We turned it off after six minutes. Dumbed-down, condescending, Common Core crap. The host is vile. Carl Sagan flopped out of his grave while it was being shown.
I think Tyson is so visible for two reason:
1: Affirmative Action
2: He is director of the Hayden Planetarium in NYC so if you need a half articulate astronomer for TV he is handy
I never heard of Sagan until he did Cosmos.
I still remember a great bit from the Carl Sagan version all these years later.
“So, the early astronomers with their crude telescopes looked up at the planet Venus. And they realized, they really couldn’t see any detail on the surface.
So they thought, “Why is that”? Well, obviously they were looking at clouds. The planet was shrouded in a veil of clouds, and the clouds were so thick they obscured all views of the planet surface.
Well, what does that tell us? Well, with all those clouds, they must have a lot of water vapor. So the surface of Venus must be a very wet, humid place. Lots of water vapor, probably coming from massive pools and rivers.
And, if it that humid with all that water, it must be a very lush, tropical place. With lush vegetation, palm trees.
And if it is like a rain forest, it must be teeming with animal life. Birds and insects. Maybe even dinosaurs.
Observation: We can’t see anything.
Conclusion? DINOSAURS!”
Boy, does THAT describe the logical process of a lot of people I’ve met over the years!
Atheist version of resurrection?
Except that it's his wife who wrote it, as well as the original.
-PJ