Nova was created by Michael Ambrosino, who was inspired by the BBC Two series Horizon after seeing it while working in the UK.

The very first episode of Nova, 'The Making of a Natural History Film', was not an original production but had originally aired as an episode of the BBC's Horizon in 1972.

Of the first 50 Nova programs, only 19 were original WGBH productions, with many others being co-productions with the BBC's Horizon team or documentaries from outside the US that were re-voiced in American English narration.

All the producers and associate producers on the original Nova teams came from either England (with prior experience on Horizon), Los Angeles, or New York.

The episode 'The Miracle of Life' (1983) won both a Peabody Award and an Emmy, and was praised for using revolutionary microphotographic techniques to document the human reproductive process.

'The Elegant Universe' (2003), which explored string theory, won a Peabody Award and an Emmy for editing for blending factual storytelling with animation, special effects, and trick photography.

In 1998, Nova received the National Science Board's first-ever Public Service Award from the National Science Foundation.

Nova won its first Peabody Award in 1974, its debut year, which praised it as 'an imaginative series of science adventures' with 'versatility rarely found in television.'