I discovered astronomy sometime around the age of 12, and got my first cheesy telescope for Christmas, right after my 13th birthday. That's where it all started. Before the first telecast of Cosmos, I bought my first VCR, and it was bad-ass. I became one taping fool. So when the show appeared on TV, I was ready. Man, what a show. I was so fixed, nothing else I was doing mattered. Come on, I was watching my most favorite subject, hosted by the most notable cosmologist. It was such a gas, I loved it. I bought the boxed VCR set with book several years ago, and though I never bought the DVD version, I can't wait until this one becomes available.
I know we've made great strides since that show was made, but, with me, it will never lose that excitement it gave me those 25 years ago, just as if Carl was still here, sharing his compassion with us. I know, a little maudlin, but it's just the way I still feel about it.
Ralph Bouillerce
As I was watching Unfolding Universe, I saw an ad for a remastered Cosmos. What first enters my mind when I think back on the show, aired while I was in eighth or ninth grade, is the music. To me, it was the sound of the universe interpreted.
I was raised a biologist's daughter. I could tell you the common name of many species of frog, snake and lizard. However, I didn't know much about astronomy or the physical sciences. I still remember the Cosmos episode about Doppler shift, and how we could determine the age of the universe and the distance of stars. I became enamored of the show and interested in physics.
My interest reached the ears of my uncle. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and was working at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Wouldn't you know, but he went out and purchased the book Cosmos, went over to the college where Carl Sagan was teaching (UC Berkley?), and had the book signed, "To Elizabeth, best wishes, Carl Sagan." It is one of my most prized possessions.
Now, I am a medical lab technician, Navy trained, and I hope to become a science teacher when my son is old enough for me to go back to school. I can only hope to have a fraction of the impact on my students that Carl Sagan had on me. I know this much, I will take a page from his book and be as passionate a teacher about science as he was. Thank you for bringing the show back. My son and I will watch it together.
Elizabeth Lord
I faithfully watched Cosmos when it first aired 25 years ago. My local PBS station was KCET, which also produced the series. The series changed my life by further enhancing my lifelong love of science. My new bride (still the love of my life) tried her best to watch Cosmos; however, Carl's soothing voice quickly put her to sleep. Twenty-five years later I still loan (or thrust) my treasured Cosmos DVD set to anyone showing the slightest interest in science. In addition to astronomy, Carl Sagan taught me a love of our environment and the fragility of life. I miss him. Billions and billions of thanks to the Science Channel.
Thomas Wheat
Sagan was pretty much responsible for getting my father, at the time a youthful miscreant, into the astronomy program at Cornell University. My father is now a scientist and raised my sister and myself in a household that respects science and scientific thought. I still have the copy of Dragons of Eden that was signed for me when I was just 1 year old. As I grew older, Sagan's books have given me enlightenment and have helped to shape my worldview.
For the gift of a lifetime of reasoned thought, I honor Carl Sagan's memory and treasure the legacy of his work. In these times, when scientific processes are being threatened in America (from our classrooms to our highest offices), the accessible without ever being dumbed-down work of Carl Sagan is needed more than ever.
Vanessa Gatsch
In college I heard many different stories about how my fellow students came to the sciences. Far too many pursued an undergraduate in biology as a path to medical school and large incomes. But a few of my peers told stories about science teachers in their secondary education who had inspired them and aroused their natural curiosity about the universe. I did not have such a teacher. I had Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
Having lost touch completely with the secondary education system in California, I could not say what goes on in high-school science classes these days. Frankly, I am afraid to know. But in my day, that is, from 1983 to 1987, high-school science was a grim recitation of the "facts." We learned next to nothing about the actual method of science. We learned absolutely nothing about the scientists themselves.
As one might imagine, such a teaching approach did not inspire students to become scientists. If left to the tender mercies of the system, my interest in science and nature would have been utterly destroyed under that avalanche of facts. But I had the great fortune to have parents who read, and who, when they watched television, tended to watch public television. It was only by happy coincidence that I found Cosmos.
And in it I found an appreciation for the sweeping grandeur of the universe. I found stories of truly brilliant minds, and more importantly, brilliant minds chasing hypotheses that sometimes proved fruitless. Cosmos not only portrayed the progress of our knowledge about the universe and some popularization of the state of the art circa 1980, it showed us the pursuit of knowledge and the nobility of the pursuit itself.
