There is no science in this world like physics. Nothing comes close to the precision with which physics enables you to understand the world around you. It's the laws of physics that allow us to say exactly what time the sun is going to rise. What time the eclipse is going to begin. What time the eclipse is going to end.
Interpretation
Physics provides precise understanding of the universe and its phenomena.
In this quote, Neil Degrasse Tyson emphasizes the unparalleled accuracy of physics in describing and predicting natural events. It highlights how the laws of physics serve as a foundation for understanding the world, allowing for precise predictions such as the timing of celestial occurrences, showcasing the discipline's fundamental importance in comprehending the universe.
In practice
This quote can be used during a science class to inspire students about the importance of physics.
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.
Electrical science has disclosed to us the more intimate relation existing between widely different forces and phenomena and has thus led us to a more complete comprehension of Nature and its many manifestations to our senses.
The study and knowledge of the universe would somehow be lame and defective were no practical results to follow.
Astronomy would not provide me with bread if men did not entertain hopes of reading the future in the heavens.
The sciences, even the best,-mathematics and astronomy,-are like sportsmen, who seize whatever prey offers, even without being able to make any use of it.
A lot of scientists hate writing. Most scientists love being in the lab and doing the work and when the work is done, they are finished.
'It worked.' (said after witnessing the first atomic detonation).
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