Sexy Science

OM's post for today include's this insight, and yes he has a caveat on the origins of 'Billions and Billions':

If anything, it was Cosmos which permanently ensconced Carl as a major part of 20th Century Pop culture, as it gave Astronomy - and Science in general, for that matter - it's first high-tech embellishing. For thirteen episodes, Carl produced what has been argued as the first "ratings hit" PBS had aired that wasn't something like Sesame Street. He aimed not so much for adults as the target audience, but simply for those with intelligence and the will to expand the bounds of their knowledge and imagination. His catchphrase of "Billions and Billions"(*), combined with his uniquely nasal Brooklyn accent, became so ingrained in American culture to have the same instant recognition status as E=MC2,

Or, to put it a bit more directly, Carl made science "sexy".

Chech out the whole OM thing, here.