Though Tyson acknowledged that Isaac Newton personally believed in God, calling him a “God-loving man,” he assured his viewers that Newton’s religious beliefs did nothing to advance his scientific endeavors. Instead, he insisted that Newton’s religious study “never led anywhere” and that Newton’s appeal to God represented “the closing of a door. It didn’t lead to other questions.”8 Thus, according to Tyson, Newton’s science liberated people from belief in God, even as his belief in God impeded his own scientific progress. Tyson’s message was clear: to do good science, scientists must throw off
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