The worlds of science and fame rarely meet.
Sure, there’s Mr. Wizard, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. And we’ve all seen Bill Nye and his bowties on social media and late night talk shows (and by the way, you should totally add Nye’s new show Bill Nye Saves the World to your Netflix queue right now). But, perhaps the biggest (pardon the pun) star of science is astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, host of Cosmos remake (it was, of course, originally hosted by Sagan) and pop culture phenomenon, Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
It’s hard to say when the friendly man, who can describe intensely complicated scientific theory in an incredibly approachable and often very funny way, first came into the public eye. But, there’s no doubt that he’s a household name now. And, he’s so beloved that most of us have forgiven him for his role in that unfortunate demotion of planet-status for Pluto a few years back.
Tyson is coming to Salt Lake next week to give a lecture. In true Neil DeGrasse Tyson form he’s not speaking at The U’s department of astrophysics, but instead will speak at the 2500 seat Eccles Theater. Tyson is a showbiz scientist. And if you need further proof, see his subject matter—he won’t be talking about string theory or black holes—he’s addressing the failures and successes of Hollywood in the scientific realm.
In the lecture, titled An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies, Tyson will discuss plot points from popular films from Star Wars to Frozen to tell the audience what filmmakers got right and what they got wrong, from the perspective of a scientist. And knowing Tyson, he’ll do it in his own affable, charmingly nerdy way.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Eccles Theater, Wednesday February 15, 7:30. Tickets are sold-out, but you may have some luck going to the box office day of show.
