Literacy, Curiosity, Education, And Being 'In Your Face'

Called, "the Carl Sagan of the 21 Century" and "sexiest astrophysicist alive" by Time Magazine, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, Neil Degrasse Tyson is not only the sometime guest of John Stewart's The Daily Show and Stephen Cobert's The Colbert Report. He's best known a that gutsy guy who took Pluto of the planetary guest list in 2006.

In NPR Interview "Neil deGrasse Tyson On Literacy, Curiosity, Education, And Being 'In Your Face'" he discusses the meaning of "science literacy", the importance of thinking for yourself, and why kids should be allowed to break things.

In high school, teachers warned me about spreading my interests too thin. The phrase "Jack of All Trades But Master of None," escaped one of their lips. So don't forget to read Linda Holmes epilogue, "Why Educators Need A 'Cultural Utility Belt," where deGrasse Tyson explains why that's just bunk. Hey, if it was good enough for Da Vinci then it should be good enough for grade schoolers.

You can catch deGrasse Tyson hosting Nova's Origins series and The Pluto Files on PBS.