Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson at the NASA Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., November 2005
Born	(1958-10-05) October 5, 1958 The Bronx, New York City, United States
Alma mater	Harvard College (B.A) University of Texas (M.A.) Columbia University (M.Phil.), (Ph.D.)
Awards	NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
Scientific career
Fields	Astrophysics, physical cosmology, science communication
Institutions	Hayden Planetarium, PBS, Planetary Society

Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, science communicator, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a Research Associate in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006, he has hosted PBS's educational television show NOVA scienceNOW. He has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Big Bang Theory and Jeopardy!.

Early life

Tyson was born in New York City as the second of three children. His father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson, was a sociologist and human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay. His mother, Sunchita Feliciano Tyson, was a gerontologist. Tyson attended the Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976) where he captained the wrestling team and was editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal. Tyson had an abiding interest in astronomy from a young age—and obsessively studied it in his teens—eventually even gaining some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of 15. Tyson has stated that his interest in astronomy began when he would climb to the top floor of his New York City apartment building (named the "Skyview Apartments") and look at the moon through binoculars.

Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies. During an interview with writer Daniel Simone (see the entire interview in the November 2, 2007 issue of Dan's Papers), Tyson said, "Interestingly, when I applied to Cornell, my application dripped of my passion for the study and research of the Universe. Somehow the admissions office brought my application to the attention of the late Mr. Sagan, and he actually took the initiative and care to contact me. He was very inspirational and a most powerful influence. Mr. Sagan was as great as the universe, an effective mentor." But Tyson chose to attend Harvard, where he majored in physics. He was a member of the crew team in his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, eventually lettering in his senior year. Tyson earned his B.A. degree in physics from Harvard in 1980 and began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his M.A. degree in Astronomy in 1983. In addition to wrestling and rowing in college, he was also active in dancing in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom. In 1985, he won a gold medal with the University of Texas dance team at a national tournament in the International Latin Ballroom style. He began a doctoral program at the University of Texas, but transferred in 1988 to Columbia University after University of Texas dissolved his committee. In 1991, he earned a Ph.D. degree in astrophysics. (See the biographical summary provided by the International Astronautical Federation. Tyson also featured on the NASA Academy Sharing Knowledge.)

Career

Tyson with students at the 2007 American Astronomical Society conference

Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine. In a column for the magazine he authored in 2002, Tyson coined the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with the cross streets of the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets.

In 2004, he hosted the four-part "Origins" miniseries of PBS's Nova, and co-authored with Donald Goldsmith the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution. He again collaborated with Dr. Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope which premiered on PBS in April 2009.

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "Moon, Mars and Beyond" commission. He was soon afterward awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by NASA.

As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children. In 2006, the I.A.U. confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the "dwarf planet" classification. Daniel Simone wrote of the interview with Tyson describing his frustration. "For a while, we were not very popular here at the Hayden Planetarium."

Tyson has been Vice-President, President, and Chairman of board of the Planetary Society. He was also the host of the PBS program NOVA scienceNOW. He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief symposium on November 2006. In 2007, Tyson, who is known for his vibrant character, cheerful demeanor, and awe of the vastness of the universe itself, was chosen to be a regular on The History Channel's popular series The Universe. With comedienne Lynne Koplitz he started hosting Star Talk in 2009, a one-hour radio show later syndicated on Sunday afternoons on KTLK AM in Los Angeles and WHFS in Washington DC.

Views

Tyson has argued that intelligent design, which credits complex, yet-to-be-understood phenomena in nature to a higher intelligence, thwarts the advance of scientific knowledge. He has written and broadcast extensively about his views of religion, spirituality and the spirituality of science itself including the essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance" and "Holy Wars" both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop.

Tyson lived next to the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote a widely circulated letter on what he saw. On June 6, 2008, after the conclusion of the Democratic presidential primaries, Tyson wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in which he presented a statistical analysis of recent polling data. From this analysis, Tyson concluded that in a hypothetical election held on the day of publication of his article, Barack Obama would lose to John McCain, whereas Hillary Clinton would beat McCain.

Tyson has collaborated with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and presented talks with him on religion and science. When asked if he personally believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence."

