Nova (TV Series) - Awards

Awards

Nova has been recognized with multiple Peabody Awards and Emmy Awards. The series won a Peabody in 1974, citing it as "an imaginative series of science adventures," with a "versatility rarely found in television." Subsequent Peabodys went to specific episodes:

• "The Miracle of Life" (1983) was cited as a "fascinating and informative documentary of the human reproductive process," which used "revolutionary microphotographic techniques." This episode also won an Emmy.
• "Spy Machines" (1987) was cited for "neatly recount the key events of the Cold War and look into the future of American/Soviet SDI competition."
• "The Elegant Universe" (2003) was lauded for exploring "science’s most elaborate and ambitious theory, the string theory" while making "the abstract concrete, the complicated clear, and the improbable understandable" by "blending factual story telling with animation, special effects, and trick photography." The episode also won an Emmy and a Peabody Award.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (responsible for documentary Emmys) recognized the series with awards in 1978, 1981, 1983, and 1989. Julia Cort won an Emmy in 2001 for writing "Life's Greatest Miracle." Emmys were also awarded for the following episodes:

• 1982 "Here's Looking at You, Kid"
• 1983 "The Miracle of Life" (also won a Peabody)
• 1985 "AIDS: Chapter One", "Acid Rain: New Bad News"
• 1992 "Suicide Mission to Chernobyl", "The Russian Right Stuff"
• 1994 "Secret of the Wild Child"
• 1995 "Siamese Twins," "Secret of the Wild Child"
• 1999 "Decoding Nazi Secrets"
• 2001 "Bioterror"
• 2002 "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens," "Mountain of Ice," "Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance," "Why the Towers Fell"
• 2003 "Battle of the X-planes," "The Elegant Universe" (also won a Peabody)
• 2005 "Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge"

Three episodes were nominated for the 2004 Emmys:

• "Mars Dead or Alive"
• "The Crash of Flight 111"
• "The Most Dangerous Woman in America"

In 1998, the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation awarded Nova its first-ever Public Service Award.