Dr. Tyson

"I think whenever people finish their formal education, they say, “I’m done learning!” And then they..."

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:30:27 -0500

“I think whenever people finish their formal education, they say, “I’m done learning!” And then they want to make money off of what they have learned. Many people willingly stop the growth of their own minds! Nobody else forced that; they said they were done learning and they didn’t buy any more books or make discoveries or turn over the rock or see what’s beyond the valley. But fortunately there are enough people in society who continue to do those things—and those are the folks that shake the world.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson for ROOKIE (via thempireofthesun)

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Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:30:15 -0500

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Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:30:25 -0500

tweedlefish: Neil Degrasse Tyson in class as a kid

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:30:38 -0500

tweedlefish:

Neil Degrasse Tyson in class as a kid

davvvvvid: My girlfriend knows me.

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 12:30:17 -0500

davvvvvid:

My girlfriend knows me.

Neil deGrasse Tyson shows off his dance moves [x]

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:30:22 -0500

Neil deGrasse Tyson shows off his dance moves [x]

"So, if we ask ourselves, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ It would be—in spite of my diatribe about..."

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:30:23 -0500

“So, if we ask ourselves, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ It would be—in spite of my diatribe about UFOs, I tell you in the same breath that it would be inexcusably egocentric to suggest that we are alone in the cosmos. The chemistry is too rich to declare that, the universe too vast. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand in all the beaches of the world. There are more stars in the universe than all the sounds and words ever uttered by all humans who have ever lived.”

- Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmic Quandaries - 26 March 2009 (via scientificspiritualism)

awesome-everyday: L - R: Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The...

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:30:30 -0500

awesome-everyday:

L - R: Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation), Dr Neil deGrasse Tyson, LEVAR BURTON

I’ve had crushes on every one of these dudes.

#HotSmartNerds

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Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:30:17 -0500

thosestarsaremesmerizing: Facebook on We Heart It....

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:30:12 -0500

thosestarsaremesmerizing:

Facebook on We Heart It. http://weheartit.com/entry/27271902

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Mon, 25 Feb 2013 12:30:28 -0500

grand-motherwillow: in which neil degrasse tyson holds up the...

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:30:16 -0500

grand-motherwillow:

in which neil degrasse tyson holds up the page where they explain what star the planet krypton orbits

omg

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Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:30:31 -0500

undyingfame: Twins right?

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:30:11 -0500

undyingfame:

Twins right?

sagansense: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Called By The...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:30:32 -0500

sagansense:

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Called By The Universe

Potentially the best interview (so far) with Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson (astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, host of PBS’ magazine series NOVA ScienceNOW and director on the board of the Planetary Society).

This is the best holiday gift I could attempt to share with all of you. Skip liking this & reblog it amongst your tumblr mates & everyone you know. Promote good science. It’s the reason for the “season” - literally.

Below are a few excerpts on various topics throughout the interview with Roger Bingham via The Science Network:

The Influence/Attachment of the Public on the Pluto “Controversy”
Tyson: Well I can’t comment on how their interpretations are. I can tell you that there was a lot of talk about the fact that astronomers should listen to the public about how we might classify our cosmic objects. And I thought that that was not how science proceeds. You don’t go to medical doctors and find them polling the public to find out what they should call their next medicine. Or what their next discover is under the microscope. No other science subjects themselves to public participation in how they are going to classify the frontier of their research. So astrophysicists should be under no obligation to poll the public. I don’t care how deeply affectionate you felt for these objects that we had talked about. Now that’s not arrogance, that’s just simple common sense about what it is to move a frontier and the sensitivities you need on that frontier to classify or not. Now, what I was entertained by is, if scientists can’t agree, it’s kind of fun to get the public to weigh in on it, which is kind of what happened here. Just to see maybe there is someone who has some insights because clearly the scientists are not agreeing so why not look somewhere else to find out who can help out. And I don’t have a problem with that but not as a matter of policy. You do that because it’s a fun diversion, not because, ok, now it’s time to get the public to help us. No other science does that. You wouldn’t want another science to do that. It’s not how it works. So if that’s what’s called arrogance, that’s a misuse of the word arrogance. Arrogance would be we don’t even want to tell you what’s going on. An arrogant scientist is one who distances his or her own research from the tax paying public that enabled the research to happen in the first place. That’s an arrogant scientist. An arrogant scientist is one who doesn’t even take the effort to communicate what’s going on in the frontier with the public. That’s an arrogant scientist. That’s a scientist who sees it as beneath them to communicate with the public. We live in a time now where there’s no room for that.

