“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.” —Carl Sagan, The Demon Haunted World
Reading a book by Carl Sagan leaves one mystified with all of the wonderment (and terribleness!) in the universe, while somehow finding some hope through all of this—this “tiny blue dot”—in the midst of fiery space. And watching a TV show by Carl Sagan, more specifically his 1980 13-part mini-series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, leaves one of course baffled at the concept of infiniteness, but also while getting to hear maybe one the brightest scientific voices of our time since Mr. Einstein (alongside of course, Stephen Hawking) speak ever so intelligently about the many mysteries of space (billions and billions…)
And however technically theoretical Sagan’s speculations and predictions might be, his soft-spoken, innate passion and rationalistic worldview are persuasive enough to want to learn more about science and advocate peace in our world. It’s been 33 years since Cosmos first debuted, and Seth MacFarlane is planning on rebooting the hit series—which to my surprise, was the most-watched PBS show before Downton Abbey blew up (over 500 million viewers!)—in a way that “[even] people who have no interest in science will watch for the spectacle.” Apparently MacFarlane’s been working on the Cosmos project for a while now, appointing none other than Mister Neil deGrasse Tyson to host–awesome!
The 13 episode show will be premiering sometime in 2014 as a part of a new direction FOX is taking, showing more “limited release” series. I really look forward to watching this one, though there’s still a while before it airs. In the meantime…
