Tyson, Neil deGrasse (1958-…), an American astrophysicist, has become widely known as a communicator of scientific ideas. His research includes analyzing data gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope. He has studied star formation, exploding stars, dwarf galaxies, and the structure of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Tyson serves as the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He also explains science to the public through books, television programs, radio shows, and websites.
Tyson’s books include Merlin’s Tour of the Universe (1989), Death by Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries (2007), The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet (2009), Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017), Letters from an Astrophysicist (2019), and Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization (2022). He also wrote the memoir The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (2000).
Tyson has developed and hosted several Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television broadcasts. These shows include the four-part series Origins (2004), which presented the latest scientific ideas on the origin of stars, planets, and the universe. From 2006 to 2011, he worked on the PBS series Nova scienceNOW. Tyson has also hosted StarTalk Radio, a show aimed at an audience with no previous interest in science. In 2014, Tyson hosted a remake of Cosmos, a popular science series originally hosted by the American astronomer Carl Sagan. Cosmos received critical acclaim and won four Emmy Awards. Tyson has also guest-starred on a variety of popular television shows both for children and for adults.
Tyson was born on Oct. 5, 1958, in New York City. He attended public schools, including the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. A boyhood visit to the Hayden Planetarium sparked his interest in astronomy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1980. Tyson earned a doctorate degree in astrophysics from Columbia University in New York City in 1991. From 1991 to 1994, he worked in the department of astrophysics at Princeton University in New Jersey. He began working at the Hayden Planetarium in 1996. In 2001 and 2004, President George H. W. Bush appointed Tyson to commissions that advised the United States government on the space industry. Tyson has also served as an advisor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
