Wonders of the Universe
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Wonders of the Universe

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Ratings: 7.96/10 from 28 users.

Wonders of the UniverseProfessor Brian Cox reveals how the most fundamental scientific principles and laws explain not only the story of the universe, but the story of us all.

Destiny. Having explored the wonders of the solar system, Professor Brian Cox steps boldly on to an even bigger stage - the universe. Who are we? Where do we come from? For thousands of years humanity has turned to religion and myth for answers to these enduring questions. But in this series, Brian presents a different set of answers - answers provided by science.

Stardust. In the second stop in his exploration of the wonders of the universe, Professor Brian Cox goes in search of humanity's very essence to answer the biggest questions of all: what are we? And where do we come from? This film is the story of matter - the stuff of which we are all made.

Falling. In the third episode, Professor Brian Cox takes on the story of the force that sculpts the entire universe - gravity. Gravity seems so familiar, and yet it is one of the strangest and most surprising forces in the universe. Starting with a zero gravity flight, Brian experiences the feeling of total weightlessness, and considers how much of an effect gravity has had on the world around us.

Messengers. In the last episode of Professor Brian Cox's epic journey across the universe, he travels from the fossils of the Burgess Shale to the sands of the oldest desert in the world to show how light holds the key to our understanding of the whole universe, including our own deepest origins.

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Tom Skells
Tom Skells
5 years ago

The main speakers are related somehow to Christian schools, colleges etc. They are not recognized as scientists outside of the Christian community. The clips with Hawkings and other scientists were butchered in editing to favor the "god" side which they actually don't believe in. Hawkings is a true athetist and totally leaves god out of the real science world. The storyline by Brian Cox near top is true and based on science. BUT! It has nothing to do with this disgraceful joke of a documentary whatever it's real title is named. Brian Cox has not given permission for his storyline as all the other true scientists on some of the clips. Brian has spoke of this on one of his shows. I'm surprised this religious organization of god is not being sued. A good portion of the reviews were not based on this religious trash of a movie but one of Brian Cox's excellent documentaries. Thankfully this religious story will be blown into dust and forgotten.
Like scientist Brian Cox said we are made of stardust and will be returned to the stars when we die. Beautiful and makes me feel at comfort till my last breath.

Robert Fernandez
Robert Fernandez
11 years ago

love to watch all this kinds of stuff when im stoned! hell yeah!

Mostafa
Mostafa
12 years ago

thanks Brian this documentary was really wonderful for me,the great space needs great minds

Keke Jones
Keke Jones
12 years ago

After everything dies and the universe is empty is there a chance that the big bang could take place again? Can the big bang take place before the end of earth? If it could what would happen? Would it create another universe? Would that be a paradox? I apologize for all the questions and excuse me if they make little to no sense but I'm 15 and intrigued by science.

MaLi44
MaLi44
12 years ago

Not all stars create a nebula when they die, though there are actually two types of nebulae, those from supernovas and the planetary nebulae created by smaller stars very late in their life, during the red giant phase. It is only the large stars that go supernova upon their deaths and create the nebulae about which Professor Cox was speaking. From those nebulae are born new stars. Each of those new stars are formed from the gas and matter expelled by the parent star, so they would not be as large as that star since they are only made up from a percentage of the matter that existed within that original star. What this means is that when those stars, in turn, die, most of them will not be large enough to produce a supernova, and, therefore, will not give birth to children of their own. What this means is that there would come a time when there were no longer any stars large enough to go supernova. No more supernovas means no more star factories. So the death and birth cycle is not endless.

This was supposed to be posted as a reply to Michael Rainey, but, for some reason, it appears that it didn't get put there.

Sarah Macdonald
Sarah Macdonald
12 years ago

/Micheal Rainey) - from my understanding yes the stars do burn out but this is over billions of yrs/ light yrs, some of them planet size or bigger when they blow up and collapse into smaller entities/ nebula - they still glow but at a smaller more dense rate compared to when they were/ are live in original state - the formation of a new star, surrounding gas and particle clouds - the amazingly colored cloud towards the last (15min of the show) is the birth of a new one - but it also takes billions of yrs to develop and doesn't develop as a big old star in the original form it takes on a more complex denser shape of gases, minerals and elements. its the original big stars that will die out and the sky we have now which is bright and wonderful - will be of smaller stars and constellations harder to see by the naked eye form earth - although there will be heaps burning bright they will be so small in comparison that from there to here it will appear and seem as though the sky is empty or filled with black holes. but as science, spirituality and q - physics states - all things are always moving fwd, the only constant is change itself - so as the universe is evolving , changing and moving fwd through time - which in space there is no time under all the light refractories - its only here on hertizon that there is time - after the big bang - which is 4th seal consciousness - Shiva -ultraviolet blue spectrum - not man or woman - big bang - 3rd - light refractory- polarity, 2nd - infrared, 1st seal consciousness - human - dense - matter occurred - therefor time - up there is no existent - all things happen simultaneously in multiple realities and dimensions. so as the universe is evolving so are we meant to be - it might be that after the earth goes through its massive change this yr and next we too will evolve and our skills abilities will evolve allowing us to see things more in detail than what we think we can now??.!!!

