S01.E13: Unafraid Of The Dark

[Tara Ariano]

The first season concludes with a profile of Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky (1898-1974), a pioneer in the study of supernovas, neutron stars and dark matter in the universe; and a rumination on Carl Sagan's best seller "Pale Blue Dot."

[Rhetorica]

What a fitting finale. Beginning with the Library in Alexandria, with a shout out to Hypatia, mentioning how then only the elite could study science but now we have knowledge literally at our fingertips.

Then on to Dark Matter being the unknown X in the equation, leading to the fundamentals of scientific questioning. 

Next, a review of our growing knowledge accomplished through technology such as Voyager followed by Carl Sagan's beautiful reflection of our Pale Blue Dot. 

And finally, a call to action for our future scientists to continue the quest.

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts during the series. 

[A Boston Gal]

It was very moving, indeed, and I'm going to miss this show, along with its spectacular production values and thoughtful writing. Any word about a second season?

[Driad]

 

I hope there will be a second season.  Pretty please!  At least the ad for the DVDs of season 1 said there will be lots of extras.  Available tomorrow!

 

[futurechemist]

That was a moving finale.  I liked  them using Carl Sagan's narration for the Pale Blue Dot.  I also thought it was good to end the show on a hopeful note saying that science never ends since there's always something new to explore and no shame in admitting that we don't know something yet.  I hope some young people (or adults who haven't been exposed to much science) get inspired by that philosophy,  but I'm afraid the people who need to hear that message the most weren't listening at all.

 

I wonder what a 2nd season would talk about, since the 1st season hit most of the main topics.  Maybe going into more depth on selected topics, perhaps human/hominid evolution or spacecraft exploring the solar system.

 

1 thing I didn't like was all the repetition.  It felt like this was the 3rd episode this season the show went over what a supernova is.

 

Finally, I'm very glad Seth MacFarlane used his massive wealth and influence to get this made.

Edited June 11, 2014 by futurechemist

[ganesh]

 

I also thought it was good to end the show on a hopeful note saying that science never ends since there's always something new to explore and no shame in admitting that we don't know something yet.

NDT also got into a little bit about how science works when he was saying, 'the data is what the data is,' etc. I know it's kind of boring, but I'd like an S2 to get into more How Science Works because I don't think people really know. They just hear some scientist on the news saying something and don't get how much work went into it.