On a 'Nova' for students, he puts sizzle in science

All the universe is a stage for Neil deGrasse Tyson.

The scientist and the showman fuse in the handsome, genial host of the PBS series Nova scienceNOW, a flashy, fast-paced show designed for younger viewers.

Whether playing James Bond for a segment on cryptography or donning a black vest embroidered with gold suns and moons to deliver the program-ending commentary, Tyson takes the audience on a rocket ride across the scientific spectrum from anthropology to zoology.

"All the sciences are fair game," Tyson, an astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York's American Museum of Natural History, says in a phone interview.

"The goal is to show science as life, as a fundamental part of what it is to live in the 21st century."

Nova scienceNOW, the vehicle for that mission, is the cool offspring of the venerable PBS science series, Nova.

To appeal to the student set, Nova scienceNOW tries "to be a little more hip, to have a little more fun with the science," Tyson says.

Tonight's installment (WHYY TV12, 8 p.m.), the first of two original episodes that PBS will air this summer, is a typical entry. In four bracing segments, it covers:

The relationship between sleep and memory, including visits to the University of Pennsylvania, where neuroscientist Amita Sehgal studies the brains of sleeping fruit flies, and MIT, where researchers probe the dreams of rats.

The massive particle accelerator now nearing completion in Switzerland.

The concept of emergence, which explains how instinctive behavior, whether in schools of fish or crowds of human beings, creates order from the bottom up.

The work of archaeologist Julie Schablitsky, who has been digging into the stories of Donner Party cannibalism and Chinese laborers on the transcontinental railroad.

Tyson, 48, may be the perfect match for the show.

When he made his debut as host, narrator and executive editor in October (replacing first-season host Robert Krulwich), he already had a long TV resume. His first national TV appearance was a 1988 visit to CNN's Business Line to comment on the solar cycle and agriculture.

He doesn't just talk to the public on TV; he writes books that explain the complexities of astrophysics in layman's terms, with titles like Merlin's Tour of the Universe and Universe Down to Earth. His latest book, the recently published Death by Black Hole (Norton, $24.95), is another work of remarkable accessibility.

As his TV exposure increased and the books rolled off the press, Tyson became a celebrity. In 2000, People magazine named him "Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive." Who says a geek can't be glamorous?

But what makes Tyson ideal for Nova scienceNOW is his passion for science and for sharing his knowledge.

"He has an infectious enthusiasm for science," says Paula Apsell, senior executive producer of Nova. "He's the best ambassador of science that I know."

Tyson has a special command of language that enables him to talk about science to the general public in a "captivating" way, says Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer and planetarium programs director at the Franklin Institute.

"That's a real skill," adds Pitts, himself a veteran of many TV appearances and lately a frequent guest on Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show, Countdown. "Not everybody can do that."

Tyson's love of science goes back to his childhood in the Bronx when he visited the planetarium he now heads. By the time he was 11, he realized it was possible to make a living as a scientist.

Tyson took his love of science to Harvard, where he earned a bachelor's degree in physics in 1980. He added a master's in astronomy from the University of Texas in 1983 and a doctorate in astrophysics from Columbia in 1991.

His research specialty is the structure of the galaxy and the large-scale design of the universe.

That's arcane, difficult stuff, but Tyson isn't about to cock a supercilious eyebrow at those of us who have only the vaguest notion of what he's talking about.

In fact, you can go ahead and call him a popularizer. He won't mind at all.

As far as Tyson is concerned, TV is "the biggest classroom on earth." His aim is to use it to fight science illiteracy, which he sees as a "very slowly developing crisis" in the United States.

Being a popularizer won't cost him points with his fellow physicists. Any prejudice they might have had against using TV to reach the general public disappeared in the early 1980s, thanks to the work of astronomer Carl Sagan and his monumental PBS series, Cosmos.

"A whole generation of astrophysicists" grew up when Cosmos was on the air, Tyson says.

While reviews of Nova scienceNOW have been favorable, the program - with its skits and animation and surreal set - isn't for everybody, Apsell concedes.

Tyson doesn't dumb down the material, but some of Nova's loyal viewers don't care for the newer program's approach, she says in a phone interview.

They like an hour-long program on one topic, with a beginning, middle and end. Instead of an ending, Nova scienceNOW (a little bit like The Sopranos) offers "tantalizing hints."

To differentiate Nova scienceNOW from its parent, Nova scienceNOW will switch to Wednesday nights next summer, leaving Nova its long-standing Tuesday night slot, Apsell said.

Of course, public television series last only as long as their funding. A third season of Nova scienceNOW is assured, and most of the backing for a fourth season has been located, according to Apsell.

The host certainly would be happy to stick around for a long time.

"I would be glad to do it for years," Tyson says. "I see myself as a servant of the public appetite for the cosmos."