Few men of science can lay claim to
as many accomplishments as famed astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson.
World-reknown for helping debunk Pluto’s false identity as the ninth planet in
the solar system, he is also notorious for his status as a scientist-celebrity
in a wide array of mediums. His ideas and charisma have shaped the mass
population’s current perspective on science and the cosmos, and the course of
the study of the universe. Throughout his life he has shown time and time again
that intellectualism is not a dying breed, as many public intellectuals seem to
think.
How
does such a passionate man emerge out of the shroud of ignorant apathy that
many argue defines contemporary life? According to Tyson, his curiosity about
the universe was sparked when he visited the Hayden Planetarium near his home
in the Bronx, where he witnessed for the first time a sky full of stars. This
juxtaposition between the pitch black sky he looked up to every night and the
dazzlement of constellations that he found out was actually up there caused
such an intrigue in Tyson that he later recalled that “he had no choice in the
matter. The universe called (him).” He developed a consumptive hunger for
astrological kowledge, and became a dedicated attendee of the planetarium’s
classes on that subject.
His
zelousy for science caught the attention of many local experts, including
acclaimed astronomer Carl Sagan. Tyson has since stated that Sagan’s
approachability and wisdom showed him what kind of scientist he wanted to
become. Despite this, he declined Sagan’s offer to enroll in Cornell
University, opting instead to go to Harvard to obtain his undergraduate degree
in physics. After graduating in 1980, and receiving a degree in astronomy from
the University of Texas at Austin just a few years later, he became an
astronomy lecturer in the University of Maryland. Tyson concluded his studies
in Columbia University, where he earned both an Mphil and a PhD in
astrophysics.
In the mid-90s,
Tyson closed the loop by returning to the Hayden Planetarium, becoming its
director in 1996. He was able to give return the favor to the institution by
not only overseeing its reconstruction, but also by striving to inspire future
generations of cosmologists as Dr. Chartrand had done for him in his youth. He
still serves as the planetarium’s director to this day, and closely follows the
examples set by his mentors.
Most of Tyson’s research
has focused on studying the nature of stars, from their formation to their
explosions and everything in between. He has been recognized as one of the
leading experts in his field multiple times, particularly by former president
George W. Bush in 2001 when he appointed Tyson to serve on an exclusive
commission in charge of the future of the United States Aerospace Industry. His
work on the commission concluded in a 2002 report that served as a guideline
for promoting efficient space exploration and transportation. Bush followed
this by appointing him two years later onto another commission, this time
focused on the United States Exploration Policy. Tyson and his team organized
an agenda for American space programs in the years to come. Furthermore, he
showed his versatility by grounding some of NASA’s most ambitious projects into
achievable budget friendly ones while working on their Advisory Council.
Even before
working under an extremely constricting budget, Tyson had been an ardent
supporter of NASA’s expansion. He frequently argues in favor of doubling NASA’s
budget from .5% of government spending to a whole 1%. His proposal of using
“one cent on the dollar” for space exploration has sparked a very successful
nonprofit organization to help spread this idea, aptly named Penny4NASA. While
the end goal may seem unrealistic to some and downright abusive to others,
Penny4NASA has collected countless donations through online petitions and
helped spread awareness of the space program’s lack of funds through social
media.
Arguably his
most noteworthy contribution to astrophysics, and one that hit close to home
for a surpring amount of people, is his role in the now famous reclassification
of Pluto as a dwarf planet. While this action received widespread disapproval
from the masses that had grown accustomed to inhabiting a solar system with
nine planets, the facts are hard to argue with. When Pluto was first discovered
back in 1930 by Clyde W. Tombaugh, it was almost immediately accepted as a the
ninth planet orbiting the sun. But, as technology advanced, Pluto’s
measurements became more accurate and estimated its diameter at a mere 1,500
miles. For years the scientific community had been having doubts about Pluto’s
planetary status, as it more closely resembled some of the cosmic objects in
the Kuiper Belt, which orbits Neptune. In 2005, a Kuiper Belt object even
larger than Pluto was discovered, which drew even more controversy to its
classification. In the end, Tyson and other cosmologists agreed that Pluto could
not be considered a planet because its mass was insufficient to be the dominant
gravitational body in its orbit.
