Symphony of Science
Encyclopedia
The Symphony of Science is a music project created by Washington-based electronic musician
John Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected
audio and video samples from television programs featuring popular scientists and educators. The audio and video clips are mixed into digital mashup
s and scored with Boswell's original compositions. Two of Boswell's music videos, "A Glorious Dawn" and "We are All Connected", feature appearances from Carl Sagan
, Richard Feynman
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
, Bill Nye
, and Stephen Hawking
. The audio and video is sampled from popular science television shows including Cosmos
, The Universe
, The Eyes of Nye
, The Elegant Universe
, and Stephen Hawking's Universe
.
Unruly Media, a viral video tracking service, first charted "A Glorious Dawn" on September 21, 2009. A month later, the video had received more than a million views and was ranked in the music category on YouTube
as one of the top rated videos of all time. On November 9, 2009, Third Man Records
released a 7-inch single of "A Glorious Dawn" for the 75th anniversary of the birth of Carl Sagan
.
Composer John Boswell had been experimenting with sampling and remixing for some time before creating his first YouTube
videos. Boswell had worked with Auto-Tune
in the past and thought people might be interested in hearing American astronomer Carl Sagan sing. He first saw Cosmos in 2004 and soon after bought the set of DVDs. Boswell looked through these episodes for "profound quotes" that lacked music in the background. Once he found these quotes, Boswell Auto-Tuned Sagan's voice and picked from the best ones. After completing what became "A Glorious Dawn", Boswell posted the video on YouTube in September 2009 and to his surprise, the video went viral within a week. To date, the video has received more than five million views and is ranked as one of the top rated videos of all time in the music category.
John Boswell attended Gonzaga Preparatory School
and graduated from college with a degree in economics. Soon after, Boswell started Colorpulse, an electronica
music project, and began to focus on production. Boswell lives in Bellingham, Washington
. His current music project, Symphony of Science, "aims to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes" and to "deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form". After his first few videos, Boswell began seeking permission to use the clips he uses in his project.
and Stephen Hawking
. Samples include clips from Cosmos
(1980) and Stephen Hawking's Universe
(1997). On September 21, 2009, Unruly Media, a viral video tracking service, began to chart the popularity of the video. At the end of the first week of October, the video had received 800,000 views and, by the end of the month, more than a million. By the end of 2010, the video had surpassed 5 million views.
The title takes its name from the chorus spoken by Carl Sagan, remixed from an episode of Cosmos:
Third Man Records
released a 7-inch recording of "A Glorious Dawn" on November 9, 2009, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the birth of Carl Sagan
. The one-sided single was created by United Record Pressing in a unique "Cosmos Colored Vinyl", limited pressing of 150 copies; it was then re-pressed on regular vinyl in a larger run. The flipside is etched with a copy of the diagram found on the Voyager Golden Record
.
The second video in the series is 4 minutes, 12 seconds in length and features Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
, and Bill Nye
. Audio and video samples are taken from The History Channel's Universe series, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, interviews with Richard Feynman in 1983, Neil deGrasse Tyson
's cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye's The Eyes of Nye
series. Additional visuals come from NOVA's The Elegant Universe
, Stephen Hawking's Universe, and Cosmos, among others. On January 23, 2010, the video was shown at the South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Church in Long Island NY, as part of a youth-directed service. The video has been used in other churches and classrooms.
The title comes from the chorus spoken by Neil deGrasse Tyson and remixed by Boswell:
, Michio Kaku
, and Robert Jastrow
. Samples were taken from Cosmos, Genius of Charles Darwin, a TED talk, Stephen Hawking's Universe, interviews and visuals from Baraka
and Koyaanisqatsi
, History Channel's Universe series, and Cosmic Voyage
.
The title comes from words spoken by Carl Sagan and remixed by Boswell:
The fourth video in the series is 4 minutes in length and was released on January 6, 2010. "The Unbroken Thread" is themed around biology
and evolution
rather than the cosmos, and features Carl Sagan, David Attenborough
, and Jane Goodall
.
The video uses clips from Cosmos, several David Attenborough documentaries (Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
, The Life of Mammals
, The Living Planet
, and BBC Life), XVIVO Scientific Animations, IMAX Cosmic Voyage, Jane Goodall's TED Talk, and a Guinness
commercial.
The title comes from Sagan's Cosmos, and features in the refrain:
, Feynman
, Dawkins
, Brian Greene
, Stephen Hawking
, PZ Myers
, Lawrence Krauss, Michael Shermer
, and deGrasse Tyson
- to explain and promote science, its process, and its benefits. It uses clips from many sources, including Cosmos and The Genius of Charles Darwin.
The chorus in this piece is sung by Dawkins and Sagan:
. It features Sagan
, Robert Zubrin
, Brian Cox
, and Penelope Boston
, and it features clips from The Mars Underground (2007), Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and Wonders of the Solar System. The title of this song stems from Zubrin's book The Case For Mars
.
The chorus is sung by Sagan and Cox:
, Bertrand Russell
, Sam Harris
, Michael Shermer
, Lawrence Krauss, Carolyn Porco
, Richard Dawkins
, Richard Feynman
, Phil Plait, and James Randi
. It is intended to promote scientific reasoning and skepticism in the face of growing amounts of pseudoscientific pursuits, such as Astrology
and Homeopathy
, and also to "promote the scientific worldview as equally enlightening as religion
." The chorus is sung by Dawkins, except for the last line which is Phil Plait's:
"The Big Beginning" is the eighth installment in the Symphony of Science music video series, released on January 20, 2011. It deals with the origins of our universe, covering the Big Bang theory, expansion and cooling of the universe, formation of galaxies, the interplay between matter and anti-matter, and cosmic radiation. The music video features Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan, Tara Shears, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. Videos sampled for this installment include Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking
; God, the Universe, and Everything Else; The Universe
on The History Channel; NOVA scienceNOW
; interviews with Richard Dawkins and Tara Shears; and Carl Sagan's Cosmos. There is no clear chorus, but two quotes from Hawking and Dawkins come back several times:
"Ode to the Brain" is the ninth episode in the Symphony of Science series about the brain
including its evolution
, folding, and neuron networks
. It features Carl Sagan
, Robert Winston
, Vilayanur Ramachandran
, Jill Bolte Taylor
, Bill Nye
and Oliver Sacks
. It features clips from Carl Sagan's Cosmos
, BBC's The Human Body
, Discovery Channel's Human Body: Pushing the Limits
and various TED Talks
. It was released on March 23, 2011.
The chorus is sung by Taylor:
, through the conquest of Europe from the Neanderthals to the space age. It features Alice Roberts
, Jacob Bronowski
, Carolyn Porco
, Jane Goodall
, Robert Sapolsky
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
and David Attenborough
. Programs sampled for this installment include Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man
, Alice Roberts' The Incredible Human Journey
, along with BBC
documentaries Life of Mammals, Walking With Cavemen
, and Human Planet
. The refrain is sung by Carolyn Porco:
, through "a musical investigation into the nature of atoms and subatomic particles." It features Morgan Freeman
, Stephen Hawking
, Michio Kaku
, Brian Cox
, Richard Feynman
, and Frank Close
. Programs sampled for this installment include Richard Feynman's Fun to Imagine, Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole
, Brian Cox's TED Talk
, along with BBC
documentaries Visions of the Future
, What Time is it, Wonders of the Universe
, and What Is Reality. The refrain is sung by Cox:
, Brian Cox
, and Carolyn Porco
. Programs sampled for this installment include Wonders of the Solar System, My Favorite Universe, A Traveler's Guide to the Planets, and Carolyn Porco's TED Talk
. The refrain is sung by Tyson:
science show Bang Goes the Theory
, it nevertheless uses the same formula of pitch correction
of spoken words over an original music track. It celebrates the tantalising questions that science throws up, as well as being an entertaining showreel for the show itself. In addition to the four presenters - Liz Bonnin
, Dallas Campbell
, Jem Stansfield
, and Yan Wong - there are guest spots for Jim Al-Khalili
and Tara Shears. The clips are all taken from the TV show or its website.
The chorus is sung by Yan Wong:
You can watch the Symphony of Bang video on YouTube
.
found the idea behind Symphony of Science "quite beautiful and amazing in both its sincerity and aims". She also enjoyed the "hip-hop stylings" of the camera angle on Bill Nye while he is moving his hands around and expressing himself on "We Are All Connected". Writer Nick Sagan
, son of Carl Sagan, was impressed with "A Glorious Dawn", giving it a favorable review and stamp of approval. Sagan writes, "John Boswell over at Colorpulse Music is a mad genius, sampling both Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series into three minutes and thirty-four seconds of pure, concentrated awesomeness... Love it, love it, love it. Dad would have loved it, too."
