He seems the most competent (and full-) Successor to Sagan's [Yes!..] perspicuity; can't think of any Science type extant, clearly superior.
Cosmos was ... Revelatory to many, IMO an unprecedented media-type event. Ex:
Some local friends from SF, who moved to the academic ghetto on my St... were biz-types; my connection:
their family had introduced me to Lieder, Bel Canto, obscure composers and much great music. (I fixed their HiFi.)
They had been pretty iggerant of basic stuff, and I'd introduced them to dealing with large numbers via 10n.
(Hey, from there: you can next de-mystify scary 'logarithms' etc.)
Anyone can do that level of 'exponentials', we see. If someone will just take 5 min. (And skip The Principia!)
Was pleasantly surprised at how much they retained--thanks mainly to Sagan's talent/conversational non-didactic speech (pre-'framing'?).
He might have incrementally increased the IQs of many, at the time. What's THAT 'worth'?
(I Ffrget the latest %Muricans who know if the Sun rotates about the Earth. In 2014, 45 yrs. after moon trips.)
Anticipating some Good Stuff from -Tyson. He had to fight the academics in his early years--no credit for his independent researches, ex-'school'.
(He despises the same aspects of Murican traditional education-theories as do I. And Will create some changes, I wot.)
In his Fresh Air/npr recent comments he described turning-down an offer to 'laud' his early training at school X. Said flatly
~~ You wouldn't Like what I would say about That! Loved. It.
Serendipity: My 2nd summer in NY (Queens) I hung out at the Hayden a lot, too. Still have my small circular 400 yr. calendar from there. Circular slide-rule.
(My Mater, Aunt never grokked the extent of my excursions on the BMT, IRT and Independent subways
--but did (knowingly) 'let me go' alone in evenings to the Goldman Band concerts in Central Park.)
Imagine letting a 9 yo do the same today.. :-/ (We suck in so Many ways, in terms of Real-non-$$-life.)
Dunno if you ever saw Cosmos 'live': did you?