Telling The Story

Natural History, Feb, 2000 by Neil de Grasse Tyson

All parts of the known universe reflect the same basic laws of nature we observe and test here on Earth. Our universe is thus a deceptively simple place. In detail, things may look complicated, but in general, cosmic complexity derives from only a few fundamental physical laws.

Energy is perhaps the most useful scientific concept ever developed. The consumption and control of energy on Earth is the foundation of what we now call civilization, and the transformation of this energy from one form to another establishes a direct link between us and the greater universe. Let's start with the calorie content of last night's T-bone steak. It derives from the flesh of a cud-chewing cow. The energy content of the plants eaten by the cow derives from the photosynthesis of sunlight. And the energy content of sunlight derives from the fusion of hydrogen into helium deep within the Sun's core. Furthermore, the basic chemical elements for life as we know it--including carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and iron--were forged within distant, high-mass stars whose explosive death throes spread their enriched gases across the galaxy.

Yes, we are all powered by thermonuclear fusion--and we are stardust.

Gravity is pretty useful too. The moons and planets of our Solar System and the stars of our Milky Way galaxy move through space as though they were performers in a cosmic ballet. Their paths are choreographed by the forces of gravity and the energy with which gravity endows all objects. Throughout the universe, the principles of gravity and energy also conspire to force large moons, planets, and stars to assume the shape of a sphere. Related principles of physics account for why water droplets and soap bubbles want to be spheres. This commonality of geometric form is yet another reminder that the laws of nature are at work everywhere and on every scale.

Astronomy distinguishes itself from most disciplines in many ways, but especially by the mind-stretching scales it invokes to describe space, time, and the sizes of objects in the universe: If the Sun were a black hole, it would be no larger than a child's marble, yet if the Sun were a red giant, it would be large enough to engulf the entire orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. And if the events that span the 15-billion-year time line of the universe were laid along the length of a football field, then all of human history would span the thickness of a single blade of grass in the end zone.

We built the Museum's new Rose Center for Earth and Space to emphasize cosmic unity on all scales--not simply because this idea is beautiful to contemplate but also because it explains how the universe actually works. What a rewarding challenge it has been to work with my scientific colleagues--alongside architects, exhibit designers, and, yes, administrators--to craft a venue that thematically marries cosmic space to architectural space.

Besides being a monument to the cosmos, the Rose Center is an educational organism whose concept, design, and execution embody the physical principles that enable us all to get a little closer to the rest of the universe. And the sphere that houses the new Hayden Planetarium is both beautiful and astrophysically relevant--something that cannot be said of pyramids, cubes, or other polyhedral forms.

By treating the universe as an interconnected system of cosmic objects and phenomena, we can do more than just show pretty pictures; we can tell scientific stories. The protagonists are the laws of physics. The plotline is the effect of these laws on the natural world. The love interest is the unending quest of the human mind to discover the unknown. The dramatic scenes are the evolutionary stages of the planets, stars, and galaxies. And the denouement is the still-uncertain ultimate fate of the universe.

Neil de Grasse Tyson is the Frederick P. Rose Director of New York City's Hayden Planetarium and a member of the newly launched Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. His recent book One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos, coauthored with Charles Liu and Robert Irion (Joseph Henry Press, 2000), is the companion volume to the Museum's new Rose Center for Earth and Space.