To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery

Advertised on its cover as “A StarTalk book,” To Infinity and Beyond elaborates on many of the subjects discussed on Neil deGrasse Tyson’s podcast and subsequent television show for National Geographic. The TV show aired until 2019, and the podcast broadcast its last episode in 2022. Tyson has long been an advocate for greater public education regarding science, particularly in his field of astrophysics. He is also well-known for his congenial if sometimes argumentative debunking of Hollywood’s spectacles of pseudoscience.

The StarTalk podcast, first cohosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Lynne Koplitz, offered an entertaining take on various scientific issues. Tyson was also joined by other cohosts like comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord. Guests ranged from other scientists to celebrities like Wil Wheaton and Bill Maher. The audience could submit cosmic queries, which were answered during a special segment of the broadcast. The television show was structured like other late-night talk shows, with Tyson interviewing celebrities and other well-known figures from popular culture. Both shows were efforts to popularize science and explicate complicated concepts.

There is a relatively long history of attempting to bring scientific ideas—even quite sophisticated ones—to the public. Perhaps the original and most revered science communicator was Carl Sagan. His groundbreaking series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, aired on public broadcasting in the early 1980s. It covered everything from the evolution of life on Earth to the possibilities for life on the outer fringes of the universe. Tyson has followed closely in Sagan’s footsteps, hosting updated versions of the show in 2014 (Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey) and 2020 (Cosmos: Possible Worlds). In addition to Sagan, the physicist Brian Greene has written several popular books about physics, introducing the general public to the concept of string theory in his book and subsequent television series, The Elegant Universe. Michio Kaku, another renowned physicist, has hosted several television specials on networks like the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the Science Channel. He, too, has penned books designed to deepen the general public’s understanding of theoretical physics and its implications for humanity.

All these science communicators employ metaphors drawn from popular culture to illuminate complex concepts or expose the flaws in how the entertainment industry often portrays science. Tyson is no exception and is well-known for posting his debunkings on Twitter. In To Infinity and Beyond, he deflates the notion that Matt Damon would be buffeted by an enormous storm on Mars in The Martian; without the necessary atmospheric pressure, “a Martian dust storm would feel like a gentle breeze” (47). His aim is not to shame the producers, directors, or actors but rather to educate the public. In To Infinity and Beyond, he and his coauthor provide a reading list for their audience should they want to investigate the concepts explored—and the pseudoscience debunked—in each part further.