Random Review 2 - Neil deGrasse Tyson Live!

by Brooke

Seeing Neil deGrasse Tyson live was a check off my bucket list I didn't even know I needed - until I found out he was coming to Atlanta. Live, in our very own Fox Theater! I didn't know what to expect from his lecture, only that it was gon’ be good. 

And NdGT rocked the house. His stage presence is just as rallying as you’d expect – more so, even. He spoke with eloquence, yes, but he also joked, ranted, made off-collar comments, and even FaceTimed Bill Nye right from our stage (more about that later). You could tell the man was having a blast, and he had the audience eating out of his hand. 

Almost everyone there was a die-hard NdGT groupie, save a few he outed from the very beginning: “How many of you were dragged here by someone? Raise your hands.” Only a couple dozen hands went up in a sea of 4,000. “Then you guys may not get this next slide.”

The slide said “PLUTO.” Followed by “(It’s still not a planet).” And then a shot at any Pluto mourners: 

"Get over it."

Oh, boy. NdGT was dropping bombs from the get-go. Bring it.

The topic of the lecture was “Science Literacy.” His primary target? The United States of America.

But first Tyson started with an even touchier group. He bemoaned the loss of the scientific Golden Age of Islam, of the billions of Muslim minds that are not being put to their optimal scientific use in our modern age. He followed up with a passing comment on the intellectual repression of half of the population over most of history, i.e. women. NdGT just wants everyone to science, man. 

He went on to point out that since we sent humans to the moon, the U.S. has experienced a noticeable decline in scientific progress. He blames, among other phenomena, religious steadfastness to erroneous beliefs in the face of scientific evidence, in particular the seeping of religious doctrine into our education system and into politics. He showed us maps of scientific spending per country to see the downward trend in scientific research in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world. This map showed the trend between 1990 and 2001. 

credit: http://blog.beerkens.info/index.php/2007/01/the-world-according-to-maps/

At the same time, Tyson made it clear that he supports freedom of religion and freedom of speech. He emphasized that as long as he fulfills his scientific responsibility of alerting religio-politicians to the consequences of their words, they are then welcome to do as they please. NdGT doesn’t want to get involved in politics. “Don’t identify me with anything other than being a scientist, because I’m fricking thinking for myself,” he asserted.

Tyson also touched on environmentalism. He joked that he pictured himself explaining to an alien that we use coal and oil as energy sources – non-renewable resources that cause political turmoil and pollute our breathing air? Silly humans.

He mused that it took going to the moon to start caring about our Earth. He pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association were founded in the years following this iconic “Earthrise” photo taken by William Anders of the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. 

credit: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1249.html#.VRLp0abF8rM

His message to us, in a nutshell, was this: We can do better. We must do better.

Between his serious points, NdGT made us howl in laughter. As I mentioned above, he FaceTimed Bill Nye the Science Guy during his presentation. Two of the world’s most famous science communicators, together, talking directly to us! Geek heads were exploding left and right. Someone kindly put the call on YouTube here, though it is a little hard to make out everything Bill Nye says (the Fox Theater better step up its wifi game if they want more science talks). 

Bill Nye, natch, was wearing a bow tie.

NdGT nearly brought tears to my eyes more than once. He reminded us of the infinitesimal scale of Homo sapiens - both on the level of Earth’s many species, and, of course, on the level of the universe. He showed us pretty pictures of Saturn from the point of view of the Cassini spacecraft, including this “Pale Blue Dot” photo of the Earth from under Saturn’s rings. 

credit: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/23jul_palebluedot/

A beautiful quote from his role model, Carl Sagan, drove home how small we are in the cosmos. 

Perhaps the most touching moment of the evening was Tyson’s final Q&A response. An astrophysics student asked him why she should continue to study the stars when she can apply her intellectual capital to solving problems here on Earth. 

Don’t ever assume that studying the unknown is a waste of time, and don’t ever study anything other than what you love.

Tyson’s impassioned response was that studying the unknown is what leads to progress here at home. He cited the applications of magnetic resonance imaging and quantum physics, both developed from physicists’ research of space. He left us with food for thought: Don’t ever assume that studying the unknown is a waste of time, and don’t ever study anything other than what you love.

Having seen him in action, I’m more convinced than ever. If there’s anyone who might be able to lead our generation in changing the world for the better, it’s Neil deGrasse Tyson.