EXPLORE THE COSMOS／Kuniko Evanko

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014) is a follow-up to the highly regarded television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980), which was presented by the influential Carl Sagan. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, a New York native as well, takes the viewer on a journey stretching 13 episodes, covering a wide range of topics including evolution, the age of the Universe, the history of how we came to understand the science we have today, and much more.

Tyson starts out by laying out the Cosmic Calendar, a visualization of the history of the universe condensed into a single calendar year, with the start of Jan. 1 being the Big Bang and the end of Dec 31 being today. It helps to give the viewer an understanding of the scale of time. As Tyson explains, all of mankind's recorded history would be compressed in the last second of the last minute on Dec. 31. Each following episode focuses on one major topic.

The history of the Universe as we know it is 13.8 billion years old.

In contrast, the Earth is only 4.5 billion years old.

Tyson has the ability to articulate ideas and concepts in a way that anyone can understand and the production values of the show are very high. But the thing I enjoy the most is how it covers the history of how humanity has found its place in the Universe. Illustrated through animated sequences, the show covers the hardships and discoveries of influential people in our past including Isaac Newton, William and John Herschel, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, and many more. As Isaac Newton himself said in a letter to mathematician Robert Hooke, "If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” [1]. Being able to see how the findings of one person may be picked up and expanded upon by another is inspiring that the work we do today may be picked up by another in the future.

This series comes at a time when an understanding of science is incredibly important especially given the threat that global warming has on our planet and future generations. Episode 12, “The World Set Free” covers the nature of the greenhouse gas effect and the evidence of mankind’s influence in the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The topics that excited me the most were black holes and the almost certain probability of life on other planets. As Tyson said famously, “...there are so many planets in the universe that, for example, they outnumber the sum of all sounds and words ever uttered by ever human who has ever lived.” [2] With such a staggering number of planets and the fact that we are all made of the same stuff, the probability is almost certain.

“We are made of starstuff”

- CARL SAGAN [3]

The vast size of the universe can make some people feel small, but as Tyson put it, “... many people feel small, cause they’re small and the universe is big, but I feel big because my atoms came from those stars.”

I highly suggest that you watch the series and enjoy learning about the nature of the cosmos.

執筆者：イヴァンコ公仁子　Kuniko Evanko

文学部3類　2006年より在学中です。卒業論文タイトルは、Ralph Ellison's Bluesです。

1. HW Turnbull. “The correspondence of Isaac Newton, volume 1”. p. 416. 1959.

2. Neil deGrasse Tyson. “Death by Black Hole”. Page 229. W.W. Norton, 2007.

3. Carl Sagan. “The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean". Cosmos: A Personal Journey Episode 1. 1980.