Another of his
most famous and quirky discoveries relates directly to his origins in New York.
He discovered a unique phenomenon in which the sun perfectly coincides with the
streets and skyscrapers of New York City before and after the summer and winter
solstices. Due to this light spectacle’s similarity to the one that that
biannually occurs in Stonehenge, he officially dubbed this event the
“Manhattanhenge”, and it has become a popular photo opportunity for the city’s
natives and tourists alike.
Beyond these
contributions, Tyson is also credited with popularizing astronomy and making it
approachable to a wider audience through his many writings. He penned several
books including “Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries”, a
collection of his most wide-reaching articles to discuss knowledge, nature, the
universe, and the meaning of life, among other things. He has also written
dozens of weekly columns for the Natural History magazine, in which he adresses
most of the same issues in an entertaining manner. With his unique comedic
value, Tyson managed to further the spread of scientific inquiry in the modern
world, which goes against many common misconceptions amongst the intellectual
crowd regarding the “dumbing-down” trend in popular culture and media.
It seems almost
natural for public intellectuals to assume that their values are being set
aside by the younger generations, but this notion has been around for hundreds
of years and it is simply inaccurate. Neil Degrasse Tyson shows how one
seemingly insignificant moment can reroute a life towards the incessant pursuit
of knowledge, and how entertainment can help a wider audience embrace
intellectual thought. His science documentary TV series, “Cosmos: A Spacetime
Odyssey” has turned into a viral phenomenon, reaching tens of millions around
the world and inspiring his passion for cosmology unto newcomers through his
blend of interesting scientific concepts with powerful hollywoodlike imagery
and a rich, soothing voice. While it is undeniable that entertainment has
pervaded almost every aspect of modern life, Tyson and many others in the
industry show us that this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Just like Tyson
himself owes much of his early obsession with science to mentors like Carl
Sagan, he is compelled to follow in their footsteps by making intellectuality
part of popular culture. In his
own words, “one of my goals is to bring the universe down to Earth in a way
that further excites the audience to want more”.
Despite
this, conservative public intellectuals such as John Donatrich fear for the
future of their cognitive breed. He takes it as a given that Richard
Hofstadter’s idea of American anti-intellectualism is an everpresent fact and
an issue of deep concern for the traditionally enlightened. The impact and
appeal of Cosmos prove otherwise. American popular media is in fact much more
intellectually stimulating than it was a few decades ago, with nuanced shows
such as Breaking Bad and arguably smart talk shows like John Oliver’s taking
the forefront in popular television. One could argue that what the aging public
intellectuals of yesteryear actually fear is the loss of exclusivity amongst
their ranks, as being highly educated is rapidly becoming a widespread
opportunity rather than a priviledge reserved for the aristocracy. Most young
Americans aspire to achieve higher levels of education and intellect than their
forefathers, which is represented by their slightly more sophisted caliber of
media preferences.
Unlike Richard
Posner, who studied the concept of a public intellectual as a means of
distinguishing an exclusive inner circle of people considered intellectual
enough to be considered relevant, Tyson wants more than anything to broaden
this circle til it becomes all-encompassing. By contracting the definition of a
public intellectual and compiling a list of the “most intellectual”, Posner is
dissuading involvement from the outsiders. Tyson seems to be on the opposite
side of the spectrum on the matter, as he makes it one of his life goals to aid
science reach a much wider audience. By promoting the idea of a decline in
public intellectuals, Posner merely accentuates the problem, while Tyson more
progressive views make it easier to embrace education and intellect.
