Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

Neil deGrasse Tyson, PhD, is an astrophysicist, science popularizer and teacher, and administrator of the Hayden Planetarium of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He got his bachelor of arts from Harvard and his doctorate from Columbia University; both degrees are in astrophysics. He has written or co-written several books and hosted multiple TV programs, including Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Nova Science Now, and StarTalk. “In November 2000, the main-belt asteroid 1994KA, discovered by David Levy and Carolyn Shoemaker, was named 13123–Tyson” in the author’s honor (176-77).

Tyson is widely considered the heir to the legacy of his mentor, Carl Sagan, an astrophysicist, exobiologist, and the prominent science writer and educator of his generation. Tyson’s work on his Cosmos series honors the earlier series of the same name by Sagan.

Widely considered one of the greatest scientists in history, Englishman Isaac Newton (1642-1727) figured out the universal laws of motion and gravity, co-invented calculus, made important contributions to optics, invented the first reflecting telescope, and made many other contributions to human knowledge. In Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Newton is important chiefly for his discovery that the laws of physics apply everywhere, from an apple falling off a tree to the stars moving through the heavens.