Columnist Franklin Harris argues that Boswell's videos show that science can arouse the minds of artists just as much as religion and mythology have in the past. Harris calls the videos "art for the Information Age, inspired by science".
New Music Transmission, a podcast who featured Symphony of Science in 2009, gave "A Glorious Dawn" positive reviews and called Symphony of Science as "A thinking man's Pogo", referring to the Australian electro artist who was featured 2 weeks before.
Electronic musician
An electronic musician is a musician who composes or plays music from synthetic sounds generated with synthesizers, samplers, drum machines or music sequencers....
John Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected
Pitch correction
Pitch correction is the process of correcting the intonation of an audio signal without affecting other aspects of its sound. Pitch correction first detects the pitch of an audio signal , then calculates the desired change and modifies the audio signal accordingly...
audio and video samples from television programs featuring popular scientists and educators. The audio and video clips are mixed into digital mashup
Mashup (digital)
A digital mashup usually is in reference to:1. Digital media content containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video and animation drawn from pre-existing sources, to create a new derivative work...
s and scored with Boswell's original compositions. Two of Boswell's music videos, "A Glorious Dawn" and "We are All Connected", feature appearances from Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
, Bill Nye
Bill Nye
William Sanford "Bill" Nye , popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist...
, and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
. The audio and video is sampled from popular science television shows including Cosmos
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
, The Universe
The Universe (TV series)
The Universe is an American documentary television series that features computer-generated imagery and computer graphics of astronomical objects in the universe plus interviews with experts who study in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, and astrophysics...
, The Eyes of Nye
The Eyes of Nye
The Eyes of Nye is a science program airing on public television in the United States in 2005 and featuring Bill Nye. The show was more sophisticated than its predecessor Bill Nye the Science Guy, as it was aimed more toward adults and teenagers than children. All episodes were rated TV-G, except...
, The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory is a book by Brian Greene published in 1999, which introduces string and superstring theory, and provides a comprehensive though non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings...
, and Stephen Hawking's Universe
Stephen Hawking's Universe
Stephen Hawking's Universe is an astronomical documentary from 1997 made for the Public Broadcasting Service featuring the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking...
.
Unruly Media, a viral video tracking service, first charted "A Glorious Dawn" on September 21, 2009. A month later, the video had received more than a million views and was ranked in the music category on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
as one of the top rated videos of all time. On November 9, 2009, Third Man Records
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded...
released a 7-inch single of "A Glorious Dawn" for the 75th anniversary of the birth of Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
.
John Boswell
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
videos. Boswell had worked with Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
in the past and thought people might be interested in hearing American astronomer Carl Sagan sing. He first saw Cosmos in 2004 and soon after bought the set of DVDs. Boswell looked through these episodes for "profound quotes" that lacked music in the background. Once he found these quotes, Boswell Auto-Tuned Sagan's voice and picked from the best ones. After completing what became "A Glorious Dawn", Boswell posted the video on YouTube in September 2009 and to his surprise, the video went viral within a week. To date, the video has received more than five million views and is ranked as one of the top rated videos of all time in the music category.
John Boswell attended Gonzaga Preparatory School
Gonzaga Preparatory School
Gonzaga Preparatory School located in Spokane, Washington is a private Catholic high school in the Inland Northwest. As a Jesuit institution, "G-Prep" has been recognized for its college preparation education, and community service.- History :...
and graduated from college with a degree in economics. Soon after, Boswell started Colorpulse, an electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
music project, and began to focus on production. Boswell lives in Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
. His current music project, Symphony of Science, "aims to spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes" and to "deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form". After his first few videos, Boswell began seeking permission to use the clips he uses in his project.
A Glorious Dawn
Boswell's first video in the Symphony of Science series is 3 minutes, 34 seconds long and features Carl SaganCarl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
and Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
. Samples include clips from Cosmos
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
(1980) and Stephen Hawking's Universe
Stephen Hawking's Universe
Stephen Hawking's Universe is an astronomical documentary from 1997 made for the Public Broadcasting Service featuring the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking...
(1997). On September 21, 2009, Unruly Media, a viral video tracking service, began to chart the popularity of the video. At the end of the first week of October, the video had received 800,000 views and, by the end of the month, more than a million. By the end of 2010, the video had surpassed 5 million views.