One of the main
reasons the theory of anti-intellectualism is given so much weight may simply
be that it is a belief commonly shared by people who are widely considered to
be public intellectuals. For example, academic author and sultural critic Neil
Postman spent his life ardently defending his stance on the mindnumbingness of
all forms of technological media, like television and the internet. In his 1985
best-selling book “Amusing Ourselves to Death”, his deep technophobia and
antiprogressive views on entertainment are shown to be completely
uncompromiseable. Postman argues that contemporary life is defined by a mass
hedonistic pursuit for amusement, and that the prime culprit is the decline of
print media as the primary source of information. In his mind, when seriousness
is subtracted from a subject it loses all potential value for intellectual
discourse, and he is frightened of living in a world where the line between
reason and enjoyment is so blurred that the mere idea of a public intellectual
is unfathomable. He fails to see entertainment as a medium of expressing
intellect in a more palatable manner, which is exactly what Neil Degrasse Tyson
strives to do. StarTalk, one of Tyson’s scientific podcasts, is a prime example
of his unorthodox approach to teaching about cosmology, as it prominently
features comedic celebrity guest appearances. Postman would argue that Tyson is
robbing science of its integrity as a serious endeavor by turning into a comedy
show, but it has provided a scientific base for people that want to know more
about science without being subjected to boring pamphlets and manuscripts.
By frequently
showing up in talks shows and being in the forefront of some major scientific
discussions, Neil Degrasse Tyson has quickly become the face of modern science.
Being one of the few african americans in a field dominated by caucasians has
also had an impact on his notoreity, and he has said that simply being in such
a visible position can give others like him the confidence to pursue their
ambitions. He has publicly acknowledged that there are countless structural
hurdles imbedded deep in the system that make it a lot harder for minorities to
suceed in the sciences. Over the years, he has actively tried to distance the
issue of racial inequality from his scientific work. Tyson stated that he
“declines every interview that has (his) being black as a premise of the
interview”, simply because he doesn’t want his race to distract people from his
real passion: astrophysics.
Despite his
tendency to keep his mediatic persona separate from his private life, in 2006 he
published a pretty biting article for the Natural History magzine on the
uncompromising conflict between the pursuit of knowledge and faith in a deity.
In it, he argues that simply believing that a higher being is necessary to
explain the unexplainable goes against the drive of scientific inquiry, and
shows how Newton and Laplace, among others, discovered ways of logically
analyzing the world around them by distancing themselves from God. He firmly
believes that secularity tendencues are a key ingredient in experiementation
and opening ones mind to the complex reality of the cosmos. His scoff of a
benevolent god in a universe that is constantly trying to kill us, either
through disease or by the mere design of human beings as a species. His
arguments have received controversy, but he firmly stands by them and goes on
to say that he “doesn’t want students who could maje the next major
breakthrough in renewable energy sources or space travel to have been taught
that anything they don’t understand, and that nobody yet understands, is
divinely constructed and therefore beyond their intellectual capacity”. His
passion for the accesibility of science to the masses is prevalent even in his
religious beliefs, or lack thereof, as he centers his argument on its inate
hinderance of intellectuality. From Tyson’s point of view, accepting
intelligent design is succumbing to the willful destruction of intrigue and
curiosity.
While religion
is unquestionably a big component of Neil Degrasse Tyson as a person, he rarely
speaks about it. Most of his ample time in the media is dedicated exclusively
to scientific pursuit and its dissemination. His countless awards and
recognitions are a testament to this. These include, but are not limited to, a
NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, an Isaac Asimov Award from the
American Humanist Association, and a Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award
for spreading public awareness of space programs. However, his real prestige
from the cosmological community rests on his Critics’ Choice Television Award
for Best Reality Show Host and on being named People Magazine’s Sexiest Astrophysicist
Alive in 2000. Now that’s range!
Throughout the
years, Tyson has made a name for himself as a powerful link that connects
people from all walks of life to an inescapable sense of wonder and a incessant
desire for discovery. Whether it be through watching Cosmos on Netflix, reading
his articles on scientific journals, or simply paying a visit to the local
planetarium, Tyson has an unquestionable influence in all aspiring scientists,
and those of use that like to consider ourselves public intellectuals in the
making.
