Watch Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

Bill Bryson explains the universe, the atom and the dinosaurs as if to a friend in a pub.

John Harrison's clocks solve the problem that sank ships; Dava Sobel's short classic.

Cousteau’s Conshelf II: six men living for a month in a steel house on the floor of the Red Sea.

A fictional entomologist argues that insects will inherit the earth, over real macro photography that makes the case.

Darwin's one long argument for natural selection, still readable.

Rachel Carson on DDT and the birds that stopped singing; the book that started environmentalism.

Kuhn's paradigm shifts; the book that gave the phrase to everyone.

Sagan's book of the series: the pale blue dot before the photo and the cosmic calendar.