The title takes its name from the chorus spoken by Carl Sagan, remixed from an episode of Cosmos:
- A still more glorious dawn awaits
- Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
- A morning filled with 400 billion suns
- The rising of the milky way
Third Man Records
Third Man Records
Third Man Records is an independent record label founded by Jack White in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001. Third Man established its first physical location — a combination record store, performance venue, and headquarters for the label — in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2009.-History:Jack White founded...
released a 7-inch recording of "A Glorious Dawn" on November 9, 2009, in honor of the 75th anniversary of the birth of Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
. The one-sided single was created by United Record Pressing in a unique "Cosmos Colored Vinyl", limited pressing of 150 copies; it was then re-pressed on regular vinyl in a larger run. The flipside is etched with a copy of the diagram found on the Voyager Golden Record
Voyager Golden Record
The Voyager Golden Records are phonograph records which were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft, which were launched in 1977. They contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or for...
.
We Are All Connected
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
, and Bill Nye
Bill Nye
William Sanford "Bill" Nye , popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist...
. Audio and video samples are taken from The History Channel's Universe series, Carl Sagan's Cosmos, interviews with Richard Feynman in 1983, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
's cosmic sermon, and Bill Nye's The Eyes of Nye
The Eyes of Nye
The Eyes of Nye is a science program airing on public television in the United States in 2005 and featuring Bill Nye. The show was more sophisticated than its predecessor Bill Nye the Science Guy, as it was aimed more toward adults and teenagers than children. All episodes were rated TV-G, except...
series. Additional visuals come from NOVA's The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory is a book by Brian Greene published in 1999, which introduces string and superstring theory, and provides a comprehensive though non-technical assessment of the theory and some of its shortcomings...
, Stephen Hawking's Universe, and Cosmos, among others. On January 23, 2010, the video was shown at the South Nassau Unitarian Universalist Church in Long Island NY, as part of a youth-directed service. The video has been used in other churches and classrooms.
The title comes from the chorus spoken by Neil deGrasse Tyson and remixed by Boswell:
- We are all connected
- To each other, biologically
- To the earth, chemically
- To the rest of the universe atomically
Our Place in the Cosmos
The third video in the series is 4 minutes, 21 seconds in length and was released on November 23, 2009. "Our Place in the Cosmos" features Carl Sagan, Richard DawkinsRichard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Michio Kaku
Michio Kaku
is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
, and Robert Jastrow
Robert Jastrow
Robert Jastrow was an American astronomer, physicist and cosmologist. He was a leading NASA scientist, populist author and futurist.- Biography :...
. Samples were taken from Cosmos, Genius of Charles Darwin, a TED talk, Stephen Hawking's Universe, interviews and visuals from Baraka
Baraka
Baraka means blessing in Hebrew, Arabic and Arabic-influenced languages. It may refer to:* Baraka, also berakhah, in Judaism, a blessing usually recited during a ceremony...
and Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi
Koyaanisqatsi also known as Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 film directed by Godfrey Reggio with music composed by Philip Glass and cinematography by Ron Fricke....
, History Channel's Universe series, and Cosmic Voyage
Cosmic Voyage
Cosmic Voyage is a 1996 short documentary produced in the IMAX format, directed by Bayley Silleck, produced by Jeffrey Marvin, and narrated by Morgan Freeman. The film was presented by the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum,...
.
The title comes from words spoken by Carl Sagan and remixed by Boswell:
- The exploration of the cosmos
- Is a voyage of self discovery
- As long as there have been humans
- We have searched for our place in the cosmos
The Unbroken Thread
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
rather than the cosmos, and features Carl Sagan, David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
, and Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
.
The video uses clips from Cosmos, several David Attenborough documentaries (Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life
Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life is a 2009 television documentary about Charles Darwin and his revolutionary theory of evolution through natural selection, produced by the BBC to mark the bicentenary of Darwin's birth. It is part of the BBC Darwin Season...
, The Life of Mammals
The Life of Mammals
The Life of Mammals is a nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 20 November 2002....
, The Living Planet
The Living Planet
The Living Planet: A Portrait of the Earth is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 19 January 1984....
, and BBC Life), XVIVO Scientific Animations, IMAX Cosmic Voyage, Jane Goodall's TED Talk, and a Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
commercial.
