Everyone knows the solar system and the planets; we’ve all learned it in primary school. But this BBC series, narrated and hosted by professor Brian Cox, takes us on a voyage to the little known wonders of space. It’s not a general look at the planets, but more of the road less taken, the cool attractions in a city one doesn’t get to see. Again, it’s been a while since I saw the series so I’m not super familiar with everything, but there are 5 episodes total, all an hour long.
With Cox’s mellow narration and his simple constructed diagrams like bottles of condiments at a diner which make it easy for stupid people to understand (a good thing, btw), the series examines things from the beginnings of life on Earth in episode two, “Order Out of Chaos”, to volcanic activity on Saturn’s moons in the “Dead or Alive” episode. This is a fascinating, interesting, high-definition look at the rarely talked-about things in our solar system that is sure to make you wonder how complex, bizarre, and cool the world is beyond our planet.
The only thing that bugged me about everything was Cox’s pronounciation when it came to words that end in a “g”. It’s part of his accent, I’m sure, but for whatever reason, it kinda annoyed me whenever he would say words like, “thing-guh” or “thinking-guh”, always saying the “g”. Anyway, that’s just me and North American-ness.
Wonders of the Solar System
aaron's random musings 