Carl Sagan Cosmos series, the sequel!

[MrMastodonFarm]

Yeah, that's really messed up.

[nik-]

It was on earlier on National Geographic, 7 or 8 pm.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Sigh. I brought this on myself. Anyway, don't you have some pi day events to start getting ready for?

[worth]

I am PVR-less and cable-less. It's not pitiful, it is wonderful. There are ways to *ahem* acquire the show if you follow. It was up basically immediately after the eastern broadcast. I had watched the episode before it aired on TV at 9pm in Calgary.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by worth

I am PVR-less and cable-less. It's not pitiful, it is wonderful. There are ways to *ahem* acquire the show if you follow. It was up basically immediately after the eastern broadcast. I had watched the episode before it aired on TV at 9pm in Calgary.

If you're a cable cutter that's one thing but having cable and not having a PVR is weird.

Back to Cosmos!

[Wormius]

Yeah, so anyway. I thought that was pretty neat with his connection to Carl Sagan. He mentioned having met him once or twice on his podcast, but that was quite intriguing that they knew each other. Was NDT something of a child prodigy?

As an aside, I really hope he gets Eugene Mirman on there. Their chemistry on Startalk is perfect.

[Daradon]

I wish there was more stuff like this for the initiated. This isn't a slight against anyone, people learn what they learn when they learn it, but for me I already knew most (all I think) of what was in the premiere episode (which is what I feared going in). I was crazy about space when I was young and studied stuff like that from mid childhood to late teens. But I always found in taking the next step you dove right into heavy math and physics and it got very dry very quickly and that always either intimidated me, or didn't leave me with enough to capture my imagination and I got bored.

It's a great series, and I wish there was more like it for people who want to start learning about the universe and science, but I didn't get much from it. While I imagine this was just a general overview and there will be more in the later episodes, I still think it's going to be light on stuff that's going to be of use to me.

I guess poster like Photon and such would have good places for me to go and check out.

I did really enjoy Neil's story about Carl though.

[To Be Quite Honest]

I loved the effects. Mind you I'm really diving into that kind of editing (Not to that scale yet at all) so I was really focusing on that. I was really smiling at the reflection effects off the imagination ship. Like Daradon, I got telescopes for birthday gifts and I have many leather bound books on astronomy, but I quickly dropped it once the math came into play. That stuff was intimidating! I new just about everything they talked about and the scene with Neil at the lake talking about the first bits of life reminded me of Star Trek's "All Great Things"when *spoiler* Q takes Picard to that period in time and holds out the goo. None of the information was "new", but I hope that changes and I am sure it will. It also doesn't help that I listen to Star Talk religiously. I even knew about the Carl Sagan story.

[Daradon]

^^^ Haha, yeah I thought of that in that scene too. I was never a big Star Trek guy, (only really watched TNG, and it was never a staple) but I liked a lot of the Q episodes and the ones that asked the bigger questions about origins of space and time and life.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Daradon

But I always found in taking the next step you dove right into heavy math and physics and it got very dry very quickly and that always either intimidated me, or didn't leave me with enough to capture my imagination and I got bored.

...

I guess poster like Photon and such would have good places for me to go and check out.

Hah nope, or at least nothing really easy to point to. Basically that's the thing, beyond a popular level the only way to really understand it is to understand it which means math.

It's always been on my list to go audit some courses at University, or there's online ones I've seen from time to time.

There's some books that kind of bridge the gap, or at least make the math as easy as possible. Why Does E=mc2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw is one that I got recently that I've been planning to read that I've seen recommended.

So good books that try and bridge that gap, and the other resources I use are blogs of scientists that also try and stand in that gap, and science forums where scientists sometimes hang out along with us non-scientists, that can be really awesome because I find that a few direct questions can often do the same as hours of reading for me.

But yeah it can be hard to find things in that in between.

[#-3]

So the nerd in me made me calculate if the entire history of the universe was put into a Calender year.

Neil said that Moses would have been alive 6 seconds ago, Buddha 5 Seconds....

But 13.8 Trillion divided by 365.25 divided by 24 divided by 60 divided by 60 = just under half a million.

So Moses was alive 3 million years ago?
But I do get the point he was trying to make.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am a PVR-less luddite. Pitiful, I know.

Dad is that you?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It belongs on PBS where people who appreciate these shows can see it.

It belongs in a museum

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by photon

Hah nope, or at least nothing really easy to point to. Basically that's the thing, beyond a popular level the only way to really understand it is to understand it which means math.

It's always been on my list to go audit some courses at University, or there's online ones I've seen from time to time.

There's some books that kind of bridge the gap, or at least make the math as easy as possible. Why Does E=mc2? by Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw is one that I got recently that I've been planning to read that I've seen recommended.

So good books that try and bridge that gap, and the other resources I use are blogs of scientists that also try and stand in that gap, and science forums where scientists sometimes hang out along with us non-scientists, that can be really awesome because I find that a few direct questions can often do the same as hours of reading for me.

But yeah it can be hard to find things in that in between.

One of our first or second year university classes was modern physics, and this particular textbook was really a great source of information. I thought it was presented really well. I don't know if they use this textbook at U of C, but I am sure you can pick up a used copy for a reasonable price.

