Cosmos

Identification Educational television series

Producer and host Carl Sagan

Date Aired from September 29, 1980, to December 21, 1980

Cosmos stimulated a resurgence in popular science programming for American public and commercial television, as well as making astronomer Carl Sagan a nationally recognizable personality.

Key Figures

• Carl Sagan (1934-1996), producer and host of Cosmos

On September 29, 1980, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) aired “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean,” the first episode of a thirteen-part television series about the universe designed and hosted by noted astronomer and science educator Carl Sagan. Entitled Cosmos, the series was notable for the sheer range of topics it addressed, an innovative use of high-quality graphics—drawn both from historical sources and from contemporary illustrators—music carefully chosen to enhance the viewing experience, and the respectful approach taken to both the intelligence of the viewing audience and the value of sentient life, whether on Earth or elsewhere. It was also the most expensive project undertaken by public television networks up to that time. The basic subject of the series was the evolution of life on Earth and the place of humans within the larger structures of the universe. These topics were presented alongside the history of scientific discovery and the biographies of significant scientists from classical times to the twentieth century. Sagan thus interweaved the larger history of scientific inquiry with the personal histories of the men and women responsible for advancing that inquiry.

Cosmos was the most widely viewed documentary limited series, and it received awards from the American Council for Better Broadcasts and the Academy of American Films and Family Television, as well as three Emmy Awards. The contents of the series were assembled and issued as a book, which quickly became a nonfiction best seller and was reprinted in 1983 and 1985. Popular periodicals such as Time magazine recognized Sagan’s work by placing him on the cover of its October 20, 1980, issue and dubbing him “the cosmic explainer,” while others reproduced selections from the series’ artwork, notably the view of the Milky Way galaxy seen from above.

The reactions of Sagan’s colleagues in astronomy and allied sciences were more mixed. The show debuted at a time when the public image and reputation of the sciences in the United States was beginning to recover from serious criticisms leveled against them in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Technology had been blamed, with some justice, for causing or worsening numerous problems of the planetary environment. The reputation of science, as Sagan described it in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, was that of a subject that “sounds as if it were the last thing in the world that any reasonable person would want to know about . . . .” Sagan, however, viewed humans as “a way for the cosmos to know itself.” He contended that science was not only fun but also an essential and comprehensible element of a changing global civilization. He thus offered a refreshing and thoughtful perspective on the place of science in American culture that proved immensely popular and durable.

Impact

The massive popularity of Cosmos demonstrated that the American public was receptive to quality science education programs. It laid the foundation for both public television and documentary and scientific cable channels to capitalize on this potential audience, which they did by developing many other educational science shows during the remainder of the 1980’s.

Bibliography

Cott, Jonathan. “The Cosmos.” Rolling Stone, January 8, 1981, 43, 45-46, 48, 50-51.

Head, Tom, ed. Conversations with Carl Sagan. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006.

Sagan, Carl. Cosmos. New York: Random House, 1980.