Beyond the syllabus: Five must watch science documentary series
Science is a pretty darn serious subject. The entrance exams to our top colleges - be it IIMs, IITs or anything of the like - are dependent on your grasp of science and maths.
But what could make science fun and highly watchable? That is probably what Carl Sagan and David Attenborough thought when they set out to make some of the most fun, entertaining, gorgeous... and yes, educating, TV series. Series such as Cosmos and Planet Earth. Series that delve in the depths of our oceans or the farther reaches of the universe as they give us fascinating insights in to what has gone into making of our universe.
Some of the shows we have listed here have such a fan following, we wonder why they haven't been included in mainstream syllabus yet. Students would probably learn to love science if it was packaged as well as these shows are.
As we keep going on with our daily lives – admissions, examinations and classes – let’s take a breather and look at five must watch mini-document TV series.
1. Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (2014)
Did you know that human beings are made of star dust that came out of supernovas?
And that if we compress time from the beginning of universe (Big Bang) into a single-year calendar, human beings showed up on last day of the year (December 31, 10:23pm)?
An immensely popular thirteen-part television series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage aired in 1980. Narrated by Carl Sagan, it was one of the first TV shows to present previously unknown facts to common people. The series is considered a milestone in scientific documentaries, and has been watched by around 400 million people across 60 different countries (source: New York Times).
In 2014, a follow-up of the original show has been rebooted for modern viewers. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the host of current series.Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is an attempt to invent new modes of scientific storytelling to ‘reveal the grandeur of the universe and re-invent celebrated elements of the original series, including the Cosmic Calendar and the Ship of the Imagination,” informs NatGeo website.
The show is currently airing across Fox and National Geographic Channels. The series premiered on March 9, 2014 (India premier: March 16, 2014). You can still catch the remaining few episodes of the show.
2. Planet Earth (2006)
This Emmy Award winning eleven-part TV series, presents various stories of earth in epic proportions. Five years into making, Planet Earth is the most expensive nature documentary series ever produced by the BBC, and the first to be filmed in high definition. (Source: IMDB)
This show captures some of the rarest actions in impossible locations. It explores mountains, never-before reached ocean depths, caves, plains, deserts, ice worlds, jungles and seas on a grand scale.
“A hundred years ago, there were one and a half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity. This series will take you to the last wildernesses and show you the planet and its wildlife as you have never seen them before.”
— David Attenborough's opening narration.
3. Human Planet (2011)
An eight-part TV documentary series, Human Planet was shot over three years in extreme and most remote locations on Earth across 40 countries. The show was produced by BBC in association with Discovery and BBC Worldwide.
Each episode presents a different human-inhabited environment, such as deserts, jungles, plains, grasslands, rivers, oceans, mountains, and urban landscape. It shows how humans adapt to environment around us and yet, also tend to change it.
“Human Planet is an awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, heart-stopping landmark series that marvels at mankind's incredible relationship with nature in the world today,” states the programme synopsis. Watch the trailer below, and you’ll agree with every word mentioned above.
4. How the Universe Works (2007)
This is 16-part mini television series on the universe, first aired on Discovery Channel. The show talks about cosmos, big bang, galaxies, black holes, stars, supernovas, alien solar systems, alien moons and so on. It shows how the cosmos are designed, built and works.
The series’ has embedded some of the latest discoveries in the field of science, which makes it interesting and unique.
5. Life on Earth (1979)
This BBC show is all about David Attenborough’s pioneer study on evolution of life on our planet. The man himself takes us on a journey of natural history, travels the entire globe to trace the evolution of life on Earth. This 13-part series is the first in Attenborough's 'Life' series of programmes.
The show is also famous for Attenborough’s legendary encounter with a family of mountain gorillas. You can watch the entire series on YouTube. Here’s part 1 of the series:
