Actually, the lead pollution topic was a secondary issue in this program. Patterson’s primary goal was to measure Earth’s age. At this time, Jim Peebles had roughed out an estimate for the age of the universe using Wilson and Penzias’ data on the CMB. Earth’s age was still not determined with any accuracy because the data were not reliable. Why? Lead pollution. As you learned from the program the amount of lead humans were pumping into the environment was staggering. Left unchecked we would be in far worse shape, today. Especially, our children. There were two people of science instrumental in rallying against the ubiquitous use of lead….Clair Patterson and Herb Needleman. Needleman wasn’t even mentioned in the program if I recall, correctly. I think mentioning this chain of events was justified and historically relevant in a program of this nature. However, I’m no journalist. I’m just an aging bozo who sets up his telescope in the drive way and tries to stay out of the wife’s way. Sometimes, I watch TV. Dave On Jun 3, 2014, at 10:41, Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Yes we're all part of the cosmos, of course. That kind of goes without saying. But you could use that rationale to launch into any number of topics that have little connection to the cosmos or astronomy. We could segue into a bIg episode on auto manufacturing or the Israeli wars because, after all, they are part of the cosmic cosmos. It gets rediculous. This is one planet in the indescribably huge universe. I don't want to hear about fights over lead pollution on this one part of the cosmos in the supposed context of finding out about new research into the universe. A large portion of the series is padding, silly history animated cartoons and p.c. pontificating. The producers sold it as 12 episodes, so had to drag it out that long. If they didn't have enough meaty scientific material to fill 12 they should have reduced the number of episodes.
------------------------------ On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 7:08 AM MDT Chuck Hards wrote:
Joan, you hit the nail on the head.
COSMOS (both the original and this one) was never intended to be merely a video astronomy course. Those desiring just black holes and galaxies are bound to be disappointed. It is so much more.
The message then, as now, is that we are a part of the universe. As Carl Sagan said, we are here so the universe can know itself. We are as much a part of space and time as a billion-solar-mass black hole, or an icy ring orbiting a distant planet. Life is one of the more interesting properties of hydrogen, if you give it enough time and the right conditions. To fully appreciate the universe and our place in it, we have to shed old habits such as greed, ignorance and intolerance of new, sometimes uncomfortable ideas. The histories NdGT has presented give context to where we stand today on the topics, and how we got there. How inspired individuals have made a difference in how we see the universe, and our place in it, often to their own personal detriment. Good stuff.
I plan to purchase the DVDs, will keep them next to COSMOS v1.0 Insurance against inadvertantly wiping them from the DVR (and no commercials to have to zap through!).
On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 6:30 PM, CenturyLink Customer <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
I hope it has reached a wider audience and left many thinking about how everything fits together from the atom to a galaxy and our precious blue white piece of cosmic dust so important to the sentient life residing on it.
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