The title comes from Sagan's Cosmos, and features in the refrain:
- The secrets of evolution
- Are time and death
- There's an unbroken thread that stretches
- From those first cells to us
The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)
The fifth installment uses clips from various prominent scientists and speakers - including SaganCarl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Brian Greene
Brian Greene
Brian Greene is an American theoretical physicist and string theorist. He has been a professor at Columbia University since 1996. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi-Yau manifolds...
, Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, PZ Myers
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...
, Lawrence Krauss, Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members...
, and deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
- to explain and promote science, its process, and its benefits. It uses clips from many sources, including Cosmos and The Genius of Charles Darwin.
The chorus in this piece is sung by Dawkins and Sagan:
- There's real poetry in the real world
- Science is the poetry of reality
- We can do science and with it
- We can improve our lives
The Case for Mars
The sixth installment is about the colonization of MarsColonization of Mars
The colonization of Mars by humans is the focus of speculation and serious study because the surface conditions and availability of water on Mars make it arguably the most hospitable planet in the solar system other than Earth...
. It features Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct—a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission...
, Brian Cox
Brian Cox (physicist)
Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...
, and Penelope Boston
Penelope Boston
Penelope J. Boston is a speleologist. She is associate director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institutein Carlsbad, New Mexico, and founder and director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro...
, and it features clips from The Mars Underground (2007), Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, and Wonders of the Solar System. The title of this song stems from Zubrin's book The Case For Mars
The Case For Mars
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996....
.
The chorus is sung by Sagan and Cox:
- Mars is a world of wonders
- It has canyons, river valleys,
- and giant ice sheets
A Wave of Reason
The seventh installment, released on November 23, 2010, is about reasoning and skepticism. It features Carl SaganCarl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
, Sam Harris
Sam Harris (author)
Sam Harris is an American author, and neuroscientist, as well as the co-founder and current CEO of Project Reason. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University, before receiving a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA...
, Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims. The Skeptics Society currently has over 55,000 members...
, Lawrence Krauss, Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porco is an American planetary scientist known for her work in the exploration of the outer solar system, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission currently in...
, Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
, Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, Phil Plait, and James Randi
James Randi
James Randi is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation...
. It is intended to promote scientific reasoning and skepticism in the face of growing amounts of pseudoscientific pursuits, such as Astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
and Homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, and also to "promote the scientific worldview as equally enlightening as religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
." The chorus is sung by Dawkins, except for the last line which is Phil Plait's:
- There is a new wave of reason
- Sweeping across America, Britain, Europe, Australia
- South America, the Middle East and Africa
- There is a new wave of reason
- Where superstition had a firm hold
- Teach a man to reason, and he'll think for a lifetime
The Big Beginning
Into The Universe with Stephen Hawking
Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking is a 2010 science documentary television mini-series written by British physicist Stephen Hawking. The series was created for Discovery Channel by Darlow Smithson Productions and features computer generated imagery of the universe created by Red Vision...
; God, the Universe, and Everything Else; The Universe
The Universe (TV series)
The Universe is an American documentary television series that features computer-generated imagery and computer graphics of astronomical objects in the universe plus interviews with experts who study in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, and astrophysics...
on The History Channel; NOVA scienceNOW
NOVA scienceNOW
NOVA scienceNOW is a newsmagazine version of the long running and venerable PBS science program Nova. Premiering on January 25, 2005, the series was originally hosted by Robert Krulwich, who described it as an experiment in coverage of "breaking science, science that's right out of the lab, science...
; interviews with Richard Dawkins and Tara Shears; and Carl Sagan's Cosmos. There is no clear chorus, but two quotes from Hawking and Dawkins come back several times:
- [Hawking] It was the beginning of the universe, and of time itself
- [Dawkins] Science is opening your eyes, to the poetry of the expanding universe
Ode to the Brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
including its evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
, folding, and neuron networks
Biological neural network
In neuroscience, a biological neural network describes a population of physically interconnected neurons or a group of disparate neurons whose inputs or signalling targets define a recognizable circuit. Communication between neurons often involves an electrochemical process...
. It features Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Robert Winston
Robert Winston
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...
, Vilayanur Ramachandran
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran
Vilayanur Subramanian "Rama" Ramachandran, born 1951, is a neuroscientist known for his work in the fields of behavioral neurology and visual psychophysics...
, Jill Bolte Taylor
Jill Bolte Taylor
Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. She is affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine and is the national spokesperson for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource Center...
, Bill Nye
Bill Nye
William Sanford "Bill" Nye , popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, mechanical engineer, and scientist...
and Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
. It features clips from Carl Sagan's Cosmos
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David...
