WHAT: Reading, Q. and A., and book signing. Light supper will be served. “The Pluto Files” and other titles by the author will be available for signing.

WHEN: Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6:00 - 8:00pm

WHERE: Pace University, Multipurpose Room, One Pace Plaza, level B

From Plutos 1930 discovery to the emotional reaction worldwide to its demotion from planetary status, astrophysicist, science popularizer and Hayden Planetarium director deGrasse Tyson ( Death by Black Hole ) offers a lighthearted look at the planet. Astronomical calculations predicted the presence of a mysterious and distant Planet X decades before Clyde Tombaugh spotted it in 1930. DeGrasse Tyson speculates on why straw polls show Pluto to be the favorite planet of American elementary school students ( for one, Pluto sounds the most like a punch line to a hilarious joke ) . . . . ( Publishers Weekly Reviews, November 3, 2008 )

Tyson is the on-camera host of PBS-NOVAs spinoff program NOVA ScienceNow, writes a monthly essay for Natural History magazine, is the author of seven books, was appointed to NASA’s Advisory Committee last year and is a former member of two Bush commissions, including the federal “Moon, Mars and Beyond,” to show how a new space vision can become part of the national agenda. Tyson is the recipient of seven honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.

His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union in their official naming of asteroid 13123 Tyson. Tyson graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, earned his BA in physics from Harvard and his PhD in astrophysics from Columbia. He has been the invited guest of heads of state, national and international, and his delivery skills combine humor, poetry, literary references and the combative maneuvers of a wrestler as he presents indispensable truths which affect our daily lives.

Media admission is by press card.

# # #

Source: Media Newswire