I really like Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is the Director of the Haden Planetarium in NYC and I became familiar with him on his many TV show appearances, including some very memorable ones on The Stephen Colbert Show (search YouTube for some of them). He is smart, articulate and able to communicate with the masses on subject mostly over our heads (pun intended!). He has become a pop culture icon, on the lines of Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye, the Science guy, while also maintaining a standing in the group of scientists such as Stephen Hawking and Carl Sagan.
After reading Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Almost Everything” I commented in my review that I was getting into these science books and Tyson’s fit the bill. I dare say that I was right in that this book too does a good job of describing, evaluating and coming to a plausible resolution to a question that has bothered scientists for generations – Is Pluto a Planet?
Tyson sets off to deal with this issue in a wonderful way. First he begins by stating the problem and then gives us a history lesson in how Pluto was discovered and considered a planet. Then he gets into the cultural and societal impact this has (plutonium named after Pluto, Disney Pluto, not so). This is then contrasted to societal reactions to the possibility of the declassification of Pluto status which he highlights I by including texts from letters and emails he received from young and old alike, decrying this change. Finally he spends a good part of the book discussing his role as the director of the Haden Planetarium as the Rose Center was built which included information about the status of Pluto. Tyson’s words and actions reveal a person open to further learning and considerate of the effect those changes will have on others. This is wonderfully punctuated by many, many emails and letters he includes that show the strong feelings on both sides of this issue. They are funny, witty and really show how much people care about something as simple as this.
One final note. I love Tyson’s voice, its cadence and balance and the sense of wonderment and excitement he is able to convey so I was very disappointed to find out he did not do the reading of this book, rather it was Mirron Willis. Willis is good, a winner of several audio book reading awards but I was disappointed none the less. It is for this reason that I can only give this book a rating of 4 Penguins. I wanted Dr. Tyson to read it to me!
After reading Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Almost Everything” I commented in my review that I was getting into these science books and Tyson’s fit the bill. I dare say that I was right in that this book too does a good job of describing, evaluating and coming to a plausible resolution to a question that has bothered scientists for generations – Is Pluto a Planet?
Tyson sets off to deal with this issue in a wonderful way. First he begins by stating the problem and then gives us a history lesson in how Pluto was discovered and considered a planet. Then he gets into the cultural and societal impact this has (plutonium named after Pluto, Disney Pluto, not so). This is then contrasted to societal reactions to the possibility of the declassification of Pluto status which he highlights I by including texts from letters and emails he received from young and old alike, decrying this change. Finally he spends a good part of the book discussing his role as the director of the Haden Planetarium as the Rose Center was built which included information about the status of Pluto. Tyson’s words and actions reveal a person open to further learning and considerate of the effect those changes will have on others. This is wonderfully punctuated by many, many emails and letters he includes that show the strong feelings on both sides of this issue. They are funny, witty and really show how much people care about something as simple as this.
One final note. I love Tyson’s voice, its cadence and balance and the sense of wonderment and excitement he is able to convey so I was very disappointed to find out he did not do the reading of this book, rather it was Mirron Willis. Willis is good, a winner of several audio book reading awards but I was disappointed none the less. It is for this reason that I can only give this book a rating of 4 Penguins. I wanted Dr. Tyson to read it to me!
It is well structured, entertaining and I could easily recommend it to anyone. Lots of positives, only the reader situation could be considered a negative at all. Enjoy it!
1 comment:
His passion for science is what I like.
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