, BBC's The Human Body
The Human Body (TV series)
The Human Body is a seven part documentary series, first shown on 20 May 1998 on BBC One and presented by medical scientist Robert Winston. A co-production between the BBC and The Learning Channel, the series looks at the mechanics and emotions of the human body from birth to death.The series was...
, Discovery Channel's Human Body: Pushing the Limits
Human Body: Pushing the Limits
Human Body: Pushing the Limits, is a television program that premiered on the Discovery Channel on March 2, 2008 in North America. Titles in this series include "Strength", "Sight", "Brainpower", and "Sensation"....
and various TED Talks
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
. It was released on March 23, 2011.
The chorus is sung by Taylor:
- Information in the form of energy
- Streams in simultaneously
- Through all of our sensory systems
- And then it explodes into this enormous collage
- Of what this present moment looks like
- What it feels like
- And what it sounds like
- And then it explodes into this enormous collage
- And in this moment we are perfect
- We are whole and we are beautiful
Children of Africa (The Story of Us)
"Children of Africa" is the tenth installment of the Symphony of Science series, released on July 6, 2011. It deals with the cultural evolution of humans from their origins in AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, through the conquest of Europe from the Neanderthals to the space age. It features Alice Roberts
Alice Roberts
Alice May Roberts is an English anatomist, osteoarchaeologist, anthropologist, television presenter, and author.Best known for her TV appearances in the BBC series Coast, Dr Alice Roberts: Don't Die Young, and The Incredible Human Journey, she has also appeared as an expert osteoarchaeologist on...
, Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-Jewish British mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor...
, Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porco is an American planetary scientist known for her work in the exploration of the outer solar system, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission currently in...
, Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
, Robert Sapolsky
Robert Sapolsky
Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American scientist and author. He is currently Professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the National Museums of...
, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
and David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
. Programs sampled for this installment include Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski...
, Alice Roberts' The Incredible Human Journey
The Incredible Human Journey
The Incredible Human Journey is a five-episode science documentary and accompanying book, written and presented by Alice Roberts. It was first broadcast on BBC television in May and June 2009 in the UK. It explains the evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently...
, along with BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentaries Life of Mammals, Walking With Cavemen
Walking with Cavemen
Walking with Cavemen is a four-part television documentary series about human evolution produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom. It was originally released in April 2003. It was subsequently presented in the United States as a two-part series by the Discovery Channel and its affiliates...
, and Human Planet
Human Planet
Human Planet is an 8-part British television documentary series. It is produced by the BBC with co-production from Discovery and BBC Worldwide...
. The refrain is sung by Carolyn Porco:
- These beings with soaring imagination
- Eventually flung themselves and their machines
- Into interplanetary space
The Quantum World
"The Quantum World" is the eleventh installment of the Symphony of Science series, released on September 6, 2011. It deals with the bizarre discoveries made in the field of quantum mechanicsQuantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
, through "a musical investigation into the nature of atoms and subatomic particles." It features Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
, Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking
Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...
, Michio Kaku
Michio Kaku
is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science...
, Brian Cox
Brian Cox
Brian Denis Cox, CBE is a Scottish actor. He is known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He has also appeared in many Hollywood productions playing parts such as Dr. Guggenheim in Rushmore and William Stryker in X2: X-Men...
, Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, and Frank Close
Frank Close
Francis Edwin Close OBE is a noted particle physicist who is currently Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford.-Early life:...
. Programs sampled for this installment include Richard Feynman's Fun to Imagine, Morgan Freeman's Through the Wormhole
Through the Wormhole
Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman is an American science documentary television series narrated by American actor Morgan Freeman. It began airing on Science in the United States on June 9, 2010.- Development :...
, Brian Cox's TED Talk
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
, along with BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentaries Visions of the Future
Visions of the Future
Visions of the Future is a 2007 documentary television series aired on the BBC Four television channel. The series stars theoretical physicist and futurist Dr Michio Kaku as he documents cutting edge science....
, What Time is it, Wonders of the Universe
Wonders of the Universe
Wonders of the Universe is a 2011 television series produced by the BBC, Discovery Channel, and Science Channel, hosted by physicist Professor Brian Cox. Wonders of the Universe was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC 2 from 6 March 2011. The series comprises four episodes, each of which...
