With these clean results, Patterson was able to estimate the age of the Earth to 4.5 billion years.

Patterson found that his results were contaminated by lead from the ambient environment, compared to Tilton's results, and required the construction of the first ultra-high cleanroom to remove all traces of environmental lead. Tyson then outlines the work Patterson did as a graduate under his adviser Harrison Brown to provide an accurate count of lead in zircon particles from Meteor Crater, and to work with similar results being collected by George Tilton on uranium counts with the established half-life of uranium's radioactive decay to lead, this would be used to estimate the age of the Earth. Instead, scientists have used the debris from meteor impacts, such as the Meteor Crater in Arizona, knowing that the material from such meteors coming from the asteroid belt would have been made at the same time as the Earth. Tyson first describes how the Earth was formed from the coalescence of matter some millions of years after the formation of the Sun, and while scientists can examine the formations in rock stratum to date some geological events, these can only trace back millions of years. The episode describes how science, in particular the work of Clair Patterson (voiced in animated sequences by Richard Gere) in the middle of the 20th century, has been able to determine the age of the Earth. The episode received a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating/share, with 3.74 million American viewers watching on Fox. The episode's title alludes to Patterson's attempts in sterilizing his lab after realizing that the inconsistent results in his experiments were due to lead contamination. The episode also pays tribute to geochemist Clair Patterson (voiced by Richard Gere) in his quest to remove the neurotoxin, lead, from gasoline. The episode explores the methods and processes used to measure the age of the Earth. It premiered on April 20, 2014, on Fox and aired on April 21, 2014, on National Geographic Channel. ' The Clean Room' is the seventh episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey ' The Clean Room'

Cosmos a spacetime odyssey episode 7