Neil deGrasse Tyson
Astrophysicist & Author
Neil is a widely known astrophysicist and author, he has several degrees and has published several books throughout his career. He is very known for his field of science; his platform as a public figure is very specific and he has formed a persona that revolves mostly around only science.
“What you need, above all else, is a love for your subject, whatever it is. You've got to be so deeply in love with your subject that when curveballs are thrown, when hurdles are put in place, you've got the energy to overcome them.”
"The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it."
“As an educator, it's my duty to empower you to think. So that you can go forth and think accurate thoughts about how the world is put together.”
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Neil considers his role as educator just as important as role as a scientist. His goal as a public intellectual is to educate people about science, but that doesn’t always mean he will always be nice about it.
“You've never seen me debate anybody. On anything. Ever. My investment of time, as an educator, in my judgment, is best served teaching people how to think about the world around them. Teach them how to pose a question. How to judge whether one thing is true versus another. What the laws of physics say.”
Education
The Cosmos: A Personal Voyage was the most widely watched series in the history of American public television for 10 years after its production in 1980. It was a big moment for science as it brought this information to the forefront and into the homes of people who hadn’t before had the opportunity or access to this knowledge.
“I already knew I wanted to become a scientist. But that afternoon, I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become.”
“Carl Sagan spoke fluently between biology and geology and astrophysics and physics. If you move fluently across those boundaries, you realize that science is everywhere; science is not something you can step around or sweep under the rug.”
Despite Neil's ability to explain complex information in an understandable way, he has often been criticized for being too harsh, for example, when asked why we had never encountered aliens, he said "perhaps we've never been visited by aliens because they have looked upon Earth and decided there's no sign of intelligent life."
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Neil is also known for destroying the science of movies in the spotlight (see left) and fans have not always taken very well to this practice.
The Cosmos
The Sass is Strong with This One
As public intellectuals go, NDT is not exactly nice and approachable like LMM, or relatable like Trae. Do you have to be likeable to be a public intellectual?
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Is is the role of the public intellectual to teach us, to enlighten us?
Questions for Discussion:
"The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you."
His most recent book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, topped The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list for four weeks in the middle of 2017. Neil was praised for his knack for explaining complex information, like explaining how the universe works, in an understandable and accessible way.
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"If your ego starts out, 'I am important, I am big, I am special,' you're in for some disappointments when you look around at what we've discovered about the universe. No, you're not big. No, you're not. You're small in time and in space. And you have this frail vessel called the human body that's limited on Earth."