"A genial advocate for the space program, Tyson offers diagnoses of its malaise that will resonate with its supporters."
This collection highlights Tyson's (director, Hayden Planetarium; The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet) writings from 1986 to 2011, including Natural History magazine's "Universe" columns, interviews, articles, tweets, and even a poem. Organized in parts—"Why," "How," and "Why Not"—the book covers the history, politics, science, and wonder of space exploration. It opens with a new essay lamenting the increasing lag in U.S. space exploration and closes with informative tables on a number of other countries' space budgets. Even at the height of spending in 1966, the United States spent less than one percent of gross domestic product on space. Tyson is an articulate popularizer of astrophysics, and many will recognize him from TV shows like NOVA and The Universe. His writing style, while necessarily a bit technical, is as engaging as his screen presence. VERDICT Young adult and adult readers, those interested in science and space exploration, and those opposed to or confused by the race to space will all be stimulated by this readable text. [See Prepub Alert, 8/15/11.]—Sara Tompson, Univ. of Southern California Libs., Los Angeles
Mirron Willis may not have the scientific expertise of author Neil deGrasse Tyson, but he does a compelling job delivering Tyson's love of science and the mysteries of the universe. Is there life on other worlds? Will humans ever reach Mars? How big is the universe? And what's up with Pluto? Willis speaks eloquently about these subjects, giving voice to a life of scientific investigation by one of the stars of space research. Willis's deep, rich voice even matches Tyson's, which is widely known through his many television specials about space exploration. There are no bells and whistles in this audiobook, just a lot of straight talk about the mysteries of the great beyond. And that's more than enough. M.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Astrophysicist Tyson, the director of Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, delivers a forceful, cumulative argument for space exploration even in the face of a disastrous economy. In this collection of articles and talks, the author investigates what space travel means to us as a species and, more specifically, what NASA means to America. Deploying an energetic tone, scattershot with clever twists and peculiar, entertaining factoids, Tyson handles the species half of the equation from the comic angle. That perspective is inclusive and humbling, open and encouraging of wonder, and the author finds in Earth a precious mote in the vastness, allowing readers to transcend the primal and celebrate great scientific laws to appreciate our place in the universe. It also helps us get past the jingoistic aspects of space exploration, for if NASA--the other half of Tyson's concern--is driven by anything, it is military politics. "When science does advance, when discovery does unfold, when life on Earth does improve," he writes, "they happen as an auxiliary benefit and not as a primary goal of NASA's geopolitical mission statement." But those auxiliary benefits are the critical, serendipitous fallout of the space program: GPS, cordless power tools, ear thermometers, household water filters, long-distance telecommunication devices, smoke detectors and much more. You can't script the benefits; you have to have faith in the cross-pollinating splendors of science, and Tyson finds little evidence for this in the current Congress. If Tyson handles both the rarified and scientific justifications of continued space funding with aplomb, his economic reasoning falls short. One half a penny of each tax dollar sounds scant, but that leaves only 199 like-sized programs for the entire government. An enthusiastic, persuasive case to start probing outer space again.
