The Best TV Shows on Science

Every Science Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Science has over 20 shows broadcast from as early as 1999 and as recent as 2020. Premiering in 1999 and 2001, When Dinosaurs Ruled and How It's Made are among Science’s most celebrated shows. Our curated list, current as of February 2026, showcases over 20 of Science’s highest-rated series.

  • Ant Anstead Master Mechanic
    Ant Anstead Master Mechanic (2019)9.0

    Follow Ant Anstead as he uses donor cars, spare parts, and handmade components to hand-build a one-of-a-kind automotive build, an Alfa Romeo 158. Throughout the series, Ant will work with other master craftsmen, invite his friends and automotive personalities to the shop to collaborate and share expertise. Ant’s crowning achievement is to run his Alfa Romeo 158 at the Brick Yard in Indianapolis, the site of the US Grand Prix and the one race the 158 never entered and thus never had the chance to conquer.

  • How the Universe Works
    How the Universe Works (2010)8.3

    A users' guide to the cosmos, from the Big Bang to galaxies, stars, planets and moons: where did it all come from and how does it all fit together? A primer for anyone who has ever looked up at the night sky and wondered.

  • Secrets in the Ice
    Secrets in the Ice (2020)8.3

    Mysterious frozen lakes filled with bones, mummified bodies hanging from inside a glacier, and a 30,000-year-old virus frozen in ice brought back to life in a laboratory. In an all new Science Channel series, SECRETS IN THE ICE, experts and scientists are exposing dark secrets, forgotten treasures and lost relics from some of the coldest places on Earth. Using state of the art archaeological technologies and cutting-edge CGI animation, SECRETS IN THE ICE spotlights the mysteries that have been locked away in icy tombs all over the world for centuries. At the base of a massive glacier in Southern Greenland, Danish archeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient stone hut. Was this site the home to a Viking seer practicing black magic? In Siberia, archeologists have excavated a mummy with fantastical tattoos against the many warnings of locals. Have they uncovered buried treasure, or unleashed an ancient curse?

  • Strip the Cosmos
    Strip the Cosmos (2014)7.8

    Reveals worlds never seen before; stunning CGI animation peels back the layers, revealing alien landscapes of fragile lava caves, roiling plasma seas, cosmic platinum mines, and the hungry black hole at the center of our galaxy – cosmological wonders that play a surprising role defining our place in the universe.

  • Prophets of Science Fiction
    Prophets of Science Fiction (2011)7.7

    The series covers the life and work of leading science fiction authors of the last couple of centuries. It depicts how they predicted and, accordingly, influenced the development of scientific advancements by inspiring many readers to assist in transforming those futuristic visions into everyday reality.

  • Building Giants
    Building Giants (2018)7.7

    This documentary series showcases how key technological innovations enable giant superstructures to be built. Footage filmed during construction along with CGI reveal the building process with astonishing detail.

  • How It's Made
    How It's Made (2001)7.6

    Have you ever wondered how the products you use every day are made? How It's Made leads you through the process of how everyday products, such as apple juice, skateboards, engines, contact lenses, and many more objects are manufactured.

  • Through the Wormhole
    Through the Wormhole (2010)7.6

    Hosted by Morgan Freeman, Through the Wormhole explores the deepest mysteries of existence - the questions that have puzzled mankind for eternity. What are we made of? What was there before the beginning? Are we really alone? Is there a creator? These questions have been pondered by the most exquisite minds of the human race. Now, science has evolved to the point where hard facts and evidence may be able to provide us with answers instead of philosophical theories. Through the Wormhole brings together the brightest minds and best ideas from the very edges of science - Astrophysics, Astrobiology, Quantum Mechanics, String Theory, and more - to reveal the extraordinary truth of our Universe.

  • Dark Matters: Twisted But True
    Dark Matters: Twisted But True (2011)7.4

    Hosted by actor John Noble of Fringe and Lord of the Rings, the show takes the viewer inside the laboratory to profile strange science and expose some of history's most bizarre experiments. This show uses narration and reenactments to portray the stories in this show. A new season of episodes, under the title Dark Matters: Extra Twisted, premiered on January 23, 2013. The episodes revisit previous stories with "deeper insight and new information."

  • Unearthed
    Unearthed (2016)7.4

    Unearthed decodes mysteries and combines scientific investigations with CGI animation to reveal the hidden secrets of iconic structures and monuments from around the globe to discover how they were designed, built, used, and in some cases, lost and rediscovered.

  • Mysteries of the Abandoned
    Mysteries of the Abandoned (2017)7.3

    Documentary series investigating why some of the world's most advanced architectural achievements were abandoned.

  • NASA's Unexplained Files
    NASA's Unexplained Files (2012)7.1

    Dive into the mysteries of some of NASA’s most curious missions and explore stories of engineering achievement and human endurance. Each episode offers first hand testimony from astronauts, NASA mission footage, plus beautifully rendered CGI to bring to life these voyages that reveal unexplained sightings that have dogged many of NASA’s most famous missions.

  • Impossible Engineering
    Impossible Engineering (2015)7.0

    Behind every seemingly impossible marvel of modern engineering is a cast of historic trailblazers who designed new building techniques, took risks on untested materials and revolutionised their field. Each episode details how giant structures, record-beating buildings, war ships and spacecraft are built and work. As the show revels in these modern day creations, it also leaps back in time to recount the stories of the exceptional engineers whose technological advances made it all possible.

  • Street Science
    Street Science (2017)7.0

    Kevin Delaney leaves his lab behind to hit the streets for experiments that are so unusual, offbeat, and so unexpected they will blow your mind.

  • What on Earth?
    What on Earth? (2015)6.4

    Satellites orbit Earth at 17,000 miles an hour, capturing images of our world that are breathtaking, but some are bizarre. This unique perspective reveals objects that seem to make no sense & phenomena that defy explanation. Such images force the question, what on Earth is that?

  • Engineering Catastrophes
    Engineering Catastrophes (2018)6.2

    From the hilarious to the mind-boggling, from the deadly to the bank-busting, witness some of the most outrageous structural disasters and the genius resolutions to get things back on track.

  • 100 Greatest Discoveries
    100 Greatest Discoveries (2004)6.0

    Bill Nye walks viewers through various areas of science to show how far they've come through their beginnings until modern times.

  • Secret Nazi Bases
    Secret Nazi Bases (2019)5.5

    From tunnels to towers, artillery sites, resistance nests and communication centers, Nazi Germany left their footprint throughout the world. To this day, silent remains still exist, sentinels guarding clues about plots that Hitler was unable to carry out. The collapse of the Third Reich left as many secrets as it did relics. Still today, remnants of the Nazi's schemes lie concealed in structures scattered across the globe. Skeletons of projects give way to mysteries. Conspiracies abound about science fiction scenarios. The Nazis were nothing if not methodical, and a deeper look reveals even darker plans. From tunnels to towers, artillery sites and communication centers; the remains of these schemes lie waiting to reveal truths about the Fuhrer's tactics and dreams in Secret Nazi Bases. What did Hitler have planned?

  • When Dinosaurs Ruled
    When Dinosaurs Ruled (1999)N/A

    Charting the rise and fall of the prehistoric creatures through fossil evidence from around the world and interviews with noted paleontologists.

  • How Stuff's Made
    How Stuff's Made (2008)N/A