We went to the moon using just Newton's laws of motion and gravity. Newtonian dynamics we call it. So then we find out, "Well, this works because there's certain regimes we've never tested it in." Had we done so, we would show that it didn't work: For example, at very high speeds, very high gravity, Newton's laws fail. They just fail. You need Einstein's laws of motion and gravity. Those would be his special theory of relativity and general theory of relativity. Now you invoke those and it works.
Neil deGrasse TysonYou can deceive yourself into thinking that America is a technological leader, but if you don't see what anyone else is doing you have no accurate assessment - you can't make an accurate assessment of where you fit and why. I consider our moving frontier in space as the anecdote to that downward trend.
Neil deGrasse TysonThe solar system should be viewed as our backyard, not as some sequence of destinations that we do one at a time.
Neil deGrasse TysonScience is not a subject you took in school. It's life. We are wrapped by it, in it, with it.
Neil deGrasse TysonThe most creative people are motivated by the grandest of problems that are presented before them.
Neil deGrasse TysonIn astrophysics, we care about how matter, motion and energy manifest in objects and phenomenon in the universe. Stars are born. They live out their lives. They die. Some of the ones that die explode. Our sun will not be one of those, but it will die. And it'll take Earth with us. So we make sure we have other destinations in mind when that happens. And I've got it on my calendar.
Neil deGrasse Tyson