Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilisation

Product Information

Dillard’s story reflects maturity and understanding from someone who was forced to mature and understand too much too soon.

The article also evaluates how the book is a stimulating and enlightening read that offers a fresh and original perspective on some of the most pressing issues of our time, and how it encourages us to embrace the power and beauty of science, reason, and curiosity, as well as the humility and responsibility that come with them. And even though an asteroid took out Earth’s big-toothed, badass dinosaurs, their absence pried open an ecological niche that allowed our tiny mammalian ancestors to evolve into something more ambitious than hors d’oeuvres for T. rex. That’s undeniably a beautiful thing—at least for the branch on the tree of life that became primates, to which we belong. Earth harbors at least 8.7 million species9 of plants and animals, most of which are insects. This staggering diversity of life sprang forth from single-celled organisms four billion years ago. In this very moment a harmonic intersection of Earth’s land, sea, and air supports every one of them. We are all in this together. One genetic family on spaceship Earth. This allowed me to reflect in its content as reader rather than as a writer -- two different assignments, of course.

Need Help?

The book is a collection of essays that explore various topics related to civilization, such as war, politics, religion, truth, beauty, gender, and race, from a cosmic perspective. The author uses his knowledge and experience as an astrophysicist and science communicator to illuminate the connections and contradictions between our human affairs and the natural laws of the universe.

In 2004, Tyson was once again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the “Moon, Mars, and Beyond” commission. This group navigated a path by which the new space vision can become a successful part of the American agenda. And in 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which guides NASA through its perennial need to fit ambitious visions into restricted budgets.I'd delighted to report that Starry Messenger accomplishes exactly what I set out to do: offer persistent and diverse ways for the reader to see the world differently -- to see the world as a scientist does, especially one who carries a cosmic perspective. Of course, there’s a lot of history behind the social coding of gender. The Bible says that a woman shall not wear “that which pertaineth unto a man” and “neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment.” Failure to obey such commands has been severely punished down the centuries, too. When Joan of Arc was accused of heresy in 1431, it was her persistent cross-dressing that in part condemned her to being burned at the stake.

In addition to dozens of professional publications, Dr. Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson was a monthly essayist for Natural History magazine under the title Universe. And among Tyson’s fifteen books is his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist; and Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith. Origins is the companion book to the PBS NOVA four-part mini-series Origins, in which Tyson served as on-camera host. The program premiered in September 2004. Now imagine the same scene playing out in a second cave. This time, however, the would-be pioneers win the argument. Perhaps these elders have greater foresight – or maybe they’re just less risk-averse. Either way, their go-ahead changes everything.The weight of tradition often falls on the side of folly. Galileo was also tried for heresy, but he was right: the Earth does circle the sun. If the natural world defies our assumptions so regularly, why should gender be an exception? Life is a cosmic lottery – and we all won. In a time when our political and cultural perspectives feel more polarized than ever, Tyson provides a much-needed antidote to so much of what divides us, while making a passionate case for the twin chariots of enlightenment—a cosmic perspective and the rationality of science.