Neil deGrasse Tyson

1958—

Astrophysicist

Known as both an eminent astrophysicist and a writer who makes complex scientific concepts accessible to the layperson, Neil deGrasse Tyson has been a highly visible figure in the scientific community through his writings, research efforts, and television appearances. As the director of the famed Hayden Planetarium in New York City, he helps bring a greater knowledge and appreciation of astronomy to thousands of people each year.

Studied to Become an Astrophysicist

Tyson's interest in pursuing a career in astronomy was sparked when he was a young boy. Around age ten, he asked to look through a friend's binoculars, which he had used previously only at sporting events. When his friend asked him to look up, he pointed the binoculars at the moon and was startled by the details of the lunar surface revealed to him. Since then, his fascination with the cosmos never waned. "All of a sudden there was this place out there," remarked Tyson in a interview with Contemporary Black Biography (CBB). "From then on, I've just been looking up."

The young Tyson took advantage of every opportunity available for pursuing his interest in astronomy in the New York City of his boyhood. He acquired a telescope, joined astronomy clubs, and spent many hours at the Hayden Planetarium. He told CBB, "I remember looking at the star-filled dome at the Hayden Planetarium and thinking it was a hoax." At the planetarium, Tyson attended various astronomy courses for young people, as well as sky shows with specially focused subject matter. He also spoke with officials there whose knowledge of stars he yearned to make his own. While in junior high, he heeded the advice of the chairman of the Hayden Planetarium, who told him to take extra mathematics courses in high school to prepare for an astronomy career.

Promoted Positive Images of African Americans

After graduating from the highly regarded Bronx High School of Science in New York City, Tyson entered Harvard University and pursued a major in physics. He told CBB that he got a taste of social consciousness while on the school's wrestling team. A black teammate told him, "The black community of the nation cannot afford to have you study astrophysics." Up to this time, Tyson had not really considered that he had any obligation to better the condition of his community with his intellect. "Those words sat heavily with me, because here I was just following my love of the universe, without any particular reference to the plight of society," remembered Tyson.

Years later as a graduate student, Tyson had a revelation while watching a prerecorded television interview of him discussing a recent explosion on the sun. While watching himself, he suddenly realized that he had never before seen an African American on television discussing a subject that was not an African-American issue. The experience made him see his career in a new light, as one that helped promote positive images of African Americans. "It occurred to me that whatever stereotypes are harbored in the United States, one way to explode them is to march along and provide counterstereotypes whenever that's possible," he said to CBB.

After earning a doctorate in astrophysics at Columbia University, Tyson became a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Astrophysics at Princeton University in 1991. Three years later, he returned to the source of his great inspiration as a child by becoming an assistant astronomer at the Hayden Planetarium, eventually becoming director there in 1996. As a project scientist at the Hayden, Tyson was involved with the $210 million reconstruction of the facility that was completed in 2000.

Maintained a Prolific Writing Career

Tyson's prolific writing career branched out of esoteric research and into the realm of popular reading when he began writing a question-and-answer column for Star Date magazine in 1983. Over time, his columns attracted the attention of Columbia University Press, and Tyson was approached about publishing a compilation of his columns. The result was Merlin's Tour of the Universe, which entered the bookstores in 1989, while Tyson was still in graduate school.

In 1995 he began writing the monthly column "Universe" for Natural History magazine, while still continuing his contributions to Star Date. Even though he found the deadlines of magazine work challenging, he refused to rely on formula writing. "I try to have my writing say more than just convey information," noted Tyson to CBB. "I try to add a dose of personality, a dose of unusual points of view that could truly reach the heart of the readers and give them insights that they might not have ever had." Over the years, Tyson's articles have covered everything from black holes and the structure of the solar system to the possibilities of life elsewhere in the universe.

Tyson really hit his stride as a writer with his Universe down to Earth, which was published in 1994. This collection of informative yet entertaining explanations of scientific methods and phenomena has been acclaimed for breaking down complicated information into language readily understood by the average person. As he noted in the preface, "The book's objective is to convey ideas that etch deeply enough on the mind so that the concepts are not just remembered—they are absorbed into one's intuition." Universe down to Earth demystified stellar evolution, conservation of energy, the electromagnetic spectrum, gravity, thermodynamics, and a variety of other topics. None other than acclaimed science writer Carl Sagan called the book a "sprightly, easy-to-read introduction to some key ideas of physics and astronomy." Noted physicist Freeman Dyson added, "Tyson writes in a simple style with a lightness of touch, which can come only to one who is absolute master of his subject."

At a Glance …

Born Neil deGrasse Tyson on October 5, 1958, in New York, NY; married Alice Young, 1988; children: Miranda. Education: Harvard University, BA, 1980; University of Texas at Austin, MA, 1983; Columbia University, PhD, 1991.

