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The Best Episodes of NOVA

Every episode of NOVA ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of NOVA!

The Best Episodes of NOVA

PBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights...
  1. Background image for Anatomy of a Volcano
    9.0/10(9 votes)

    #1 - Anatomy of a Volcano

    S8:E4

    When Mount St. Helens erupted earlier this year, it focused the attention of the whole world on the almost incredible destructive forces that volcanos can release. Geologists from around the world congregated at the volcano and NOVA joined the vigil for an in-depth look at the incident and its aftermath.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Children of Eve
    9.0/10(10 votes)

    #2 - Children of Eve

    S14:E2

    NOVA examines a controversial theory that traces our ancestry to a small group of women living in Africa 300,000 years ago.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Confessions of a Weaponeer
    9.0/10(9 votes)

    #3 - Confessions of a Weaponeer

    S14:E7

    Harvard chemist George Kistiakowsky was an anti-Bolshevik soldier in 1919 Russia, an atomic bomb scientist at Los Alamos, a presidential advisor in the Eisenhower White House and an arms control activist. Shortly before Kistiakowsky death, he recounts his eventful career to interviewer Carl Sagan.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for NOVA Wonders What's Living in You?
    8.9/10(8 votes)

    #4 - NOVA Wonders What's Living in You?

    S45:E102

    Whether they make you fat, fart, or freak out, microbes play a central role in your life. Right beneath your nose—on your face, in your gut, and everywhere in between—trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi are so abundant in your body, they outnumber your human cells. But these aren’t just nasty hitch-hikers. Many are crucial to your survival.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for Life on a Silken Thread
    8.8/10(10 votes)

    #5 - Life on a Silken Thread

    S6:E12

    Sinister, sometimes even deadly, spiders have little popular appeal; yet their silken webs are among nature's loveliest creations. NOVA takes a close-look in slow motion, as spiders reveal a delicate grace and beauty, and an amazing array of lifestyles.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for So You Want to Be a Doctor?
    8.8/10(9 votes)

    #6 - So You Want to Be a Doctor?

    S18:E12

    In a two-hour special, NOVA follows seven aspiring doctors through four years of medical school. The first examination, the anatomy lab, the first death, the first baby-it's all part of becoming a doctor. Neil Patrick Harris, star of ABC's Doogie Howser, MD hosts. (Follow-up to the program 1521 "Can We Make a Better Doctor?")

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for Wild Wolves With David Attenborough
    8.8/10(8 votes)

    #7 - Wild Wolves With David Attenborough

    S25:E5

    Sir David Attenborough hosts a never-before-seen look at one of the most misunderstood creatures in nature. Special photography, including infrared photography, exposes the secret life of the wolf pack.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Plane that Changed the World
    8.6/10(20 votes)

    #8 - The Plane that Changed the World

    S12:E20

    NOVA joins the 50th anniversary celebration of the DC-3—the plane that revolutionized commercial air travel, served gallantly in World War II and is called the most important plane ever built.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Pioneers of Surgery: The Brutal Craft
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #9 - Pioneers of Surgery: The Brutal Craft

    S15:E12

    Part one of a four-part series on the pioneers of modern surgery relives the early days, when surgery was practiced without the benefit of anaesthesia or antisceptics and patients usually died.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Pioneers of Surgery: Into the Heart
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #10 - Pioneers of Surgery: Into the Heart

    S15:E13

    Once unthinkable, open-heart surgery is now an everyday miracle. NOVA looks at the brave doctors and patients who make it possible.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for Pioneers of Surgery: New Organs for Old
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #11 - Pioneers of Surgery: New Organs for Old

    S15:E14

    From kidneys to hearts, NOVA examines the daring attempts to replace diseased organs with transplanted ones.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Pioneers of Surgery: Beyond the Knife
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #12 - Pioneers of Surgery: Beyond the Knife

    S15:E15

    Surgeons have always been eager to help patients, even at the risk of killing them. NOVA looks at some of the excesses of surgery, and at how new drugs and technologies are rendering some operations obsolete.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Coma
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #13 - Coma

    S25:E1

    A famous brain surgeon struggles to save the life of a comatose child using a controversial new method of treating severe head injuries. In charge is Dr. Jan Ghajar, who gained notoriety in 1996 by successfully treating a woman who was savagely beaten in Manhattan's Central Park and expected to die. Dr. Ghajar believes the measure that helped save her life should be available to all.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Ocean Invaders
    8.6/10(58 votes)

