Cosmic Quest Omnibus

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Comments

Ancient Visions

20080530

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy.

Since the dawn of modern humans more than 100,000 years ago, people have been looking into the sky in wonder. They have mapped and measured the heavens and slowly come to understand what they represent.

Much ancient mythology is based on the constellations in the sky, and astrologers have attempted to fit the Earth and themselves into the cosmic scheme of things. The rising and setting of the Sun dominated people's lives and they were dependent on the seasons for their livelihoods. In ancient civilisations, from Babylon to China, events in the sky were linked with what would otherwise seem to be random natural disasters and good or bad fortune. But the monitoring of the skies by astrologers produced some of the earliest accurate astronomical records, recording eclipses, comets and exploding stars thousands of years before our scientific era.

Since the dawn of modern humans, people have been looking into the sky in wonder.

Wandering Planets And The Centre Of The Universe

20080606

From the ancient Greeks to Nikolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler.

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy

A Matter Of Some Gravity

20080613

Galileo's observations of the moons of Jupiter made him realise that not everything orbits the Earth. Once Newton had laid down the principles of gravity which determine the orbits of the planets, Halley was able to extend them to comets and predict the return of the comet that bears his name. The telescope led to a search for new planets and the discovery of the asteroids and outer planets, a quest that is continuing today.

Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.

Galileo, Newton, Halley and the invention of the telescope, which opened up the skies.

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy

The Galaxy And Beyond

20080620

Early ideas about the nature of the Milky Way and fuzzy patches or nebulae were transformed by precise astronomical measurements. It took several centuries for astronomers to accept that the Milky Way is a giant body of stars of which our solar system is but one outlying member. As techniques to estimate the distances of stars improved, the nebulae were revealed to be galaxies in their own right, island universes that were flying apart in a great expansion from the big bang of creation.

Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt, John Palmer.

As techniques improved, nebulae were revealed to be galaxies in their own right.

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy

Chance And Purpose In A Violent Universe

20080627

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy.

Technological advances over the last 50 years have enabled us to discover much about distant galaxies, quasars and black holes. Yet within our understanding of physics, there are no known fundamental reasons for much of the astronomical phenomena that we observe. Every discovery seems to throw up further mysteries.

Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.

Birth, Life And Death

20080704

Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy.

An exploration of the birth, life and death of stars, the formation of planets and the search for earth-like worlds beyond our own. The series ends by asking if there could be other lifeforms, even intelligence, out there in the vastness of space.

Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.

Heather Couper concludes the omnibus edition of her major narrative history of astronomy.

Episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Comments
	Ancient Visions	20080530	Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy. Since the dawn of modern humans more than 100,000 years ago, people have been looking into the sky in wonder. They have mapped and measured the heavens and slowly come to understand what they represent. Much ancient mythology is based on the constellations in the sky, and astrologers have attempted to fit the Earth and themselves into the cosmic scheme of things. The rising and setting of the Sun dominated people's lives and they were dependent on the seasons for their livelihoods. In ancient civilisations, from Babylon to China, events in the sky were linked with what would otherwise seem to be random natural disasters and good or bad fortune. But the monitoring of the skies by astrologers produced some of the earliest accurate astronomical records, recording eclipses, comets and exploding stars thousands of years before our scientific era. Since the dawn of modern humans, people have been looking into the sky in wonder.
	Wandering Planets And The Centre Of The Universe	20080606	From the ancient Greeks to Nikolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler. Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy
03	A Matter Of Some Gravity	20080613	Galileo's observations of the moons of Jupiter made him realise that not everything orbits the Earth. Once Newton had laid down the principles of gravity which determine the orbits of the planets, Halley was able to extend them to comets and predict the return of the comet that bears his name. The telescope led to a search for new planets and the discovery of the asteroids and outer planets, a quest that is continuing today. Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer. Galileo, Newton, Halley and the invention of the telescope, which opened up the skies. Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy
04	The Galaxy And Beyond	20080620	Early ideas about the nature of the Milky Way and fuzzy patches or nebulae were transformed by precise astronomical measurements. It took several centuries for astronomers to accept that the Milky Way is a giant body of stars of which our solar system is but one outlying member. As techniques to estimate the distances of stars improved, the nebulae were revealed to be galaxies in their own right, island universes that were flying apart in a great expansion from the big bang of creation. Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt, John Palmer. As techniques improved, nebulae were revealed to be galaxies in their own right. Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy
05	Chance And Purpose In A Violent Universe	20080627	Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy. Technological advances over the last 50 years have enabled us to discover much about distant galaxies, quasars and black holes. Yet within our understanding of physics, there are no known fundamental reasons for much of the astronomical phenomena that we observe. Every discovery seems to throw up further mysteries. Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.
06	Birth, Life And Death	20080704	Heather Couper presents an omnibus edition of her major new narrative history of astronomy. An exploration of the birth, life and death of stars, the formation of planets and the search for earth-like worlds beyond our own. The series ends by asking if there could be other lifeforms, even intelligence, out there in the vastness of space. Read by Timothy West, Annette Badland, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer. Heather Couper concludes the omnibus edition of her major narrative history of astronomy.