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Neil deGrasse Tyson Brings Astrophysics Down To Earth

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This show originally aired May 2, 2017.

With guest host Jane Clayson.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has cosmic questions about space and time. He’ll bring it all down to earth for us.

Neil deGrasse Tyson attends the National Geographic 2017 "Further Front" network upfront at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in New York. (Andy Kropa/AP)
Neil deGrasse Tyson attends the National Geographic 2017 "Further Front" network upfront at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in New York. (Andy Kropa/AP)

Guest

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, author and director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. His latest book is "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry." Host of Startalk on the National Geographic Channel. (@neiltyson)

From The Reading List

CBS News: Neil deGrasse Tyson, our joyful guide to the stars — "This is what happened when astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson paid a visit to his old high school. You might expect pandemonium here, at the Bronx High School of Science in New York City, which has graduated eight Nobel Prize-winners. For these kids, the 'star man' is a rock star.  But adults love him just as much. One man said, 'He's, like, only the smartest man on the planet.' 'Whoever thought a scientist could be funny, you know?' said one woman. And another man summed it up: 'He's the epitome of geek cool.'"

New Yorker: Starman — "Being able to pivot comfortably between the general public and the political plutocracy is a skill no less complex than being able to analyze data from the Hubble telescope; being able to do both is very unusual. Tyson has served on two Presidential commissions, under George W. Bush, an experience that has given him insight into the horse-trading necessary to gain funding for any venture, and a pragmatism about the motivations of any elected official."

New York Times: Quite A Distance Off — "Politics, literature, entertainment and pop culture, combined with nimble vocabulary, heavily feed these puzzles. But as science rises in our culture, empowering us to become better shepherds of this world that we are borrowing from our descendants, we might expect to see science-inspired clues alongside the traditional ones. And maybe even an occasional puzzle that’s entirely science-themed."

Four ~Amazing Facts~ From Neil deGrasse Tyson

There are more microbes in one linear centimeter of your lower colon than there are humans who have ever been born.

There are more molecules of water in a cup of water than there are cups of water in all the world’s oceans.

There are as many air molecules in a breath of air as there are breaths of air in the earth’s atmosphere.

Dark energy is a measurement that the universe is accelerating in its expansion. If this continues, which we think it will, then in trillions of years, our nearest galaxies will have accelerated beyond our horizon of detection.

Read An Excerpt Of "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" By Neil deGrasse Tyson

This program aired on July 3, 2018.

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