I agree with Seth: our little group was NOT the target audience for Cosmos. I took the time yesterday to watch Neil deGrasse Tyson's talk about his book on the link given by Jamie Bradley last Wednesday: http://www.booktv.org/Program/13308/Space+Chronicles+Facing+the+Ultimate+Fro.... That talk IS for our group. I thought it profound, very interesting, and would highly recommend it to all of you. Enjoy! -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Seth Jarvis Sent: Friday, March 14, 2014 11:43 AM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] My view of "Cosmos" My two cents: Siegfried said it well -- it's not meant to be Physics 101. Yes, the asteroid belt depiction bugged me. I'm releasing that angst because I believe the program succeeded in achieving its primary goal, which was to leave audiences with a positive emotional experience about learning about the universe, and the important human stories (albeit with a dose of artistic license in terms of historical accuracy) that accompany any scientific discovery. A "COSMOS" that suited our expectations would almost certainly be a commercial flop - the audience would be just too small. What's the ultimate goal here? To keep astronomy enthusiasts happy, or to create a significant, positive social impulse where informal public science education is concerned? Remember, a significant % of public is still unclear about whether or not the Earth orbits the Sun. For Sunday night programming on FOX, I think they're succeeding! Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Siegfried Jachmann Sent: Friday, March 14, 2014 11:24 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] My view of "Cosmos" You have to consider that Cosmos is like our public star parties. It's public outreach. It will increase the interest and awareness of astronomy with the public. It's not meant to be Physics 101. I would have liked it better if it was at a higher level but as Chuck said, (par) it's better than 99% of the television it's competing against. Not better than a good book though. On Fri, Mar 14, 2014 at 11:09 AM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com>wrote:
I agree it's a fine production but a few aspects in the first show were disappointing. I don't remember any disappointments with the original series, but that was long ago. But budget shouldn't have been a big problem for Fox and National Geographic, especially since they teamed up tot a major, highly publicized blockbuster series. I'm a little irritated that they didn't care enough about science to nix that graphic of the asteroid belt. I have other complaints but I don't want to sound like I didn't like it, because I did.
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-- Siegfried _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".