the first chapter, "Prologue.")