Smart became widely known outside the Academy, at least in Britain, when he was editorial consultant for the major BBC television series, "The Long Search" (1977). His book "The World's Religions" (1989) also reached a considerable popular readership. His defence of religious studies as a secular discipline helped the formation of departments in many public universities, especially in the United States. He distanced religious studies from traditional theology in that evaluating truth claims and apology have no role but regarded investigation into the "truth and worth" of religion "per se" as a valid academic enterprise in the public arena of state-funded education.