Twenty-five years on, I wonder how many others turned their paths because of Cosmos. How many other curiosities were inflamed? How many scientists did Cosmos make?
Stuart Underwood
I was ecstatic to learn that Cosmos is going to air again. The original broadcast was life-changing for me as a young man, igniting the lifelong passion I have for science. This is quite simply some of the best television that there has ever been. Thank you all VERY much for bringing back this classic.
Emmet Austin
When it came to children's shows, the '80s had a sensible repertoire of shows designed to teach children how to count, how to write, and gave a glimpse into the world that children were emerging into. But when, as a toddler I caught an episode of Cosmos on PBS, it taught me how to wonder.
Still oblivious to all the big, grown-up words the late Sagan so eloquently delivered, the imagery presented by his wondrous show was clear to me even at 3 ½ years of age. When he pricks his finger and the blood starts oozing out, I knew he was taking us into the workings of the body, the cell, and that colorful spiral ladder that winded down as it separated into two units. It remains as vivid today as when I first caught it in its re-airing around 1982.
I never lost sight of that segment and in growing up I found myself fascinated with space, biology and the universe in general. Eventually I bought a telescope in my teens, and it was then that the wonders of the universe were personally unveiled to me through the eyepiece, as though the show in the sky were ready to begin once I took my seat.
For my sense of wonder and awe at nature, for my enriched childhood, and for my desire to know all that is, or ever was, or ever will be, I am forever thankful to Carl Sagan.
Steve V.
Cosmos helped shape my life. Though I was interested in astronomy, Carl Sagan connected science with everyday life and the great unfolding story of humanity — inspiring me to become a scientist and science communicator. At 40, I am now nearing completion of my first book, titled Mars — A Cosmic Stepping Stone, to be published internationally next year.
Through Cosmos, I also discovered Vangelis, who with Carl has been a constant inspiration.
I hope to combine both science and music in future ventures, and even though I know they will be simply an echo of Cosmos, I also learnt from Carl Sagan that each generation deserves insight into the greatest aspects of humanity and nature that Carl brought to us. If I can emulate even the tiniest fraction of that, then my life will have been worthwhile.
Kevin Nolan
We had Cosmos broadcast in Romania in the early '80s, and it’s a miracle it went through. I was too little to remember anything precise, but I believe that much of the magic spinning around it is due to the music editing and the general sound atmosphere (mostly Vangelis) that kept images — though blurred &mdash in my head. I know for sure I developed a passion for the cosmos in
general, just because somewhere unconsciously a bit of that memory stayed with me. I hope the same will happen with my children when they see the series.
Mihai Hodrea
I remember being 7 years and old and watching this series with my family. I remember looking at the screen in wonder as the ship was flying through space and what neat stuff it was seeing.
Later, when I was 14, I checked the entire series out from the public library and watched it again. I learned more about science and history from watching this series than I ever learned from the classroom. It made me want to pursue some kind of scientific career. I was even able to draw upon what I had learned during a college astronomy class, earning me perfect scores. I will forever look back on Cosmos as the starting point for wondering about science and fostering a deep appreciation for science. I hope to have the same thing happen with my own children. I look forward to watching it again and remembering.
Mary Ayala
The series Cosmos was, for me, the greatest television event ever. It totally broke my previous conviction that science and spirituality must be separate, such was the beauty and sheer worship of the universe with which it was presented. In this sad day, are we ever reminded of our innocence as a species, which is only beginning, which is on the verge of destroying itself, not because we are jaded and vile, but simply because we are too young to know better. That contemplation, and the consequent search beyond, is our salvation.
I would like to be able to tell Carl Sagan that his series provided me with a truly religious experience for which I am forever grateful.
Peter O'Rourke
When I first watched Cosmos, I was newly married and my husband and I watched the show together. It was our favorite show. I remember many a "wow," or "isn't that something," and at times an awesome feeling of being part of something so grand.
I have had a hunger for everything "space" since I was a teenager, having grown up in Florida and hearing about space and the astronauts. Cosmos only fed it. I loved that ethereal theme music and even made a tape of it. I listened to it to put me to sleep for many months. Years later I found out the name of the music and even found a Cosmos cassette, which I still have. I am very excited about the new show and am telling everyone to watch it. It's a great idea!
C. Dunn
