Neil de Grasse Tyson started his “An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies” lecture memorably: by taking off his shoes. After getting comfortable on stage, Dr. Tyson critiqued nearly 20 scenes on scientific accuracy. From movies like Titanic to Budweiser and Heineken commercials, nobody in Hollywood was safe.
The sold out show was added to Dr. Tyson’s schedule about a month ago when the initial performance sold out at light speed. Asteria Theatre and Colorado Mesa University (CMU) hoped his visit would set a high bar for future speakers. CMU general education sophomore Aiden Kinser said that he would pay $300 for VIP tickets to see Bill Nye speak if he came to Grand Junction.
The first major show held in Asteria was not without its technical difficulties, but Dr. Tyson was able to roll with the punches. He encouraged the audience to “talk amongst themselves” during the brief moments.
There were an abundance of engineering students in attendance hoping to learn a thing or two from Dr. Tyson. Sophomore civil engineering student Evan Smith was finishing up the last few pages of “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,” in preparation for the event.
Aptly named for the evening, astronomy and physics student Pluto Brabaek said that Dr. Tyson inspired them to join the field. They said Dr. Tyson helps people maintain a childlike wonder about the world and they want to continue that legacy.
“He makes things bite-sized for people, because sometimes things can be very complex and hard to understand,” said Brabaek. “He can understand in multiple ways so that no matter what way you learn he can still make it in a way that you can understand it.”
For the audience members that are lacking in math skills, this evening was a great way to learn something new while being entertained. He discussed Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, fractals and the event horizon of black holes while grabbing big laughs from the audience.
“He puts things in simpler terms for me to understand, because when it comes to the math [I’m] not so great,” said Dwayne Hoff, a City of Grand Junction employee who has been a fan of Dr. Tyson for years. “He’s not afraid to talk about anything and apply science to it.”
VIP ticket holders were invited to attend a Q&A session with Dr. Tyson after the show. He answered questions about the Big Bang, privatized space exploration, life and even astrology. He wanted it known that astrology does not have any scientific backing.
Dr. Tyson said he does these lectures because he feels a moral obligation to proliferate real science in a palatable way. He wants to rebuke science denial and focuses on topics that pose a real existential threat to civilization such as climate change and homeopathy. As such, Tyson was open to including a second lecture date on a separate topic after his initial lecture sold out within hours of tickets going live on CMU’s ticketing website.
Tyson is the first renowned name to come through CMU’s newest space, and if the two lecture dates being sold out is any indication then there is likely to be more visitors considered to fill the Asteria Theatre.
