Popularizers of science borrow religion’s ancient tools of awe, reverence, and wonder to pitch to a younger generation that has largely abandoned organized religion, but still yearns for deeper meaning. As a result, a documentary series that offers the most popular modern introduction to the science of cosmology is at once “prophecy,” “revelation” and “a worldview,“ just like classical religion, according to Anthony Nairn, a University of Toronto graduate student in the history and philosophy of science. “Cosmos created a narrative of science, not about facts and figures, but something that placed the human story as a deep component of the cosmos,” Nairn said. “By implementing a religious-like story, Cosmos is enchanting science. This reflects a larger movement taking shape across Western North America to enchant science and its education, which, in young social circles, dismisses religion, yet hungers for meaning and purpose,” he writes.