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19 Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson. Patrick Eccelsine/FOX
Time period: 1958 – present
Subject: Astronomy
Biography:
Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was born on October 5, 1958, in New York City. In the early years, Tyson was interested in science and especially stars. His passion for star and stargazing was magnified when he was nine years old on a field trip to the Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. Tyson took courses that were offered at the Planetarium about stargazing. Where he would stargaze on the top of his apartment roof afterwards. [1] Tyson’s interest in stargazing transitioned to understanding the universe when he was 17 and applying to universities. One university he applied forwarded his application to the future host of the Cosmos documentary, Carl Sagan. (Carl Sagan hosted the first Cosmos in 1980 that ran for 13 episodes on PBS) Sagan hand-wrote Tyson an invitation to a personal tour of Cornell University with him on a snowy December Saturday. Sagan even offered a place for Tyson to stay in case the bus got stuck in the snow. After meeting Sagan, this was the type of person and scientist Tyson wanted to become “…treating students who shaw an interest in the universe with all the respect and dignity he showed me”. [2]
Eventually, Tyson chose Harvard University and majored in Physics. While also a physically active student, participating in the wrestling team and dances in various styles such as jazz, ballet Afro-Caribbean, and Latin ballroom. He graduated in 1980 with a B.A. in Physics. He would then attend graduate school at the University of Texas Austin (UT-A), where he faced a lot of racism because of the color of his skin. After finishing his master’s thesis in Astronomy in 1983, “…his advisor dissolved his dissertation committee-essentially flunking him.” [3] He would immediately transfer to Columbia University to complete his Ph.D. in Astrophysics about Galactic Bulge in 1991. [4]
Summary of their contributions:
Dr. Tyson’s research interest was in the astrophysical structure and evolution, such as stars’ life cycles, dwarf galaxies, the milky way, galactic structure, and evolution. He is currently the director of the Hayden Planetarium, the same one he went to when he was 9. He popularizes science through radio, podcasts, documentaries, TV shows, etc. The most notable contribution was the demotion of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet in the Hayden Planetarium during the reconstruction of the Rose Center for Earth and Space in 2000[5]. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially demoted Pluto as a dwarf planet due to its size and how it orbits around similar-sized objects. [6]
Integration with the BC Secondary Science Curriculum:
Dr. Tyson’s contribution to the BC curriculum is a well-spoken and passionate scientist communicator. He has devoted his career to teaching science and popularizing it through Cosmos documentaries, Youtube videos, etc. The last way Dr. Tyson indirectly contributes to the BC curricular is the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet. Science is an ongoing process of change, and this is an important concept and one of the competencies in the BC science curriculum. Dr. Tyson believes science is not just about hard facts, but it can evolve when discoveries are made or reevaluated. Therefore, science evolution is essential for our curricular competency as the BC curriculum modernizes, and Dr. Tyson demonstrates this with Pluto.
