Neil deGrasse Tyson: science superstar, humble ‘servant’

Like Carl Sagan before him, famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is a rock star of science. The “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” host, podcaster, author, Twitter provocateur and star of his own forthcoming program on the National Geographic Channel comes to Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre Jan. 27 for “an evening of engaging conversation on science, exploration, and the world as we know it.”

He spoke with the Sun-Times shortly before his visit.

Q: Your Auditorium Theatre show is sold out or close to sold out at this point, right?

A: Or so I’ve been told. I’m just astonished every day I’m informed of this kind of fact. It’s not as though I’ve never given talks before; I give talks routinely. But in the day, they were at smaller venues or on campuses. And science has seemed to sort of leap from traditional small lecture venues into major performance spaces. And every morning I wake up, I say, “Have we told people that I’m a scientist?” [laughs]

CLICK HERE to read the rest of our interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson.