Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Mike from Dallas on January 30, 2012:

One of the things I always enjoyed about science FICTION as a kid. People would ask why I waste my time with that "nonsense". But it expands the mind to consider more than just the established principles of thought. So many things that were just imagination in the 1960's are commonplace today. ("Open channel D," on those Man From U.N.C.L.E. shows) How much imagination today will be tomorrow's commonly accepted knowledge?

I really enjoyed the explanation why time goes only in one direction. It could go in two directions, but the likelihood of randomness is so overwhelmingly against recreating the exact sequence of events that it can't duplicate it again.

Posted by A.J., Washington DC on January 30, 2012:

The 'Wonders' series have taken up permanent residence in my DVR, and are go-to shows whenever I need to get snapped out of the day-to-day nonsense that drags one down. Cox's enthusiasm and ability to take a topic as complex as the beginning of the universe, and break it down into apples and oranges (or a baseball and basketball), makes the world seem just a little less stupid.

Posted by Paul Athens,GA on January 31, 2012:

I remember Cosmos WELL, I LOVED that series!! As a matter of fact I got a device recently to copy all my VHS tapes to .MPEG files on my computer, and one of them is my boxed set of the Cosmos Series.

Posted by Tony - Canon City, CO on January 31, 2012:

I've watched both "Wonders" series twice. Best series since Cosmos. Brian Cox has me excited about cosmology again. There are some other great shows on the Science Channel & on PBS, but none of the hosts can explain things so well & at the same time be so entertaining as Professor Cox.

Posted by Bill, UK on February 1, 2012:

Read your comments about Brian Cox, thought you might like to read some more about him. I live in York, England, and he's big news over here. Since his shows have been on TV the number of kids doing physics courses at secondary school has gone up 30%! Big increase in applicants for college courses as well. Teachers talk about "The Brian Cox Effect". The classic comment from the kids is something like "it's great hearing this stuff from someone cool, he makes it interesting and fun". The TV shows are always after him for interviews, and always ask him about him about his music career (he was in a pop band as a student, D:Ream, and they had a few chart hits). Great guy.

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Fabulous! I'm glad he's having such a positive effect, and I hope we get a little of it here, too. -rc

Posted by AL, Norman Ok on February 3, 2012:

I enjoy the Wonders series also! I miss Carl Sagan, too. I remember a quote of his "The gates of Heaven and Hell are adjacent -- and unmarked." My wife and I had a discussion about what we would do if we ever encountered extraterrestrial visitors. We both agreed we would tell no one but Carl Sagan. A+

Posted by Vincent, Tokyo on February 3, 2012:

I saw Cosmos's initial broadcast when I was 14 years old and I was changed forever. I bought the DVDs five years ago and while I still loved it, I 'm not too crazy about its quasi-religious tone.

Another fantastic series from 1970 is the BBC's The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski.

I'll keep an eye out for the Wonder series, thanks.

Posted by William - Denver, CO on February 3, 2012:

I really wanted to go check out these series right away, and signed in to Netflix to do so. I was disappointed to find that Netflix will not stream them. You have to have a DVD subscription (which costs about twice as much). I just wanted to point that out and maybe save someone else the time, and to see if anyone can recommend another service for watching these videos online.

Posted by Peter - Manchester UK on February 4, 2012:

Brian Cox's shows are inspiring. The man is inspiring.

He recently co-hosted "Stargazing Live" on the BBC from the Lovell radio telescope (just down the road) and inspired this great impression -- watch it to the end (2 minutes).

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A spot-on impression. -rc

Posted by Mark, UK on February 4, 2012:

Those of you who have enjoyed these programs may also enjoy "The Infinite Monkey Cage", a BBC Radio 4 series described as "a witty, irreverent look at the world through scientists eyes. With Brian Cox and Robin Ince."

It is available to listen to at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w
or as a podcast. I don't know whether it is available outside of the UK though.

I'd like to add that I have no connection with the program at all (but I would say that wouldn't I?)

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I've listened to several of the podcasts. Very fun and (yes!) thought-provoking. -rc