Neil Tyson helps "Celebrate the Sciences"
Daniel Fleishman
NEWS EDITOR
With the confidence and
flair of a brilliant teacher, astro
physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson
delivered a rousing speech about
science in the media and empha
sized that the simple act of think
ing carefully and analytically can
broaden your intellect.
He spoke on Thursday, Oct.
26, at the New Garden Friends
Meeting of certain core concepts
that are repeatedly misunder
stood by the general public. He
placed the blame on careless mis
representation in newspapers
and on television. He also at
tempted to grow in the audience
some enthusiasm for astronomy
and physics that may not have
previously existed, while at the
same time demonstrating how
important science is in our ev
eryday lives.
By speaking in non-techni
cal terms with ingenious meta
phors - comparable to the late
science popularizer, Carl Sagan
- Tyson explained certain scien
tific ideas that can often be con
fusing.
For example, Tyson gave his
own definition of the scientific
method, which, by dictionary
terms, is a method of investiga
tion involving observation and
Bradley to speak on Thursday and conclude
speakers' series on "The American Presidency"
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Bill Bradley
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theory to test
scientific hy
potheses. He
said, for clarity,
"The scientific
method is any
system of ac
tions designed
to prevent you
from fooling
yourself. Built
into that is, of
course, skepti
cism."
At the
speech on
Thursday, as
part of his de
sire to correct
the common
misconceptions
of his field,
Tyson explained
that "science is a
way of thinking, science is a way of
knowing, science is a way of connect
ing yourself to the world around
you in ways that you might not have
of appreciated."
TVson, director of the recently
rebuilt Hayden Planetarium in New
York City and visiting research sci
entist and lecturer at Princeton
University, told his stories with a
genuine eccentricity, and drew in
numerable laughs with a knack for
witty one-liners. The audience wel
Staff
Reports
Bill Bra
dley, former
U.S. senator
and presiden
tial candi
date, will
speak on lead
ership, poli
tics and the
American
presidency.
The speech is
this Thurs
day, Novem
ber 9, in Dana
Auditorium,
at 9 p.m.
Bradley
served in the
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Neil Tyson gives one of his technical talks in the Frank Family Science Center
November 3, 2000
corned his warmth; it seemed that
not one person sat unaffected by
his passion for the subject.
He grew up in New York
City, where he was educated in
public schools until he went on to
Harvard University for his B.A. in
Physics. He then received his
Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Colum
bia University. He has done re
search in problems related to star
formation models of dwarf galax
ies, exploding stars, and the chemi
U.S. senate for 18 years and is
known as a leader, athlete,
writer and presidential candi
date. He is the author of four
books, with Values of the Game
in 1998 becoming a New York
Times bestseller.
Since retiring from the
U.S. Senate in 1995, Bradley
has served as chair of the Na
tional Civic League and has
The Guilfordian
c/o Student Activities
5800 W. Friendly Ave.
Greensboro, NC 27410
cal evolution of the Milky Way's
galactic bulge.
Tyson was the featured
speaker for the weekend's dedica
tion of the new Frank Family Sci
ence Center, a series of events en
titled "Celebrate the Sciences."
The events included short lectures
all day from alumni who have gone
into the various fields of science,
and culminated with the dedica
tion of the building and a picnic
dinner.
been involved in public affairs
and higher education. He
headed an institute focused on
leadership at the University of
Maryland, worked on issues in
international affairs at
Stanford University, and
taught an undergraduate semi
nar in public policy at the Uni
versity of Notre Dame.
COURTESY OF GUILFORD COLLEGE
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