Book Review: The Sky Is Not The Limit

Neil De Grasse Tyson has a cool job. He is an astrophysicist and the director of New York City’s Hayden planetarium. He is an expert, sought after by the media for his expertise in celestial phenomena. He first wanted for become an astrophysicist at the age of 9 and he followed his passion to reach that goal.

What makes Tyson’s story interesting, though, is that he wasn’t a typical nerd. He was an accomplished wrestler as an undergrad. He began looking through telescopes at a young age, not out in the dark backyard but atop the apartment building in a middle-class neighborhood in New York. He attended public schools, all the while his teachers, except for a select few, told his parents that becoming an astrophysicist just wasn’t going to happen for this boy - that they needed to set more realistic expectations for their son.

According to Tyson, he is an astrophysicist who also happens to be black. Without using adversarial tones or preaching, Tyson delves into the some of the unique experiences he has had because people make assumptions about him because of the color of his skin. He talks about friendly but all too common encounters with the police, where his major offense seems to be DWB (Driving While Black). He tells a few other stories of encounters he has had in various stores or on the street that seem to show people reacting to his skin color rather than him. He even relates a story where, after the fact, he realized that he had been set up by a white female shoplifter. She had timed her exit with his, and when the store security alarm went off, the guard stopped Tyson while she kept walking. He makes a specific point of AVOIDING discussions on race in public, however, saying that his expertise is in astrophysicist and not race relations. He doesn’t discuss causes or solutions, just his personal experiences. His is a calm, quiet voice, but one whose experiences resonate, nonetheless.

Of course, what would this book be without mentioning his greatest and most controversial argument? This man, Tyson, is the one who led the charge to remove Pluto from the list of planets in the solar system and he gives a great example that supports his reasoning. If you moved Pluto into the orbital plane of Earth, it would grow a humongous comet-like tail that would stretch for something like 1/3 of the way around the sun. That is, Pluto is nothing like a planet - even a small one - but much more like a gigantic comet. It is an intriguing hypothesis.

The Sky is Not the Limit is an easy and fun read, especially considering it comes from someone whose business card reads “Astrophysicist.” Suggested reading for those who enjoy non-fiction.