A review by alba_marie
Letters from an Astrophysicist by Neil deGrasse Tyson

4.0

Chosen for a reading challenge (that ends today haha, cutting it a bit tight) as the science nonfiction read. Far from my usual genre, thi book was a fairly easy foray into science.

At its core, its basically Neil deGrasse Tyson responding to some of the many messages and emails he receives. Usually his responses are informative and inspirational; occasionally, they are more blunt and affirmative, depending on the initial letter. He is a very good spokesperson and debater and somehow manages to take criticism in stride. He also is quite direct and not afraid to share his opinion or explain to others why they are wrong.

I love his philosophy of learning how to ask better questions, and the idea of how you learn is more important than what you learn. He doesn't have a high opinion of GPA based school systems and I very much agree with that and would love to see an overhaul of the educational systems. He is a little too America centre and patriotism for me, a little too proud of a nation that isn't all that great for my tastes (having been born there but chosen to live outside the US as an adult).

But all in all, he strives to educate others and encourage them to think, to ask questions, to design experiments, to invest their time in science, to follow their interests, and to "keep looking up."