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Neil deGrasse Tyson

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Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson at the NASA Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., November 2005
Born (1958-10-05) October 5, 1958 (age 66)
The Bronx, New York City, United States
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materB.A. Physics, Harvard College

M.A. Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin

Ph. D Astrophysics, Columbia University
AwardsNASA Distinguished Service Medal
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics, physical cosmology
InstitutionsHayden Planetarium, PBS, Planetary Society

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958 in New York City) is an American astrophysicist and, since 1996, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History on Manhattan's Upper West Side. A charismatic television personality, he has, since 2006, hosted PBS's educational television show NOVA scienceNOW. He has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Jeopardy!.

Life

Youth and education

Tyson attended the Bronx High School of Science (1973–1976) where he captained the wrestling team and was editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal. Born the year that NASA was founded (established 7/29/1958), 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.[1]

Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies,[2] 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. in physics from Harvard in 1980 and began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his M.A. 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, earning a Ph.D. degree in astrophysics from that institution in 1991.

Professional career

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,[3] and co-authored, with Donald Goldsmith (renowned California astronomer and science writer/professor) the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution.[4]

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.[5] In 2006, the I.A.U. confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the "dwarf planet" classification.

Tyson is President of the Planetary Society, where he was formerly the Chair of the Board. He is the new host of the PBS program NOVA scienceNOW.[6]

Tyson is a vocal critic of string theory; his opposition comes from the seeming over-reliance of string theory upon mathematical projections instead of testable variables.[7]

He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief symposium on November 2006. In 2007, Tyson, who is known for his colorful character, cheerful demeanor, and obvious awe of the vastness of the universe itself, was chosen to be a regular on The History Channel's new series The Universe, which has proven to be a popular series.

In terms of actual astrophysics, his research contributions have been minimal. He has not published a first author paper since his Ph.D. Thesis in 1991. He is, however, valued among the astronomy community for his popularization of science.

Honors

Works

Scientific works

  • The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet (2009) ISBN 0393065200
  • Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries (2007)
  • The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (1st ed. 2000 / 2nd ed. 2004)
  • Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (co-authored with Donald Goldsmith) (2004)
  • 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)
  • One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (2000)
  • Just Visiting This Planet (1998)
  • Universe Down to Earth (1994)
  • Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1989)

Non-scientific writings

  • 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.[11]
  • Tyson is non-religious and has argued that the intelligent design movement, of the kind that credits complex, yet-to-be-understood phenomena in nature to a higher intelligence, thwarts the advance of scientific knowledge.[12][13][14] Tyson's views on religion and spirituality might best be understood from his two essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance"[15] and "Holy Wars"[14] both appearing in Natural History Magazine. From the 2006 Beyond Belief[16] workshop on Science and Religion, see excerpts from Tyson's talk on unintelligent design in the universe[17] and the spirituality of science itself.[18]
  • 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.[19]

Notable media appearances

References

  1. ^ http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/cv/
  2. ^ Whitaker, Charles (2000). "Super Stargazer - astrophysicist Neil De Grasse Tyson - Brief Article". Ebony. Johnson Publishing. Retrieved 2008-06-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  3. ^ NOVA | Origins from PBS
  4. ^ Tyson, Neil deGrasse, and Donald Goldsmith. Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2004. ISBN 978-0393059922
  5. ^ The Colbert Report, 2006-08-17
  6. ^ NOVA | scienceNOW from PBS
  7. ^ "Neil deGrasse Tyson interview on opposition to string theory, dated July 19, 2006". 2006-08-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); NOVA podcast, "Proving String Theory", dated July 19, 2006. Retrieved August 21, 2006
  8. ^ [The Time 100 of 2007]http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595329_1616157,00.html
  9. ^ http://www.nationalspacesymposium.org/symposium-awards
  10. ^ http://www.nationalspacesymposium.org/space-foundation-recognizes-neil-degrasse-tyson-with-douglas-s-morrow-public-outreach-award
  11. ^ The Horror, The Horror from Tyson's website
  12. ^ YouTube - Neil deGrasse Tyson on "Intelligent Design" at Beyond Belief
  13. ^ Neil deGrasse Tyson : The Perimeter of Ignorance
  14. ^ a b Holy Wars from PBS
  15. ^ The Perimeter of Ignorance from Tyson's website
  16. ^ Beyond Belief 2006: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival from The Science Network
  17. ^ Beyond Belief '06 - Neil deGrasse Tyson (Monday, November 5) from YouTube
  18. ^ Beyond Belief '06 - Neil deGrasse Tyson (Tuesday, November 7th) from YouTube
  19. ^ Vote by Numbers from The New York Times
  20. ^ Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! from NPR
  21. ^ First Pics Of Jewel Staite's Hot Date On Atlantis from io9
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neil deGrasse Tyson.

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