Sarah Macdonald
Sarah Macdonald
12 years ago

freaking brilliant - i am a student of the great work - based in yelm - wa state USA - everything we learn in school, has been this - trying to explain to friends - who aren't scientific or spiritually inclined - this show nails it on both levels and rolls into lay terms - love Quantum physics - well - done...

Rohit Bhushan
Rohit Bhushan
12 years ago

By far...one of the best documentaries i have ever seen. Absolutely Wonderful. And what a great score. Very inspiring...

befitshop
befitshop
12 years ago

I have seen all the cosmos docs, hawkings, morgan free man, docs from the 70 's. But this one is one of my favourites. It reminds me a little like the Carl Sagans docs.... Very understandable for everyone, even my daughter of 11 is hooked to it ! thanks Brian.....

Michael Rainey
Michael Rainey
12 years ago

Ok I have some question's to anyone that might be able to answer...

In part 1 Brian Cox said all the stars will eventually die and nothing will survive when all the black holes fade away. But then in Part 2 he explains that when a star dies it creates nebula that then creates more stars... and he even says that it is an endless cycle of death and rebirth.....so which is it?

And if all the stars do die out, whats to stop humans in the far distant future from developing "spaceships" that are 100% self sufficient e.g renewable energy sources, labs to create elements etc? The atoms from all those dead stars wont just despair.

neonlys
neonlys
12 years ago

the great thing about this documentary, and what I think sets it apart from other documentaries on the universe, is the way in which Brian Cox allows himself to simply marvel at the sheer spectacle and beauty of his different topics, without any academic arrogance. He showes an outstanding ability in this sense to level with the viewer and share his fascination, without ever becoming unprofessional or trivial. Informative, well composed and fascinating, a great documentary!

Artur Necipuruk
Artur Necipuruk
12 years ago

Its a bit confusing when he explains int he first movie that the stars will go off, and the universe will go dark and empty, and in the second one he speaks of an endless life cycle of stars -_-"

Michael Haze
Michael Haze
12 years ago

Time isn't anything like we know. Time is not the moment of something.
In my opinion time is the bridge from one 'frame of the universe
to the next one(sorry for my not-perfect english), almost like a symbol in an maths equation.
image these blocks
I____II____III___IV____V___ ....
1 +1 =2 +1 =3 +1 =4 +1 =5 +1 =

then I, II, III, IV,V are the fragment of the present (which you could see as the =) and time is the +1 which makes everything happen:
an object to move
the 'seconds' arrow to tik
the planets to travel

if you stop time (take out the +1) then everything would stop waiting for the +1 to happen
if you go back in time (make it a -1) you are traveling back in the calculation history

eg.

V____IV____ ...
=5 -1 =4 -1 =

so time travel, to the future at least, is not about tricking the clock but about tricking the equation for it to do +1 around you much more often, while for you it continues at the same pace

--
tryed to put it down as good as i can - what do you think about it
M

Epicurean_Logic
Epicurean_Logic
12 years ago

@Guest

Entropy increases on a global scale; that is the universe will always get 'messier' overall.

On a local scale ordering can take place like the examples that you stated of our solar system, but overall things will always get more disorganised.

The theory goes that for a system like our solar system to self organise it must not be closed; that is energy is entering from without.

The matter that congeales and ignites to become our sun comes from without of the system. i.e. it is not closed at the point in time before the star ignites and matter pours in from the 'outside' universe.

April Hillyer
April Hillyer
12 years ago

I love this guys voice its very soothing. It's great to watch right before bed.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Apparently my confusion about entropy moving in one direction stems from the definition of entropy Cox gave in part one of this doc. He said that entropy was a measure of how many ways you could rearrange the parts of a whole and not change the whole, this is not exactly true. Entropy is the measure of usable energy in a closed system. The more usable energy you have the lower the state of entropy. Of course as time progresses everything cools and motion begins to slow and entropy increases as energy decreases. That makes perfect intuitive sense, he should have said that. Not that what he said was not true, just that it was somewhat misleading.

kirastianity
kirastianity
12 years ago

That was wonderful. Our universe is certainly magnificient. But I like to focus my attention on Earth, which is the planet where I live now and where I will die someday, according to the universe.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