, and What Is Reality. The refrain is sung by Cox:
- The universe is made of
- Twelve particles of matter
- Four forces of nature
- That's a wonderful and significant story
Onward to the Edge
"Onward to the Edge," "a musical investigation into the importance and inspirational qualities of space exploration (human and robotic), as well as a look at some of the amazing worlds in our solar system," is the twelfth installment of the Symphony of Science series, released on November 9, 2011. It features Neil deGrasse TysonNeil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, a science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History...
, Brian Cox
Brian Cox
Brian Denis Cox, CBE is a Scottish actor. He is known for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. He has also appeared in many Hollywood productions playing parts such as Dr. Guggenheim in Rushmore and William Stryker in X2: X-Men...
, and Carolyn Porco
Carolyn Porco
Carolyn C. Porco is an American planetary scientist known for her work in the exploration of the outer solar system, beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s. She leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission currently in...
. Programs sampled for this installment include Wonders of the Solar System, My Favorite Universe, A Traveler's Guide to the Planets, and Carolyn Porco's TED Talk
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
. The refrain is sung by Tyson:
- Onward to the edge
- We're moving onward to the edge
- Here we are together
- This fragile little world
Symphony of Bang Goes The Theory
Not strictly part of the Symphony of Science series as this was made for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
science show Bang Goes the Theory
Bang Goes the Theory
Bang Goes the Theory is a British television science magazine series, co-produced by the BBC and the Open University, that began on 27 July 2009 on BBC One. Presented by Liz Bonnin, Jem Stansfield, Dallas Campbell and Dr...
, it nevertheless uses the same formula of pitch correction
Pitch correction
Pitch correction is the process of correcting the intonation of an audio signal without affecting other aspects of its sound. Pitch correction first detects the pitch of an audio signal , then calculates the desired change and modifies the audio signal accordingly...
of spoken words over an original music track. It celebrates the tantalising questions that science throws up, as well as being an entertaining showreel for the show itself. In addition to the four presenters - Liz Bonnin
Liz Bonnin
Liz Bonnin is a French television presenter who has worked on television in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. She currently works for the BBC.-Biography:...
, Dallas Campbell
Dallas Campbell
Dallas Campbell is a British television presenter and television and stage actor. His acting credits include Spender, A Touch of Frost, Family Affairs, Casualty and Holby City...
, Jem Stansfield
Jem Stansfield
Jem Stansfield is an inventor and television presenter, currently working in the United Kingdom. He has appeared on Scrapheap Challenge , Science Shack , Home On Their Own , Zero to Hero , Men in White , Bang Goes the Theory , Wild Thing I Love You , and Planet Mechanics Jem Stansfield is an...
, and Yan Wong - there are guest spots for Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili OBE is an Iraqi-born British theoretical physicist, author and science communicator. He is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Chair in the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Surrey...
and Tara Shears. The clips are all taken from the TV show or its website.
The chorus is sung by Yan Wong:
- The more questions you answer
- The more you find there is to investigate
- And the more questions you pose
- And that's the beauty of science
You can watch the Symphony of Bang video on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Reviews
Musician Carrie BrownsteinCarrie Brownstein
Carrie Rachel Brownstein , is an American musician, writer, and actress, best known as a guitarist and vocalist in the now-defunct Portland, Oregon-based band Sleater-Kinney...
found the idea behind Symphony of Science "quite beautiful and amazing in both its sincerity and aims". She also enjoyed the "hip-hop stylings" of the camera angle on Bill Nye while he is moving his hands around and expressing himself on "We Are All Connected". Writer Nick Sagan
Nick Sagan
Nick Sagan is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the science fiction novels Idlewild, Edenborn, and Everfree, and his screen credits include episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager...
, son of Carl Sagan, was impressed with "A Glorious Dawn", giving it a favorable review and stamp of approval. Sagan writes, "John Boswell over at Colorpulse Music is a mad genius, sampling both Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series into three minutes and thirty-four seconds of pure, concentrated awesomeness... Love it, love it, love it. Dad would have loved it, too."
Columnist Franklin Harris argues that Boswell's videos show that science can arouse the minds of artists just as much as religion and mythology have in the past. Harris calls the videos "art for the Information Age, inspired by science".
New Music Transmission, a podcast who featured Symphony of Science in 2009, gave "A Glorious Dawn" positive reviews and called Symphony of Science as "A thinking man's Pogo", referring to the Australian electro artist who was featured 2 weeks before.