Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Essay Example

His passion and advocacy for science is evident in all his undertakings. Technically, Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, and a science communicator regularly seen as the host of special science occasions. The scientific community has heaped numerous academic and honorary degrees to this 56-year-old Tyson. When we talk about Neil deGrasse Tyson, we are talking about a hardcore scientist and a prime-time badass scientist. Neil deGrasse Tyson was born in October 1958, in Manhattan, New York City, United States of America.

His father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson, was a sociologist while his mother, Sunchita Feliciano, was a gerontologist. At the age of nine, Neil visited the Hayden Planetarium, the largest planetarium in the world. After returning from his visit, Neil developed an enhanced passion for astronomy. He attended Bronx High School of Science and actively participated in writing and editing the school’s physical sciences magazine (Marne, 19). Neil possessed not only a great passion for astronomy but he was also an excellent communicator.

Surprisingly, he had started giving astronomy lectures at the age of fifteen. In the midst of his teenage lectures, Neil deGrasse Tyson was discovered by the iconic astrophysicist Dr. Carl Sagan. Sagan invited him to join an undergraduate degree program at Cornell University but Neil opted to pursue his degree at Harvard University, where he graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics (Marne, 25). After receiving the Bachelor’s degree, Neil deGrasse Tyson became distracted by extracurricular activities like wrestling and dancing.

Three years later, Neil proceeded to earn the Master of Arts in Astronomy and Master of Philosophy in Astrophysics from the University of Texas and Colombia University respectively and finally received a PhD of Astrophysics in 1991. Technically, Neil deGrasse Tyson completed his academic journey in 1991, and commenced his career in science. In 1992, Neil