Neil deGrasse Tyson

Author profile

born

October 05, 1958 in New York, New York, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/

twitter username

neiltyson

genre

Science, Nonfiction

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Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia.

Tyson's professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way. Tyson obtains his data from the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as from telescopes in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the Future of the US Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and cont...more Neil deGrasse Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. Tyson went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia.

Tyson's professional research interests are broad, but include star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our Milky Way. Tyson obtains his data from the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as from telescopes in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and in the Andes Mountains of Chile.

In 2001, Tyson was appointed by President Bush to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the Future of the US Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations (for Congress and for the major agencies of the government) that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security.

In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a 9-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the Moon, Mars, and Beyond commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which will help guide NASA through its perennial need to fit its ambitious vision into its restricted budget.

In addition to dozens of professional publications, Dr. Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public. He is a monthly essayist for Natural History magazine under the title Universe. And among Tyson's eight books is his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist; and Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS-NOVA 4-part mini-series Origins, in which Tyson serves as on-camera host. The program premiered on September 28 and 29, 2004. And beginning in the fall of 2006, Tyson appears as the on-camera host of PBS-NOVA's spinoff program NOVA ScienceNow, which is an accessible look at the frontier of all the science that shapes the understanding of our place in the universe.

Tyson's latest two books are the playful and informative Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, which was a New York Times bestseller, and The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet, chronicling his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto's planetary status.

Tyson is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal. His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union in their official naming of asteroid 13123 Tyson. On the lighter side, Tyson was voted Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive by People Magazine in 2000.

Tyson is the first occupant of the Frederick P. Rose Directorship of the Hayden Planetarium. Tyson lives in New York City with his wife and two children.(less)

17 posts
Neil deGrasse Tyson's Blog

Neil deGrasse Tyson isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

Time's 10 Questions, June 26, 2008

Time Magazine's 10 Questions from Time Magazine's readers.

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Books by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Average rating: 4.01 · 4,568 ratings · 672 reviews · 20 distinct works

	Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries 4.08 avg rating — 2,671 ratings — published 2006 — 12 editions	My rating:
	The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet 3.83 avg rating — 979 ratings — published 2008 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Avis Lang (Editor) 4.05 avg rating — 340 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Donald Goldsmith 4.00 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2004 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist 4.01 avg rating — 146 ratings — published 2000 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Merlin's Tour of the Universe 3.83 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 1989 — 5 editions	My rating:
	My Favorite Universe : 2 DVD Set - 12 Lectures with Booklet 4.25 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2003	My rating:
	Universe Down to Earth 3.64 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1994 — 2 editions	My rating:
	One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Charles Liu 4.10 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 1999	My rating:
	Just Visiting This Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Tyson (Illustrator) 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1998 — 3 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Neil deGrasse Tyson

“Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules, are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically rich guts into the galaxy, enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So that we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kinda cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

tags: astronomy , cosmology

166 people liked it

“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

tags: belief , science , true

157 people liked it

“The more I learn about the universe, the less convinced I am that there's any sort of benevolent force that has anything to do with it, at all.”
― Neil deGrasse Tyson

tags: atheism , religion , science

57 people liked it

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Seasonal Read...: Science Films	27	127	Aug 31, 2009 03:43am
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	3072	2868	Aug 31, 2010 10:39pm
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Fantasy Aficionados: Is there a correlation between religion and education?	156	105	Nov 16, 2011 10:16pm

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Neil deGrasse Tyson

Author profile

17 posts
Neil deGrasse Tyson's Blog

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Books by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Neil's Fans (347)

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Author profile

17 postsNeil deGrasse Tyson's Blog

combine editionsBooks by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

17 posts
Neil deGrasse Tyson's Blog

combine editions
Books by Neil deGrasse Tyson