Media appearances

Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science center, the Koch Center in 2007. He emphasized the impact science will have on the 21st century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the form of knowledge gained, and perking interest is invaluable. Tyson also appeared as the Keynote speaker at The Amazing Meeting 6, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation, in June 2008.

Tyson appeared a record seven times on The Colbert Report between October 2005 and April 8, 2010. He also appeared four times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart between January 2007 and March 2010, once to discuss black holes and his new book Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries. Two days after his first appearance on The Daily Show, the book ranked as the fourth best selling book on Amazon. He has also made appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2007). He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History Channel science program, The Universe and was featured as a guest interviewee on episode #156 of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe (2008). Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in 2007. On October 25, 2008 he appeared on the series premiere of D.L. Hughley Breaks the News, a CNN comedic news show. In 2009 he appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, talking about his book The Pluto Files. On June 25, 2009 he appeared as a guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to promote his book, The Pluto Files and talk about his PBS show, Nova scienceNOW. In 2010 he appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" to discuss Pluto's reclassification, during a recurring segment called "Moment of Geek." He also featured on an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? as the ask the expert lifeline.

Personal life

Signing a copy of his book "Origins". Portrait taken at JREF's TAM6, The Amazing Meeting

Tyson lives in New York City with his wife and two children. Tyson is a fine wine enthusiast whose collection was featured in the May 2000 issue of the Wine Spectator and the Spring 2005 issue The World of Fine Wine.

Selected awards and honors

Awards

• 2001 Medal of Excellence, Columbia University, New York City
• 2004 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
• 2007 Klopsteg Memorial Award winner
• 2009 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award from the Space Foundation for significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.
• 2009 Isaac Asimov award from the American Humanist Association

Selected honorary doctorates

• 1997 York College, City University of New York
• 2000 Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey
• 2000 Dominican College, Orangeburg, New York
• 2001 University of Richmond, Richmond Virginia
• 2002 Bloomfield College, Bloomfield New Jersey
• 2003 Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
• 2004 City University of New York, College of Staten Island
• 2006 Pace University, New York City.
• 2007 Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
• 2008 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 2010 University of Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama.
• 2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.
• 2010 Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut

Honors

• 2000 Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People Magazine
• 2001 Asteroid named: 13123 Tyson, renamed from Asteroid 1994KA by the International Astronomical Union.
• 2001 The Tech 100, voted by editors of Crain's Magazine to be among the 100 most influential technology leaders in New York.
• 2004 50 Most Important African-Americans in Research Science.
• 2008 Discover Magazine selected him one of the '50 Best Brains in Science'.
• 2007 Harvard 100: Most Influential Harvard Alumni Magazine, Cambridge. Massachusetts
• 2007 The Time 100, voted by the Editors of Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Selected books by Tyson

List of books by Tyson

• The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet (2009) ISBN 0393065200
• Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries (2007) ISBN 0393330168
• The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (1st ed. 2000 / 2nd ed. 2004) ISBN 9781591021889
• Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (co-authored with Donald Goldsmith) (2004) ISBN 0393327582
• My Favorite Universe (A twelve part lecture series) (2003) ISBN 1565856635
• City of Stars: A New Yorker's Guide to the Cosmos (2002)
• Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge (2000) ISBN 1565846029
• One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (2000) ISBN 0309064880
• Just Visiting This Planet (1998) ISBN 0385488378
• Universe Down to Earth (1994)
• Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1989)

External links

• Official website
• Global Ideas from Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Star Talk Radio Show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Video: 2007 Interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Alcove with Mark Molaro
• Bio at the Planetary Society
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson, CV at AMNH page
• NOVA interview Nov. 2, 2007 A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson at Nova
• Audio: Neil deGrasse Tyson - The Sky Is Not the Limit from Point of Inquiry, August 18, 2006
• Video: At the 'Beyond Belief' discussion, Tyson "rebukes" Dawkins
• Video: Tyson examines George W. Bush's record on Science via Fora.tv (Los Angeles Public Library, Feb. 4, 2009)
• "Neil deGrasse Tyson...talks about his new book of collected essays about the cosmos" From C-SPAN's BookTV.org
• Interview on the American Freethought Podcast
• 2009 podcast interview at The Bat Segundo Show
• Space Foundation's Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award
• Publications by Tyson