They say in episode one that entropy is a constant and has always been. In other words we have been moving from order to chaos every since the universe came to be. But this couldn't have always been the case. It would seem to me that in the beginning it had to move from a less organized state to a more organized state, gas assembling into stars, dust and debris forming planets and whole solar systems, etc. I understand that once these stars and planets are created they immediately begin to decay back into their constituent parts, just as we begin to age and decay the second we are born. But for those stars and planets to form their constituent parts had to self assemble according to the laws of physics, is this not reverse entropy? Is this not the equivalent of the desert wind building a sand castle?
Now he did state that that very thing was possible, that no law in physics says the wind could not build a sand castle, only that it is very very unlikely. So does that statement not say that entropy does not always move in only one direction, that it is only much more likely that it will? If this is the case then entropy is not a constant, only the most likely outcome. In fact we can point to specific examples of entropy moving from a higher to a lower state, a solar system forming around a star would be a good example. Then again that same solar system will eventually decay back into that from whence it came, and this is entropy moving from a lower to a higher state. I suppose it strikes a balance in the end, each time it moves from a higher to a lower state it will eventually do just the opposite and undo what has been. Maybe that is the real constant, balance- For every action an equal and opposite reaction.
Anyway, Just a thought. This is a great series; I highly recommend it for anyone interested in cosmology or physics.

donnycutter19
donnycutter19
12 years ago

the final thought on episode 1 made me cry...my soul understood how amazing this experience was

hh0
hh0
12 years ago

This guy is the new and I must say better than Carl S. it is more than a doc its art.

Taras Moskvichov
Taras Moskvichov
12 years ago

I like him alot, but lets be honest, only a brit can walk through the desert with a jacket and sweater underneath it.

Jeremy Heil
Jeremy Heil
12 years ago

epic doc!

dallasAlice
dallasAlice
12 years ago

brian cox is a hot motherf*cker. what a dreamboat. nerds rule.

Fecioru Florin
Fecioru Florin
12 years ago

If you're looking for religion, try science.

leonardobdas
leonardobdas
12 years ago

He was able to catch my attention a bit better when he was not trying to pose like a master teacher... which he is not for the virtue of his youth. I rather prefer his shows that he is a bit more human and talks with you instead of telling you some truth with a funny voice.

My brain goes straight to david attenborough and other older figures and goes... this is a knock off! then I remember that not too long ago he was on a glam rock band...

Perhaps it is because all his shows have a similar formula and it is getting boring to me. perhaps it is the high cheek bones that makes him look like he is smiling all the time... haha

John Christopher McDonald
John Christopher McDonald
12 years ago

Thanks for sharing this! Excellent Documentary

Fareth Didwell
Fareth Didwell
12 years ago

I like this guy.. He has passion about the discipline he knows and hes studied all of his life! Hope he one day becomes a new Carl Sagan like figure.

Gary V
Gary V
12 years ago

Nice 1 prof Cox, I can't wait until next year for "Wonders of life" to be on TV. Superb.

TheSatyaYuga
TheSatyaYuga
12 years ago

I preferred Wonders of the Solar System but this was still extremely enjoyable, especially in HD. The series does well to explain the major theories in an accessible manner.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Great doc saw it before, don't mind watching again.

Top_Quark
Top_Quark
12 years ago

BBC documentaries are the best! this is another good one. Loved Ep2 'Stardust'. Indeed, we are all made of stars as Carl Sagan used to say.

Al
Al
12 years ago

Brian Cox is always a decent presenter =)

Bogdan
Bogdan
12 years ago

thx vlatko! u the man

Gary V
Gary V
12 years ago

Wow! Isn't Science amazing. We are all living in a time of amazing Scientific discovery & we are progressing faster & further than at any other time in Humanity. Just think how much further & faster we could progress if all the hundreds of millions of £'s that we waste on religion to perpetuate outdated ancient myths was used to advance our Scientific knowledge for the benefit of all of Humanity.

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Just finished watching part 1, beautiful cinematography, nice easter present, beats chocolat!
Cute smart cookie too!

We needed to be able to see to come up with understanding our universe, and from what we saw we shaped our reality. Is this it? What if we didn't have eyes?
Could it be that we got it all or will the yet unexisting civilization come up with a different comprehension?

On to the next....
az

0zyxcba1
0zyxcba1
12 years ago

I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years,
Driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow mov'd; in which the world
And all her train were hurl'd.

~ fragment from THE WORLD
by Welsh metaphysical poet,
Henry Vaughan (1622-1695)

Sieben Stern
Sieben Stern
12 years ago

He talks about such mind blowing, terrifying things... in such a lovely voice. I'm simultaneously scared and soothed.