Originally aired in 1980, 500 million people watched, this thirteen-part television series, written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, has captivated audiences around the world. With Carl Sagan as our guide, we'll revisit this iconic series that has inspired generations of scientists and dreamers alike.
Sagan discusses comets and asteroids as planetary impactors, giving recent examples of the Tunguska event and a lunar impact described by Canterbury monks in 1178.
It moves to a description of the environment of Venus, from the previous fantastic theories of people such as Immanuel Velikovsky to the information gained by the Venera landers and its implications for Earth's greenhouse effect. The Cosmos Update highlights the connection to global warming.