    #14 - Ocean Invaders

    S49:E15

    Lionfish–long prized in home aquariums–have invaded the Atlantic, and are now one of the ocean’s most successful invasive species, wreaking havoc in waters across the globe. Join ocean explorer Danni Washington on a journey to find out how they took over, why they’re doing so much damage, and what can be done about it.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Take the World From Another Point of View
    8.5/10(16 votes)

    #15 - Take the World From Another Point of View

    S2:E11

    NOVA profiles two very different scientists: Richard Feynman, a theoretical physicist, at the pinnacle of his career—a Nobel prizewinner; and Richard Lewontin, a biologist and highly regarded population geneticist from Harvard University.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for The Race for the Double Helix
    8.5/10(16 votes)

    #16 - The Race for the Double Helix

    S3:E8

    Author Isaac Asimov joins NOVA in the retelling of the remarkable story of the discovery of the structure of DNA. James Watson and his ex-colleague Francis Crick exchange memories of the events which led to their winning the race for the structure of the gene.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Moving Still
    8.5/10(9 votes)

    #17 - Moving Still

    S7:E17

    NOVA tells the story of still and cine photography in science—from the extraordinary work of the pioneers in the early 1800s to how the ability to freeze time on film in ever shorter periods has given scientists remarkable new insights. Today photography enables us to analyze (frame by frame) the thousands of molecular reactions that can happen in less time than the blink of an eye.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Secrets of Lost Empires: Stonehenge (1)
    8.5/10(14 votes)

    #18 - Secrets of Lost Empires: Stonehenge (1)

    S24:E14

    A distinctive feature of this stone site are the trilithons, which consist of two upright stones topped by a horizontal lintel stone. In this program, the NOVA team considers how to transport and raise the massive stones, as well as how to place the lintel stone on top. By comparing different strategies and adapting ramps, levers, and other tools that might have been available to the ancient builders, the team works to meet the challenge.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Special Effects: Titanic and Beyond
    8.5/10(8 votes)

    #19 - Special Effects: Titanic and Beyond

    S26:E4

    NOVA goes behind the scenes in Hollywood, where the art of illusion meets the science of perception.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Deadly Shadow of Vesuvius
    8.5/10(8 votes)

    #20 - Deadly Shadow of Vesuvius

    S26:E5

    The shattered remnants of the Roman city of Pompeii bear witness to the risk that the people of Naples still face today.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Apollo's Daring Mission
    8.5/10(54 votes)

    #21 - Apollo's Daring Mission

    S45:E17

    Apollo astronauts and engineers tell the inside story of Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon. The U.S. space program suffered a bitter setback when Apollo 1 ended in a deadly fire during a pre-launch run-through. In disarray, and threatened by the prospect of a Soviet Union victory in the space race, NASA decided upon a radical and risky change of plan: turn Apollo 8 from an earth-orbit mission into a daring sprint to the moon while relying on untried new technologies. Fifty years after the historic mission, the Apollo 8 astronauts and engineers recount the feats of engineering that paved the way to the moon.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for The Planets: Jupiter
    8.5/10(86 votes)

    #22 - The Planets: Jupiter

    S46:E14

    Jupiter's gravitational force made it a wrecking ball as it barreled through the early solar system, but it also helped shape life on Earth as it brought comets laden with water and possibly the asteroid that put an end to the dinosaurs.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for The Planets: Saturn
    8.5/10(98 votes)

    #23 - The Planets: Saturn

    S46:E15

    Nasa's Cassini reveals the mysteries of Saturn's rings and new hope for life on one of its moons.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for The Planets: Ice Worlds
    8.5/10(78 votes)

    #24 - The Planets: Ice Worlds

    S46:E16

    Uranus and Neptune's unexpected rings, supersonic winds and dozens of moons; an up-close view of Pluto before exploring the Kuiper belt.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for One Small Step
    8.4/10(11 votes)

    #25 - One Small Step

    S5:E4

    Part one of a two-part series on the subject of man in space, NOVA examines the history of NASA—from the origin of the space race through the triumph of the Apollo programs. By tracing the history of three key programs—Mercury, Gemini, Apollo—we show how the basic challenges surrounding space flight were answered: rendezvous and docking, life support, weightlessness, space sickness, equipment reliability and so on.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"Anatomy of a Volcano" is the best rated episode of "NOVA". It scored 9/10 based on 9 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/10/1981. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Children of Eve".