The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Astrophysicist in town to talk movies at the Fox
Neil deGrasse Tyson finds science in unexpected places.
In a world filled with Kardashians and Real Housewives, there is fortunately a place for an astrophysicist rock star. His name? Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Elevated by the success of Fox’s “Cosmos” series in 2014, Tyson has gone from lecturing college auditoriums to big theaters such as the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. He’s back April 20 for his second trip in just over a year after a sold-out appearance in March 2015.
“Any time you sell out, they want you back,” Tyson said in a recent phone interview from the Hayden Planetarium in New York, where he is director. “The formula is pretty easy. I generally offer a theater or organization a selection of talks. I don’t tour in the traditional sense. I could do 12 consecutive talks in the same place, and they would all be different. It depends on what they’re in the mood for.”
The Fox Theatre should be honored. He said he now gets 200 requests to appear at events a month. He has to say no to almost all of them. It doesn’t hurt that the Fox features twinkling stars on the ceiling. For a planetarium director, it’s like home.
The theme for the April 20 show is movies. And while it would be obvious for Tyson to focus purely on sci-fi films such as “Star Wars” and “Interstellar,” he said he will talk about other genres as well.
“It’s not as interesting to comment about whether a sci-fi movie gets it right or wrong,” he said. “It’s more fun when you find science in a movie you didn’t expect.” 7:30 p.m. April 20. $50-$100. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. www. foxtheatre.org.
Although he hasn’t finalized all the films he will touch on, he knows he will bring up Pixar’s charming 2001 animated film “Monsters Inc.”
“It relates to multidimensional travel,” he said. “You might not have thought about it that way.
“When you see that film, you don’t think sci-fi. You think fun entertainment. I’ll show a clip or image and explain what’s going on.”
Tyson has been making science understandable to the average person on stages for decades. He said this goes back to eighth grade, when he was able to explain matrices better to his fellow students than the math teacher. He believed he was able to do so because he had just figured matrices out. His teacher had known it for so long, he had forgotten the perspective of a newcomer to the subject.
He learned over time how a speaker should take into account his audience in order to go beyond standard lecturing: “I want to lecture on another level. I want to tailor lessons to my audience and sharpen my ability to communicate when I am teaching people.”
And yes, like a good comic, he may throw in some local references to curry favor. “I might reference ‘The Walking Dead’ or the CDC, which is in Atlanta,” Tyson said. “It helps me connect with the audience.”
As for the lure of space travel, Tyson remains enamored. He knows how America got into space so quickly in the 1960s: the Cold War. “War money flows like a river,” he said, “but now there is insufficient motivation.” He said travel has to be financially viable despite the high risk of death. “People right now don’t see the return on investment,” he said.
Tyson thinks we are still at least 10 years out before space tourism will truly begin. Some planned trips are merely 200 miles above Earth. That’s not enough to entice Tyson. The moon a quarter-million miles away? That’s something he might consider.