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Great Lives from History: African Americans

Neil deGrasse Tyson

by Michael A. Buratovich

Astrophysicist and writer

Tyson, an accomplished astrophysicist, became one of the most visible and respected scientists of the early twenty-first century. Through his numerous books, television appearances, public lectures, and radio shows, he has done much to popularize astronomy.

Area of achievement: Science and technology

Early Life

Neil deGrasse Tyson (deh-GRASS TI-suhn) was born in New York City to Sunchita and Cyril Tyson. As a child, he often climbed to the top floor of the Skyview Apartments where he lived to gaze at the night sky through binoculars. His parents encouraged his interest in astronomy with regular trips to the Hayden Planetarium. In 1970, Tyson’s father bought him a telescope for his twelfth birthday, and his interest in the cosmos grew into an obsession.

Tyson attended the Bronx High School of Science from 1972 to 1976 and also took after-school astronomy classes at the planetarium. He was an outstanding student and captain of the wrestling team. When he was fourteen years old, Tyson attended an astronomy camp in the Mojave Desert, and when he was fifteen, he began to make a name for himself by giving astronomy lectures. Stories about him piqued the interest of Cornell University astronomer Carl Sagan, who energetically recruited Tyson for the Cornell astronomy program. Tyson, however, attended Harvard University, where he majored in physics, was a member of the wrestling team, and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1980.

For graduate school, Tyson attended the University of Texas, Austin, where he earned his master’s degree in astronomy in 1983. He also was a member of a dance company. In 1985, he won a gold medal at a national ballroom dancing tournament in the International Latin style. In 1988, Tyson transferred to Columbia University, where he earned his doctorate in astrophysics in 1991.

Life’s Work

After graduate school, Tyson worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University for three years. In May, 1996, he was made director of New York’s Hayden Planetarium.

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. In 2004, President Bush appointed him to serve on the President’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy. For his work on these commissions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded Tyson its Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest honor given by NASA to nongovernmental civilians.

Although Tyson has published dozens of technical papers, he is most famous as a popular communicator of science. While he was in graduate school, Tyson wrote his first popular book on astronomy, Merlin’s Tour of the Universe (1989). In this book, a fictional character from another galaxy (Merlin) answers common astronomical questions. This book was the first of many that Tyson has written to present astronomy to the public. He also has written the “Universe” column for Natural History magazine.

Tyson also became a very public media figure. His wit and theatrical flair make him engaging and effective at explaining science to general audiences. In 2004, he hosted the four-part Origins miniseries for PBS’s Nova program. In the fall of 2006, Tyson became the host of PBS’s Nova ScienceNow. In 2009, with funding from the National Science Foundation, Tyson and comedian Lynn Koplitz started a commercial radio program called StarTalk, which helps nonprofessionals engage with modern science.

Tyson has been honored extensively for his efforts to expand public knowledge of science. Time magazine named him one of the One Hundred Most Influential People of 2007. In December, 2008, Discover magazine listed him among the Fifty Best Brains in Science. His fellow astronomers honored him by naming the asteroid 13123 Tyson for him.

Significance

When astronomer Carl Sagan, the famous popularizer of science, died in 1996, Tyson quickly took Sagan’s place as one of the most famous communicators of astronomical science to the public. His fluency with his subject and immensely likable demeanor endeared him to all kinds of viewers. His childlike fascination and awe for the universe inspired many people, even those with little formal education, to learn more about astronomy.

Tyson had to overcome racial stereotypes to become an astrophysicist, but he said that he was so “deeply in love” with his subject that no one could stand in his way. He is truly a role model for any aspiring scientist, regardless of their skin hue.

Further Reading

1 

Mirsky, Steve. “When the Sky Is Not the Limit.” Scientific American 282, no. 2 (February, 2000): 28. Profile of Tyson covering his work with the Hayden Planetarium and role in educating the general public about astronomy.

2 

Tyson, Neil deGrasse. Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007. A collection of Tyson’s lively “Universe” columns from Natural History.

3 

_______. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. A chronicle of Pluto’s discovery, classification as a planet, and later reclassification as a dwarf planet and the reactions it generated, including strongly worded letters from schoolchildren.

4 

_______. The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist. New York: Doubleday, 2000. Tyson’s autobiography describes his early yearning to study the universe and the obstacles he had to surmount to become an astrophysicist.

5 

Tyson, Neil deGrasse, and Donald Goldsmith. Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution. New York: W. W. Norton, 2004. This companion book to the PBS miniseries Origins traces the development of the universe from its first three seconds through the formation of stars, galaxies, and solar systems.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Buratovich, Michael A. "Neil DeGrasse Tyson." Great Lives from History: African Americans, edited by Carl L. Bankston, Salem Press, 2011. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLAA_175051932118.
APA 7th
Buratovich, M. A. (2011). Neil deGrasse Tyson. In C. L. Bankston (Ed.), Great Lives from History: African Americans. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Buratovich, Michael A. "Neil DeGrasse Tyson." Edited by Carl L. Bankston. Great Lives from History: African Americans. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2011. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.