Career: University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy, lecturer, 1987; Princeton University, Department of Astrophysics, postdoctoral research associate, 1991-94; American Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium, staff scientist, 1994-95, acting director, 1995-96; Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, visiting research scientist and lecturer, 1994-2003; American Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium/Rose Center for Earth and Space, astrophysicist and Frederick P. Rose Director, 1996—, project scientist, 1997-2000; American Museum of Natural History, Department of Astrophysics, chair, 1997-99, research associate, 2003—.

Memberships: American Astronomical Society; American Physical Society; Astronomical Society of the Pacific; International Planetarium Society; National Society of Black Physicists; New York Academy of Sciences (fellow).

Awards: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Distinguished Public Service Medal, 2006; named one of Time's Top 100 Intellectual and Social Leaders, 2007.

Addresses: Office—American Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium and Department of Astrophysics, Central Park West at Seventy-ninth St., New York, NY 10024.

Besides working at the Hayden, Tyson appears regularly at scientific colloquia and is frequently interviewed on television as a scientific expert. As a consultant with the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), he helps to debunk fraudulent reports of paranormal observation. He has also been involved with programs to promote science education among disadvantaged children in New York City.

Tyson feels privileged to be working in astronomy. "Every period has its discoveries to be proud of," he told CBB. "What might distinguish modern times is the pace of those discoveries—that they're happening almost weekly." As director of the Hayden Planetarium, he makes a point of being available to children visiting the facility who have a budding interest in astronomy like he did as a child. "That's part of the payback for my career," said Tyson.

Became a Widely Recognized U.S. Astrophysicist

Through his position as director of Hayden Planetarium, popular writings in books and magazines, and appearances on television, Tyson has become one of the most popular scientists and astrophysicists in the United States. His ability to illuminate complex philosophical and scientific subjects to the general reader has helped him transcend traditional barriers to enter the realm of pop science. In addition, his accessible nature and personal charisma has helped him become an ambassador for science to popular culture. In 2000 People magazine named Tyson the "Sexiest Astrophysicist," an accolade that Tyson addressed with humorous appreciation.

In 2001 Tyson was named by President George W. Bush to serve on the Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry, where he helped craft federal policies toward aerospace research. In 2004 he also served as a member of the Bush administration's Commission on Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy. During this same period, Tyson led a controversial campaign to demote the status of Pluto, the former ninth planet, to that of an astrological object. Tyson and allied scientists put forth a wealth of scientific data indicating that Pluto failed to meet the, as then poorly defined, definitions for planethood. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union, which is composed of astronomical organizations from around the globe, agreed to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet. That same year, Tyson was awarded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Distinguished Public Service Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed on civilians by the administration.

While continuing his work as a lecturer and research director, Tyson co-published in 2004 Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, which was the companion to a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) television series exploring cosmic phenomena. As Tyson's popularity grew, he was asked to appear on a number of popular television programs including Comedy Central Network's The Daily Show. Besides becoming the host of PBS's NOVA Science Now program, he also published, in 2007, a collection of essays, Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries, which entered the New York Times best-seller list.

Even as he became one of the nation's leading ambassadors for science education, Tyson remained rooted in his background as a researcher and worked with the American Museum of Natural History to establish a center for astrophysics research. In 2007 Time magazine chose him as one of the magazine's top one hundred intellectual and social leaders. In his interview, Tyson explained to Time's Michael D. Lemonick his passion for science education, "If we ever needed a scientifically literate population, it's now. I get enormous satisfaction from knowing I'm doing something for society."

Selected writings

Nonfiction

Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Columbia University Press, 1989.

Universe down to Earth, Columbia University Press, 1994.

Just Visiting This Planet: Merlin Answers More Questions about Everything under the Sun, Moon, and Stars, Doubleday, 1998.

The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist, Doubleday, 2000.

(With Charles Liu and Robert Irion) One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos, Joseph Henry Press, 2000.

(With Steven Soter, eds.) Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge, Norton, 2001.

(With Donald Goldsmith) Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, Norton, 2004.

Death by Black Hole, and Other Cosmic Quandaries, Norton, 2007.

Sources

Periodicals

Natural History, July 1995, p. 14; October 1995, p. 20; June 1996, p. 70.

Online

"A Conversation with Neil DeGrasse Tyson," Nova Online: Origins,http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/tyson.html (accessed December 22, 2007).

Lemonick, Michael D., "Neil DeGrasse Tyson." Time,http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1595329_1616157,00.html (accessed December 22, 2007).

Other

"Tavis Smiley Show," National Public Radio, September 27, 2004, February 6, 2007.

Additional information for this profile was obtained through an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and through materials supplied by the Hayden Planetarium.

—Ed Decker and Micah L. Issit