I'm on a crusade to get movie directors to get their science right because, more often than they believe, the science is more extraordinary than anything they can invent.
Interpretation
Tyson emphasizes the importance of accuracy in science depicted in movies, urging directors to reflect real scientific wonders.
Neil Degrasse Tyson advocates for filmmakers to prioritize scientific accuracy in their films, arguing that the realities of science often surpass the most imaginative fictional narratives. By focusing on genuine scientific phenomena, directors can create stories that are not only entertaining but also enlightening, allowing audiences to appreciate the incredible truths of the natural world.
In practice
During a panel discussion on science in media, this quote could highlight the importance of accuracy.
The problem is that many people operate on the assumption that NASA should go to Congress every year with hat in hand and justify it every year. Well, I see it as the greatest economic driver that there ever was. Economic drivers don't need justification.
The press still thinks [global warming] is controversial. So they find the 1% of the scientists and put them up as if they're 50% of the research results. You in the public would have no idea that this is basically a done deal and that we're on to other problems, because the journalists are trying to give it a 50/50 story. It's not a 50/50 story. It's not. Period.
As a scientist, I want to go to Mars and back to asteroids and the Moon because I'm a scientist. But I can tell you, I'm not so naive a scientist to think that the nation might not have geopolitical reasons for going into space.
In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined.
One of my great laments is that education today seems to have... be less about passion and more about process, more about tactic or technique.
Lots of people think, well, we're humans; we're the most intelligent and accomplished species; we're in charge. Bacteria may have a different outlook: more bacteria live and work in one linear centimeter of your lower colon than all the humans who have ever lived. That's what's going on in your digestive tract right now. Are we in charge, or are we simply hosts for bacteria? It all depends on your outlook.
After I give lectures-on almost any subject-I am often asked, "Do you believe in UFOs?" I'm always struck by how the question is phrased, the suggestion that this is a matter of belief and not evidence. I'm almost never asked, "How good is the evidence that UFOs are alien spaceships?"
I think that the discovery of antimatter was perhaps the biggest jump of all the big jumps in physics in our century.
If your economy grows [by] 4 percent, you ought to reduce child mortality 4 percent.
I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer.
A mind is accustomed to mathematical deduction, when confronted with the faulty foundations of astrology, resists a long, long time, like an obstinate mule, until compelled by beating and curses to put its foot into that dirty puddle.
Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same - it's not even close to the same.
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