How the Universe Works

2010

Seasons & Episodes

  • 11
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8.9| 0h30m| TV-PG| en| More Info
Released: 25 April 2010 Returning Series
Producted By: Discovery
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/how-the-universe-works/
Synopsis

A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.

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Reviews

Bereamic Awesome Movie
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
stewiemat Love the show! From the cgi to the commentators, everything flows and is well explained in layman's terms. It's nice to see astrophysicists and theoretical physicists on the same show and actually being human. No lectures on particle acceleration or space/time continuum theories, just plain language for the every day Joe from people who are obviously passionate about what they do. And that passion is contagious, at least to me, I can't get enough of it. Wonderful. Stunning. Thought provoking. Awe inspiring. And also unexpectedly funny. Highly recommended for anyone who has looked up at the night sky and wondered what is really going on out there.
John Smith How the Universe Works is a Discovery Channel series on Astronomy. To date there are five series consisting of eight or nine episodes each. The first series was developed in 2010 and the fifth 2016, so the material is reasonably up to date.The first series was about galaxies, stars, planets etc. providing a good introduction to these topics. The later series tended to cover breaking theories such as Planet Nine, exoplanets and dark matter. As a result, as the theory is updated or revised, the information in the show tends to get a little dated.The shows format is narration, supplemented by addition contributions from scientists and researchers involved in the relevant area. The show also uses CGI and graphics to give an 'artist's impression' of phenomena such as a solar system forming, as well as telescope images of planetary nebulas, open clusters, galaxies and Hubble's ultra-deep field.However, I found the material to be fairly light weight. For example in the series one episode on Supernovas they describe a Type 1A Supernova: "The moment the white dwarf star starts to fuse carbon and oxygen into iron its doomed. Suddenly the white dwarf explodes." This is bunkum. When a white dwarf accretes enough matter from a companion star and its mass reaches the Chandrasekhar limit (due to electron degeneracy - approx. 1.4 solar masses), the star collapses, undergoing thermonuclear runaway, blowing itself to bits. About 0.6 solar masses of radioactive Nickel 56 is formed, which decays into radioactive Cobalt 56 and then into stable Iron 56. This process produces a consistent light curve and Type 1A supernovae known as Standard Candles, were used to determine distances of remote galaxies. Similarly for a Type II supernova, the explanation is also inaccurate. In addition, some very large stars (> 90 solar masses) collapse directly into black holes without any visible explosion, although this depends on metallicity and the star's rotation rate. These are not mentioned on the show.So while the show popularises astronomy with great special effects, the facts have been dumbed down for ease of public consumption. Nevertheless the show is a good introduction to our amazing universe and how it works. 7/10P.S. For a more technical explanation, try Dr Alex Filippenko's 96 lecture series (available on video): Understanding the Universe an Introduction to Astronomy.
John Willis I've seen a lot of shows about "The Cosmos" and "The Universe" but this one was both brief and simple and I appreciated that. It started at the beginning and got right to the point. The Background Music was original, orchestral and enveloping, it set just the right mood. The Narrator "Mike Rowe" is a convincing "everyday man" who makes you believe there really isn't anything a person can't comprehend with a little effort. And none of the Scientific terms or words ever seem to baffle him. Lending an air of confidence to this journey.. your in good hands with a guy who really knows what he's talking about.I came away learning a few things I didn't know before. Like "Iron" serves a unique purpose in the Universe and is responsible for all the Super Nova we see out there.The show didn't really steer too far into the implausible or "fringe" type speculation that SciFi tends to do. It stayed close to the hard science and vividly depicted things like particle physics in a convincing manner. And genuinely? They really did logically connect everything up from the super infinitesimally small to the largest and deepest things in the Universe. Its quite comprehensive and well worth watching.
Athungo Odyuo I tried to watch this documentary to see how educative it is and I ended up watching the whole eight episodes (Season 1) right away till I finished it all. It was simply amazing and very educative. Everything is so well explained and shown vividly using simulation visual where things needs to be explained for absolute lucidity.This documentary does not just merely explain the factual things that are present and happening in the universe. What is even more about this documentary is that it keeps the mind engaged in inquisition about the whole universe and its system. The eight episodes that is Big Bang, Black Holes, Galaxies, Stars, Supernovas, Planets, Solar Systems and Moon are all interlinked so attentive view is required if one has to obtain maximum clarity. Inspite of the limitations as it requires high end technology for getting deep insights into the working of the universe, yet the documentary used sufficient evidences and experiments it can gather to make even the layman understand.I highly recommend all those who are into academics and who have inquisitive mind on gaining more knowledge on the working of the universe to watch this. Thanks a lot to those who made this amazing documentary, the narrator and the various scientist of astronomy for their vivid explanation.

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