On Richard Dawkins
Tyson: Wait, by the way, I would distinguish, no one would deny that Dawkins is one of the great communicators of our day. He’s got his books, they are best sellers and all the like, but I’d rather unpack the word communicator and split it into two categories. One of them is, are you effective at what you do? That’s kind of what communication means. It means you have a message and someone receives it. There are two ends to that line segment. That’s different from are you articulate? He’s articulate. That man, Dawkins, he’s got a level of articulation of his deliver that would make any American jealous. It’s why we all wish we had some kind of fraction of the literary education that goes on in the United Kingdom, over here. So he’ll make his point, and he’ll say exactly what he means and he’ll mean exactly what he says and he’ll say it with brilliant juxtaposition of words. Words that we hardly ever hear much over here but are brilliantly put together in a sentence. Yes, he’s articulate. Is the message working? If it’s not working, why not? Because being articulate is not the same thing as communicating. Communicating is understanding the mind of who you are talking to. Much as how great your communication, let people come to it, and paw at it and study it. Are you speaking straight to the soul of the person you are communicating with? And I don’t think he is. Because there are people who are not as articulate as he is who are actually put off by the weight of his expertise of oration. And I’m not trying to say that he should, what am I trying to say? I’m trying to say that if he took more time studying the mind of his listeners and wanted to have an effect on that mind, he would not speak in the ways that he does. Because there’s a sharpness to it, there’s a wit to it. It’s so sharp and so witty that it’s almost aggressive and it can turn people off. It does turn people off.

On Restoring Science To Its “Rightful Place”
Tyson: The rightful place of science. Rightful, I’d rather not use that word. Because while I have strong opinions on a lot of things, I don’t care whether you share my opinion. I don’t lobby people, I don’t write congress to try to get them to do something that affects other people who are not me. That’s not how I approach life. I approach life as a scientist and as an educator to try to get people thinking straight in the first place. Alright? Not teaching people what to think, but how to think. How to interpret information that comes to you. How to think about what somebody says. How to judge what someone else says. Judge the likelihood of it being correct or not. And that’s how I view my role. So what is the rightful place of science literacy? It’s that as many people in this nation should be as science literate as possible so that they can make informed decisions about the issues that affect the health and well being of this nation and of themselves. One should be science literate for selfish reasons. It inoculates you against people who would take advantage of you for you not being science literate. Who’s to say that the financial collapse of the markets would not have been completely avoided, or certainly mitigated if the borrowers had the power to calculate the affect of a variable interest rate on their monthly payments? If you could do that, then you could make a decision separate from the lender and say nope, I can’t afford this if the interest rate fluctuates to this point, I can’t afford my house. You can make that decision yourself. It’s empowering.

On Being Labeled A “Knowledge Pusher” On The Colbert Report
Tyson: I don’t think that’s what I am but if you had to sort of paraphrase and make it a quick little two word epithet, sure. Sure, knowledge pusher. But I don’t think that’s exactly what I do. I don’t think I push knowledge. If I were a knowledge pusher I would be like this encyclopedia, giving you things to memorize with every session that we sit together. My goal as a science educator and as a scientist is to empower you to think for yourself, and that’s not the impartation of knowledge. That’s, I think, the sharing of outlook and perspective, and wisdom, so that you’re empowered to make your decision. If you have to reference back to me to make your next decision, then I failed.

I could go on. Enjoy this, everyone. Make scientifically literate decisions this holiday :)

genode: Because nature is beautiful.

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:30:09 -0500

genode:

Because nature is beautiful.

How am I only just now discovering...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:30:29 -0500

How am I only just *now* discovering http://neildegrassetieson.tumblr.com/ ???

thehumanzee: i’ve seen creepshow, so yes.

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:30:25 -0500

thehumanzee:

i’ve seen creepshow, so yes.

estebanwaseaten: batmanfights replied to your post: Hey nerds! Tomorrow night, a 150-foot-wide...

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:30:38 -0500

estebanwaseaten:

batmanfights replied to your post: Hey nerds! Tomorrow night, a 150-foot-wide asteroid will come within 17,000 miles of Earth. That doesn’t sound like much but that’s closer than the moon and actually closer than many of our satellites.

If you haven’t read it already, Bill Bryson’s “Brief History of Nearly Everything” describes in loving detail exactly how screwed we’d be if an asteroid hit. It’d be over so quick, I can’t get that worried.

Oh, absolutely.

But if people really want to get scared, they should read up on Apophis. It’s the size of the Rose Bowl. COMING 2029 (and then, perhaps far more notably to settle the score, in 2036).

Or just watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson terrifically explain it.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson gives his expert opinion on the Russian meteor

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:30:27 -0500

madmarriage:

Russian Meteor - Weather Channel

Dr. Tyson

"I think whenever people finish their formal education, they say, “I’m done learning!” And then they..."

Photo

Photo

tweedlefish: Neil Degrasse Tyson in class as a kid

davvvvvid: My girlfriend knows me.

Neil deGrasse Tyson shows off his dance moves [x]

"So, if we ask ourselves, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ It would be—in spite of my diatribe about..."

awesome-everyday: L - R: Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek: The...

Photo

thosestarsaremesmerizing: Facebook on We Heart It....

Photo

grand-motherwillow: in which neil degrasse tyson holds up the...

Photo

undyingfame: Twins right?

sagansense: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Called By The...

genode: Because nature is beautiful.

How am I only just *now* discovering...

thehumanzee: i’ve seen creepshow, so yes.

estebanwaseaten: batmanfights replied to your post: Hey nerds! Tomorrow night, a 150-foot-wide...

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson gives his expert opinion on the Russian meteor

How am I only just now discovering...