It is also filled with lots of factoids and biographies of scientists. I think of all of the textbooks I went through during engineering, that was the one of the most interesting and one that I still find myself occasionally flipping through. But definitely find a used copy. The price is pretty steep.

"Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics"

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Daradon

I wish there was more stuff like this for the initiated. This isn't a slight against anyone, people learn what they learn when they learn it, but for me I already knew most (all I think) of what was in the premiere episode (which is what I feared going in). I was crazy about space when I was young and studied stuff like that from mid childhood to late teens. But I always found in taking the next step you dove right into heavy math and physics and it got very dry very quickly and that always either intimidated me, or didn't leave me with enough to capture my imagination and I got bored.

It's a great series, and I wish there was more like it for people who want to start learning about the universe and science, but I didn't get much from it. While I imagine this was just a general overview and there will be more in the later episodes, I still think it's going to be light on stuff that's going to be of use to me.

I guess poster like Photon and such would have good places for me to go and check out.

I did really enjoy Neil's story about Carl though.

Having done the first couple quantum physics and pure thermo courses it really boils down to the math after the introductory courses. Have you read Hawkings Classic books A brief history of time, the universe in a nutshell and the grand design?

After those books I dont know how much is outthere.

Something like Thermal Physics frome one third year physics class is pretty good at explaining from first principles and quantum theory how all of thermo dynamics is derived. I havent read it in 10 years but from what I remember you could follow along with out knowing all the math but you would definately need at least 1st year calculus and probably second year classes to get a good handle on it. Essentially you need to at least understand what partial differential equations are. You dont need to be able to solve them but knowing how they work helps.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=c0R7...s_similarbooks

On the modern physics side I think any introductory to modern physics book would be a good start and definately provides much better explanations on Lights wave/particle duality and the fun relativity stuff like time dilation. The Serway text book above would be a good place to start.

On the quantum physics side I think the best text is Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths. This one is pretty math based but really any beyond hawkings books in quantum physics is just math.

http://www.amazon.ca/Introduction-Qu.../dp/0131118927

Here is a link to an excerpt of it to see if it is something you can get value out of.

http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/P...ty_Excerpt.pdf

So if you get through Serway (1st year Physics text). Then try tackling the other two I listed here.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by troutman

'Cosmos' has OK premiere


http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...-premiere.html

Sunday's other premiere, FOX's "Cosmos," pulled in OK ratings on the broadcast network, and as it aired simultaneously on several other channels, its total audience will be somewhat bigger.

FOX: "Cosmos" series premiere (5.8 million, 3.3/5)

Those are impressive numbers considering how hard it is to get Americans to sit down and watch a science show. This show will do big numbers on torrents too, the fact so many tweets were coming out from right wingers yesterday gives me hope, at least they watched it.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah, so anyway. I thought that was pretty neat with his connection to Carl Sagan. He mentioned having met him once or twice on his podcast, but that was quite intriguing that they knew each other. Was NDT something of a child prodigy?

As an aside, I really hope he gets Eugene Mirman on there. Their chemistry on Startalk is perfect.

That's the thing, he was no prodigy, Carl is just that awesome. As I recal Tyson wanted to go to Stanford and Carl offered to show him around, on his free time, on the weekend no less.

The thing I keep hearing about those who met Carl is his willingness to do good things for people, and how he had zero ego about his fame.

[Wormius]

I forgot about Richard Feynman's famous lectures. I remember seeing bits of them, but apparently they are quite enthralling. Also highly recommend his autobiographies. His first "Surely you must be joking, Mr. Feynman" is an excellent read, especially the shenanigans at Los Alamos.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by #-3

So the nerd in me made me calculate if the entire history of the universe was put into a Calender year.

Neil said that Moses would have been alive 6 seconds ago, Buddha 5 Seconds....

But 13.8 Trillion divided by 365.25 divided by 24 divided by 60 divided by 60 = just under half a million.

So Moses was alive 3 million years ago?
But I do get the point he was trying to make.

Whoa, can't believe no one noticed this, I even missed it the first time around. Photon, you're slipping!

It's not 13.8 trillion, it's 13.8 billion. You're a factor of 1000 off.

So those chaps who lived around 3000 years ago, 2500, years ago, etc. is about as right on the money as you can be with a scale like that. Neil's math is correct, yours is not...

[troutman]

This book - The Cosmos, 4th edition, may be of interest to you (not to be confused with this Cosmos series). It was featured on Planetary Radio, and is used as a textbook in some Universities:

http://thecosmos4.com/

An exciting introduction to astronomy, the fourth edition of The Cosmos uses recent discoveries and stunning photography to inspire non-science majors about the universe and science. Written by two highly experienced and engaging instructors, each chapter has been fully updated, with more than 200 new images throughout, including recent images from space missions and the world’s best observatories. Redesigned, streamlined pages highlight the breathtaking imagery. The text is organized as a series of stories, each presenting the history of the field, the observations made and how they fit within the process of science, our current understanding, and what future observations are planned. Math is provided in boxes and easily read around, making the book suitable for courses taking either mathematical or qualitative approaches. New discussion questions encourage students to think widely about astronomy and the role science plays in our everyday lives and podcasts for each chapter aid studying and comprehension.