Quote

There is a theorem that colloquially translates, You cannot comb the hair on a bowling ball. ... Clearly, none of these mathematicians had Afros, because to comb an Afro is to pick it straight away from the scalp. If bowling balls had Afros, then yes, they could be combed without violation of mathematical theorems.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Age: 66
Born: 1958
Born: October 5
Actor
Astronomer
Astrophysicist
Cosmologist
Non-Fiction Writer
Philosopher
Physicist
Science Communicator
Science Writer
Teacher
Trekkie
The Bronx
New York City
Neil Tyson
Science
Ball
Theorems
Combed
Away
Clearly
Bowling
Scalp
Cannot
Pick
Mathematicians
Comb
Without
Straight
Violation
Afros
Balls
Literacy
Afro
Picks
Mathematician
Theorem
None
Translate
Translates
Hair
Mathematical
Combs

More quotes by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Image
... there is no shame in not knowing. The problem arises when irrational thought and attendant behavior fill the vacuum left by ignorance.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
You don't discard Newton. Newton becomes the limiting case of how you would apply Einstein's theories.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
You don't need to be a scientist to know Earth's age or that life evolved. You just need be one who embraces objective truths
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
The caricature of science is that we hold tight to the theories we have, and shun challenges to them. That's just not true. In fact, we hold our highest rewards for those scientists who can prove others wrong. And by the way, they are famous in their own lifetimes. We don't wait until they're dead.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Chimpanzees are an evolutionary hair's-width from us.... Now imagine a species on Earth, or anywhere else, as smart compared with humans as humans are compared with chimpanzees. How much of the universe might they figure out?
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Emotional truths woven by lawyers in the court of law are apparently more important than the truths of actual events. I have grown to fear for those whose innocence became trapped within the legal system.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
I don't live life to be remembered for anything.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
I wonder if, in fact, we have been observed by aliens and upon close examination of human conduct and human behavior they have concluded that there is no sign of intelligent life on Earth.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
In science, if you don't do it, somebody else will. Whereas in art, if Beethoven didn't compose the 'Ninth Symphony,' no one else before or after is going to compose the 'Ninth Symphony' that he composed no one else is going to paint 'Starry Night' by van Gogh.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
The only accounting we had of the origins and the structure of nature was Biblical Genesis.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
I try to educate the public and let them make the decisions for themselves.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
I'm not hard to find. I'm all over the Internet.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
If there's some kind of rock star status, would I be irresponsible if I didn't somehow use it for a continued greater good? I'm always involved in some way with reaching the public.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
You say you're worried about kids? I'm not worried about kids, I'm worried about grown ups... Children are not the problem here... We spend the first year of their lives teaching them how to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives telling them to shut up and sit down.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Life existed on Earth for nearly four billion years before anything remotely resembling a human being showed up. And even then, when we started to branch off from other apes about 10,000,000 years ago, our ancestors looked pretty different.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
America has an economy reversing relative to other nations in the world. And I want to turn that around. And one way I know to turn it around is to get everyone excited about what it is to innovate again.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Those who see the cosmic perspective as a depressing outlook, they really need to reassess how they think about the world. Because when I look up in the universe, I know I'm small but I'm also big. I'm big because I'm connected to the universe and the universe is connected to me.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
If it's a new planet, sign me up. I'm tired of driving around the block, boldly going where hundreds have gone before in orbit around earth-give me a place to go and I'll go.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Asteroids have us in our sight. The dinosaurs didn't have a space program, so they're not here to talk about this problem. We are, and we have the power to do something about it. I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy, to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not, and end up going extinct.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Image
Any time we are answer-driven rather than idea driven, we have lost the true meaning of education.
Neil deGrasse Tyson