Forty years ago in September this year, the physicist Karl Sagan changed the way the world thought about science by displaying “Cosmos: A Personal Journey.” The program he co-wrote with his wife, Ann Droyan, sought to make complex scientific concepts accessible and entertaining. It is not excessive to say that the Sagan and Deroyan mark in the field of scientific communication has informed and continues to teach entire generations of scholars and educators. The show has now restarted for Season Two, and you can see a special trailer clip here:
The show came back in 2014, produced by Druyan and Seth MacFarlane and starring astrophysicist Neil de Grace Tyson, which he highly praised. Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey covered a large portion of the same original presentation, with updated information and pictures. The second season of the show was briefly delayed by investigations of sexual harassment and allegations of Tyson’s assault, conducted by Fox, National Geographic, and the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson Hayden leads the Planetarium. While neither group detailed the full results of their inquiries, both television networks and museums considered it appropriate to bring Tyson back to his roles.
Cosmos: Possible Worlds “will dramatize the personal struggles and the changing discoveries of the world from unknown scientists and explorers who have helped shape humanity’s place in a boundless future.” Their stories aim to “inspire us to extend the dimensions of science and creativity. And travel to the stars.” Cosmos: Possible Worlds will be released on National Geographic on March 9th.