North York Central Library Blog

Do you remember the original Cosmos, the PBS series hosted by Carl Sagan? It was the most popular program in the history of public television when originally broadcast in 1980. In it Sagan explored evolution, the nature of intelligence, atomic physics, relativity, cosmology and space exploration. Cosmos was a watershed event in public science education, and has been updated and rebroadcast several times since 1980.

Carl Sagan was an astronomer, astrophysicist and cosmologist – but he is probably best known for explaining and popularizing science. In a 1990 article, “Why We Need to Understand Science”, he wrote:

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. This is a clear prescription for disaster.

So he made it his life’s work to educate people about the wonders of science and the marvels of technology, through his writings and his media presence, until his death in 1996.

Many of his books are available at Toronto Public Library branches:

He even wrote a science fiction novel, Contact, which was made into a movie:

Now, 34 years later, there’s a new Cosmos. This version is hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director of the Hayden Planetarium. This updated series was made with the co-operation of Carl Sagan’s wife Ann Druyan and produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.

Neil deGrasse Tyson shares Carl Sagan’s views about the importance of science literacy. Here’s what he said in a 2009 interview:

There are issues that confront society that have science as their foundation. If you are scientifically illiterate, in a way, you are disenfranchising yourself from the democratic process, and you don’t even know it.

 Many of Tyson’s books and DVDs are available at library branches:

The tribute to Carl Sagan and the original Cosmos on the website of the new series brings this story full circle.

Time will tell whether the new version will have the lasting popularity of the original. I’d love to know what you think.