Neil De Grass Tyson

"We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself." These are the famous lines from the 1980s science-themed TV show, ‘Cosmos: A Personal Voyage’. It was presented by Carl Sagan, one of the most renowned physicists of all time and it was a huge success. Almost three decades later, this show received a remake, with another celebrated physicist, Neil de Grass Tyson. The show aired first on the 9th of March 2014. And this new version of the cosmos was also a tremendous success. This show comprises of thirteen episodes and is presented by Neil de Grass Tyson. Neil is a scientist who has always been known to promote scientific literacy. When in an interview, Neil was asked about his daughter’s career ambitions, Neil proudly stated that “Even though
Neil brilliantly exemplifies that humans have lived for only ‘16 seconds’ if the cosmos was approximated into a ‘cosmic calendar’. Throughout the series, Neil uses such brilliant relations to everyday life to make the average audience easily grasp the information. This is where the power of the show lies. The show uses three-dimensional imagery, enriched graphics and even animation sequences to simplify science for a relatively mainstream audience. In the second episode of the cosmos, Neil explored the theory of evolution and the origin of species. The episode starts with Neil sitting in what appears to be a forest. Neil narrates in front of a fire and also scares wolves away. He does this to give the audience an idea of how their hunting ancestors lived. He then demonstrates ‘artificial selection’ with the help of animation. He suggests that the wolves and humans formed an alliance for mutual benefits. These wolves thus evolved and changed their characteristics by becoming ‘more adorable and co-operative’. They thus, evolved into dogs, who had a better chance at survival than the wild wolves. Neil refers to this as ‘artificial selection’ of certain traits as this selection was human-induced and not environment
Another thing I significantly observed is that Neil does not ‘avoid’ the creationism theory. He evaluates the theory and explains why evolution is a more-conceivable theory. Cosmos is like a pushback against faith’s encroachments on the intellectual terrain of science. Neil explicitly says that “Evolution is a fact.” Though evolution is most likely the truth, this statement of Neil’s seems hypocritical as he mentions that people should never stop questioning. The tone of the Cosmos is deeply celebratory of science, the courage of several scientists, and the massive advances in science. Each sweeping episode had its highs and lows and the final episode (“Unafraid of the Dark”) was largely based on critical thinking and skepticism. Again, Neil promotes scientific literacy and explains why it is always essential to leave room for doubt. This reminds us of Richard Feynman’s famous value of science. “Of all its many values, the freedom must be the freedom to doubt”. Neil encourages the audience to think critically, think for themselves and question authority. He advises the audience to not believe everything they hear (and he sarcastically includes himself in the list). “There's no greater incentive to lie than the threat of punishment for telling the truth.” “Science is a co-operative enterprise spanning generations’. These are Neil’s own words and 12-Emmy winning Cosmos is a creation