“We spend the first year of a child's life teaching it to walk and talk and the rest of its life to shut up and sit down. There's something wrong there.”

American astrophysicist and science communicator of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, he bridges complex cosmic concepts for broad audiences. His work on the Cosmos television series and public lectures makes astronomy accessible, while his writings and media appearances champion evidence-based reasoning and critical thinking.