Astronomy book and documentary recommendations

ScottStorm wrote: »

I'll definitely have a look at those, anybody read any of Carl Sagan's books?

I have read them all and they are fantastic. Not really about astronomy but rather Cosmology.
Cosmos - Sagan's best-known work, Cosmos takes you through the past, present, and future of science. It is a sort of bible of where we've been and where we're headed.

The Dragons of Eden - is an excellent examination of the human mind. It traces the development of human intelligence and the function of many of our myths and legends.

Pale Blue Dot - Sagan mixes science and philosophy into a journey through the solar system and recounts the many startling scientific findings of the past few decades.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors - Sagan travels back in evolutionary time a billion years and then bring us forward to explore the origins of the human species.

Billions and Billions - Sagan's final book, which is in fact a collection of essays that was published posthumously. It covers a variety of subjects.

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - My favourite! Sagan takes you on a fascinating trip through the world of pseudoscience. Exploring UFO stories, alien abductions, faith healing, religious extremism, and other mysterious phenomena, he debunks the world of mystical beliefs and defends science as a means of explaining the world in which we live. He equips you with a "baloney detection kit" that will help you think through the many political, social, and religious issues you encounter in daily life.

He has many other books well worth reading. Alos there is the DVD series Cosmos which is just fantastic and available from Amazon, ebay etc.

A life changing series, relevent as much today as it was in 1980.

Carl Sagan was a legend and the world is a much poorer place since he died.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE9dEAx5Sgw