America’s faltering education system is no secret, and results of various international exams have shown that American students are falling behind students in other countries, specifically in math and science. Pouring money into pre-K systems and federal financial aid funding, as President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal suggests, is a reasonable way to approach an apparent lack of support for quantitative studies, but sparking a conversation about science in households across the country will help to once again refocus the country on innovation. Fox’s “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” is initiating that spark and can incite eagerness to participate in scientific inquiry. If the United States hopes to remain a global authority in academia, it must embrace science or risk stagnation.
“Cosmos” focuses on discoveries in space, building on those outlined by Carl Sagan in the original series from 1980. The first episode of the 13-part series aired Sunday after a big marketing push. It seems Fox’s preemptive rallying was warranted. The show is a spectacle of computer-generated imagery, as enjoyable an aesthetic masterpiece as it is an educational one. That is what makes “Cosmos” special — it appeals to the brain in its entirety, supplementing the scientific reason so many students find boring with sights that cannot be ignored.
The show’s narrative arc is easy to track, making the complicated subject matter manageable. As educational as “Cosmos” is, it most effectively serves as a call to action, a reminder that NASA funding is not superfluous and that science spending cannot remain low. On average, U.S. students lag behind their Asian counterparts in science and math, and the educational divide between the two is only widening. Now is the time to enhance science programs in America.
“Cosmos” opens with an introduction by President Barack Obama that emphasizes the show’s significance. He concludes on an encouraging note: “There are no limits. So open your eyes and open your imagination. The next great discovery could be yours.” His words echo the purpose of the show — to ignite passion for science and math among millennials. Global progress, technological or societal, is dependent on continuous discovery.
Complacency is the most dangerous adversary of innovation, and the United States is in serious risk of succumbing to comfortable self-congratulation over previous American scientific discoveries. If our government continues to shirk its responsibilities to our young men and women, discovery will be limited by the ceiling of insufficient funding and attention. “Cosmos” is a beautifully told, colorful first step toward the fulfillment of Obama’s goal. More importantly, it hints at a refocusing on education in America. There are 12 episodes remaining. Don’t miss out.
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, March 11 print edition. Omar Etman is a deputy opinion editor. Omar’s Oration is published every Tuesday. Email him at [email protected].
