10/10
Science for the masses
24 June 2011
Some reviews on here are either woefully stupid or they just don't understand the reason for this program.

Now bear with me here: this is a prime time show on mainstream television. Did you understand that? No? Well just to clarify: the program doesn't assume we are all scholars in the fields of cosmology, particle physics, thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. This is a TV show, not a lecture. Although one reviewer seems to think that gravity is not a force (it is), so would have been utterly confounded by a proper lecture.

As someone who does know a fair bit about cosmology I watched this show with high hopes, as I very much enjoyed the previous series Solar System. It certainly lived up to my expectations. I watched it with my mother, who previously had little interest in the subjects covered, and she became more and more fascinated as the series progressed. This, I suspect, is the whole reason for the show: to bring science to the masses, rather than keep the knowledge within a group of people who already know it.

So to summarise: if you are well versed in physics and want to learn something new then you should probably avoid this show. However if you are merely interested in astronomy, cosmology et al and want a plain, easy to understand welcome to the field then I very much recommend this show.

Very well done BBC!
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