Starry Messenger

Starry Messenger is a stark deviation from Neil DeGrasse Tyson's other books. Here Neil delves into more controversial topics, such as race, religion, the value of human life, and politics, and tries to expose them through the perspective of accountability, wisdom, and science. I liked the content as individual pieces—even if the author recycled some from his previous talks, podcasts, and other mediums—but I wanted a more unified message.

The book could use a more consistent tone and narration. Some chapters have mature, serious, and sometimes even gloomy tones, while others remind of the usual funny and somewhat goofy Neils' soundbites. For example, consider the chapter about race, skin color, and slavery: "A key step when you want to feel superior: can't have stupid, inferior Black people walking around who are more educated than you are. <...> Without the African slave trade, there are no romanticized plantations to feed the South's rose-colored memory of itself." Then you also have: "<...> why not take our visiting space alien to ComicCon. <...> The upside? Our alien visitor phones home and instead reports—"They're just like us!". However, the contrasting styles do not necessarily take away from the main points Neil is trying to make.

At times, the book seems like a way for Neil deGrasse Tyson to justify his tweets that have caused backlash over the years. Regarding mass shootings, Neil writes, "<...> I once posted a Tweet that should have been relegated to my Forbidden Twitter File, but I mistakenly thought people would be comforted to know that mass shootings are a tiny fraction of all preventable deaths in the country." Admittedly, owning one's mistakes is valuable, but referencing old controversial tweets does not bring anything new into the fold and only opens old sores. While I feel unaffected, some readers may see tweet references as Neil being out of touch with his audience.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and found the individual chapters compelling, even if Neil recycled some of his thought experiments and ideas from his previous work in other mediums.