Neil deGrasse Tyson (də-GRASS or də-GRAHSS; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. He has significantly contributed to public understanding of science and space. His work spans from directing the Hayden Planetarium to hosting popular science shows and podcasts.
Family Background and Early Life
Tyson was born in Manhattan as the second of three children, into a family living in the Bronx. He has two siblings: Stephen Joseph Tyson and Lynn Antipas Tyson. His African-American father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson (1927-2016), was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for New York City mayor John Lindsay, and the first Director of Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited. His mother worked for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and is of Puerto Rican descent. Tyson's middle name, deGrasse, is from the maiden name of his paternal grandmother, who was born as Altima de Grasse in the British West Indies island of Nevis.
Education and Early Career
Tyson grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of the Bronx and then in Riverdale. From kindergarten throughout high school, Tyson attended public schools in the Bronx: PS 36 Unionport, PS 81 Robert J. Christen, the Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy (MS 141), and graduated from The Bronx High School of Science in 1976 where he was captain of the wrestling team and editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal.
His interest in astronomy began at the age of nine after visiting the sky theater of the Hayden Planetarium. He recalled that "so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the universe called me." During high school, Tyson attended astronomy courses offered by the Hayden Planetarium, which he called "the most formative period" of his life. When he was 14, he received a scholarship from the Explorers Club of New York to view the June 1973 total solar eclipse aboard the SS Canberra.
The admission office, unbeknownst to me, had forwarded my application to Carl Sagan's attention. Tyson revisited this moment on his first episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Pulling out a 1975 calendar belonging to the famous astronomer, he found the day Sagan invited the 17-year-old to spend a day in Ithaca. Sagan had offered to put him up for the night if his bus back to the Bronx did not come. Tyson said, "I already knew I wanted to become a scientist.
Read also: Space Travel: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson chose to attend Harvard where he majored in physics and lived in Currier House. He was a member of the rowing team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, lettering (achieving varsity team rank) in his senior year. Tyson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics at Harvard College in 1980 and then began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin, from which he received a Master of Arts degree in astronomy in 1983. By his own account, he did not spend as much time in the research lab as he should have.
Tyson was a lecturer in astronomy at the University of Maryland from 1986 to 1987 and in 1988, he was accepted into the astronomy graduate program at Columbia University, where he earned a Master of Philosophy degree in astrophysics in 1989, and a PhD degree in astrophysics in 1991 under the supervision of Professor R. Michael Rich.
Academic Achievements
- Thesis: A Study of the Abundance Distributions Along the Minor Axis of the Galactic Bulge (1992)
- Doctoral advisor: R. Michael Rich
Career Highlights
Tyson's research has focused on observations in cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation. In 1994, Tyson joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist while he was a research affiliate in Princeton University. He became acting director of the planetarium in June 1995 and was appointed director in 1996. As director, he oversaw the planetarium's $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000.
Upon being asked for his thoughts on becoming director, Tyson said "when I was a kid... there were scientists and educators on the staff at the Hayden Planetarium... who invested their time and energy in my enlightenment... and I've never forgotten that..." Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City.
From 1995 to 2005, Tyson wrote monthly essays in the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine, some of which were later published in his books Death by Black Hole (2007) and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017). During the same period, he wrote a monthly column in StarDate magazine, answering questions about the universe under the pen name "Merlin". Material from the column appeared in his books Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1998) and Just Visiting This Planet (1998).
Read also: Cosmic wonder with Neil deGrasse Tyson
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 awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in the same year.
From 2006 to 2011, he hosted the television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS. Since 2009, Tyson has hosted the weekly podcast StarTalk. A spin-off, also called StarTalk, began airing on National Geographic in 2015.
Teaching science: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Views on Science and Spirituality
Tyson has written and broadcast extensively about his views of science, spirituality, and the spirituality of science, including the essays "The Perimeter of Ignorance" and "Holy Wars," both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop. In an interview with comedian Paul Mecurio, Tyson offered his definition of spirituality, "For me, when I say spiritual, I'm referring to a feeling you would have that connects you to the universe in a way that it may defy simple vocabulary.
When asked during a question session at the University at Buffalo if he 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."
In an interview with Big Think, he said: "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic'... I'm constantly claimed by atheists. I find this intriguing. In fact, on my Wiki page -I didn't create the Wiki page. Others did, and I'm flattered that people cared enough about my life to assemble it-and it said, "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an atheist." I said, "Well, that's not really true." I said, "Neil deGrasse Tyson is an agnostic." I went back a week later.
Read also: DeGrasse Tyson on Civilization
During the interview "Called by the Universe: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson" in 2009, Tyson said: "I can't agree to the claims by atheists that I'm one of that community. I don't have the time, energy, interest of conducting myself that way... I'm not trying to convert people.
In March 2014, philosopher and secularism proponent Massimo Pigliucci asked Tyson: "What is it you think about God?" Tyson replied: "I remain unconvinced by any claims anyone has ever made about the existence or the power of a divine force operating in the universe." Pigliucci then asked him why he expressed discomfort with the label "atheist" in his Big Think video. Tyson replied by reiterating his dislike for one-word labels, saying: "That's what adjectives are for. What kind of atheist are you? Are you an ardent atheist? Are you a passive atheist? An apathetic atheist? Do you rally, or do you just not even care?
Pigliucci contrasted Tyson with scientist Richard Dawkins: "[Dawkins] really does consider, at this point, himself to be an atheist activist. You very clearly made the point that you are not." Tyson replied: "I completely respect that activity. He's fulfilling a really important role out there."
Advocacy and Public Engagement
Tyson is an advocate for expanding the operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, arguing that "the most powerful agency on the dreams of a nation is currently underfunded to do what it needs to be doing." He has suggested that the general public has a tendency to overestimate how much revenue is allocated to the space agency. At a March 2010 address, referencing the proportion of tax revenue spent on NASA, he stated, "By the way, how much does NASA cost? It's a half a penny on the dollar. Did you know that? Right now, NASA's annual budget is half a penny on your tax dollar.
As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on television, radio, and various other media outlets. He has appeared numerous times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He has made appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and The Rachel Maddow Show. He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History Channel science program, The Universe.
Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in 2007 and 2015. He appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher and he was also featured on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Tyson has been featured as a podcast guest interviewee on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Radiolab, Skepticality, and The Joe Rogan Experience, and he has been in several of the Symphony of Science videos.
He lived near the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001, attacks. In 2007, Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science center, the Koch Center in Massachusetts, named for David H. Koch '59. He emphasized the impact science will have on the twenty-first century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the form of knowledge gained and piquing interest is invaluable.
Tyson made a guest appearance as a version of himself in the episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis alongside Bill Nye and in the episode "The Apology Insufficiency" of The Big Bang Theory. Archive footage of him is used in the film Europa Report. In Action Comics #14 (January 2013), which was published November 7, 2012, Tyson appears in the story, in which he determines that Superman's home planet, Krypton, orbited the red dwarf LHS 2520 in the constellation Corvus 27.1 lightyears from Earth.