of this title. More About the Author Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist with the American Museum of Natural History, director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium, a monthly columnist for Natural History, and an award-winning author. He lives in New York City. Dr. Tyson has written a wonderful memoir that will inspire anyone who reads it to become more interested in astrophysics, how to be a better parent, ways to improve as a mentor, and to seek out an inspirational profession. The ultimate charm of this book is that Dr. Tyson is a warm, witty, self-effacing, and passionate human being. I seldom get the feeling from reading a book that I would enjoy having the author as a friend, but Dr. Tyson affected me that way. For young people thinking about a career in science, Dr. Tyson is an excellent role model of how focusing on the joy you feel from the subject matter can evolve into additional joy from the intellectual content. In his description at the end of the book of how the putative Big Bang may have happened, I was enthralled. It was almost like reading poetry. Now, I have read many descriptions of the same subject, and have never been moved by them before. Dr. Tyson also makes an eloquent case for creating planetary defense capabilities to divert or destroy asteroids or comets that could create catastrophic collisons with the Earth. I came away convinced that this was a worthwhile activity. You may, too. Dr. Tyson