This morning, I recommended Elegant Universe, a documentary that explains, in terms that non-physicists can understand, one theoretical exploration of the building blocks of being. As a follow-up this afternoon, I recommend a publication that communicates recent scientific research in the context of cultural issues with worldwide importance.
The publication is Cosmos Magazine, an Australian creation which purports to cover “the science of everything”. That’s what the Cosmos is: Everything, including Britney Spears, French cuisine, the Andromeda Galaxy and the molten iron-nickel core of the Earth. Of course, no magazine can cover more than a sample of everything, and any sample of something as large as everything is likely to be quite unrepresentative. Forgive the magazine’s hubris, though, because the sample that it brings is quite interesting. The editors of Cosmos is intended to examine “science as natural part of culture, covering it from many angles: art, design, travel, interviews, humour, history and opinion”.
At a time when popular and political culture focuses so heavily on the seductive simplicity of believing whatever makes us feel good, the world needs more magazines like Cosmos, which starts with the idea that clear thinking and accurate information are the best foundation for a fulfilling existence in a universe which still remains mostly unexplored.
This current issue of Cosmos focuses on Green matters: The science of the Earth’s biosphere, and how human-produced changes in it are effecting human and non-human life alike. Given how little we know about whether any other planet in the entire Cosmos could ever be inhabitable for us, Earth’s environmental degradation is a cultural matter well worth attending to. Check it out.
