Opinion
Neil deGrasse Tyson a good pick as speaker
By Levi Lorenzo ’19
November 6, 2015
In case you, or anyone in the area, was concerned after hearing the collective squeal coming from the Hamilton campus last week, fear not. The students were merely reacting to the announcement of Neil deGrasse Tyson as the next Sacerdote Great Names Speaker. Tyson needs no introduction. In terms of name recognition among contemporary scientists, he is only rivaled by Stephen Hawking and Bill Nye.
Tyson is the first scientist to speak for the Great Names series and many on campus are excited. In the past, the speakers have primarily been politicians or entertainers. While Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Al Gore must have certainly excited the Government Department, Derek Jeter entertained the baseball fans on campus and Jon Stewart made sure that everyone’s funny bones were sufficiently tickled, the natural science departments must have felt left out. No longer will this be the case, as there is hardly a hotter name in science than Tyson.
Choosing a scientist makes sense. Hamilton espouses a liberal arts education and, accordingly, should bring in speakers that fit the educational goals of the College. Namely, the speakers should be experts on a wide variety of topics and should present intellectual diversity to the students. While the previous speakers may have better aligned with the majors most commonly studied on the Hill, maybe that reflected a sort of feedback system, where it was seen as though students were encouraged to study those topics instead of others. However, Hamilton’s expansion of and investment in the Taylor Science Center and the choice of Tyson as the Great Names speaker merely reflects the trend that Hamilton is trying to improve the natural science departments and emphasize the study of the natural sciences.
That said, I believe that Tyson’s speech will be enjoyed by those who are intrigued by science and those who typically are not. He is an incredibly engaging speaker, especially for a scientist, and anyone who has seen his television program Cosmos can attest that Tyson has a knack for making science interesting, not to mention that he has a voice that rivals Morgan Freeman’s in intensity. Tyson is the embodiment of the dreams that every nerd has. He is an entertainer-scientist, with a far greater emphasis on the latter of those two titles. The beauty of Tyson’s work is that he is so effective at communicating and engaging his audience, that he seamlessly makes science seem cool to even those who might have chosen Hamilton College because Hamilton does not require they take a science.
In an era when many of the best-known celebrities are associated with debauchery and living wild lifestyles in which virtue and morals are nowhere in sight (see Miley Cyrus et al.), Tyson is a refreshing change of pace. He is the kind of person that our society benefits from having in the spotlight. He is an inspiration to young kids that showing science is cool and that, if they work hard, they can be scientists too. The best part is that the fame is secondary to Tyson; it means little to him. When asked about the public’s enamor with him, Tyson replied, “I am not the object of their interest. The Universe is.” He is a scientist, and while he is famous as an entertainer, it is clear where his real interests lie and what his real job is.
Tyson’s natural entertainment abilities coupled with his outstanding wealth of knowledge make him the perfect choice for the Great Names Series. I am confident that he will be informative, inspiring and engaging. It is about time that the Great Names Series brought in a scientist, and who better than Neil deGrasse Tyson? Anyone who complains about Tyson being the speaker either takes the amazing opportunities presented by this Series for granted or does not understand just how cool science is with Neil deGrasse Tyson. Personally, I am not that much a science guy, but I was ecstatic upon hearing the announcement of Tyson as the Great Names speaker. I am a pretty big Yankees fan, and even I would say that if I had to choose between having Tyson and Jeter speak it would be a toss-up, and that is saying a lot. The fact that we have had a baseball player and not a scientist is a bit of an injustice. The College needed a scientist speaker, and Tyson fits the bill better than anyone else could. It is a shame that the speech will not be until April because the choice of Tyson was spot on.