Kilgore Trout's no nerd. A real nerd would know the transcendental numbers are a subset of the irrationals. Trout's a wannabe nerd.

So they think gravity falls exponentially with distance? That Arthur C. Clarke was the first to calculate altitude of geosynchronous orbit? That there are more transcendental numbers than irrationals?

The transcendental numbers are a subset of the irrational numbers. You are as well informed as Tyson. His fans are among the most clueless people on the planet.

He's not that great a scientist. His claim to fame is an advocate for science. But even there he falls short since he's often delivering inaccurate info to his audience.

His extemporaneous stuff is even more likely to contain wrong material. Like recently he told Joe Rogan there are more transcendental numbers than irrationals.

As a scientist he's pretty weak. He's more famous for over simplified pop science and history, often wrong.

We sorely need charismatic figures promoting science and rational thought. I'm guessing for that reason your Dad is happy with giving Tyson a pass. That was my attitude for a long time.

Did the co-authors of those papers include Tyson for his insight? Or his celebrity status?

Sure. The Galapagos penguins aren't imprisoned in a zoo.

There've been a few recent Reddit threads with similar questions. Here's one

He's not calling out Tyson's taste in movies. He's calling out Tyson's accuracy.

Science fiction can play an important role. Sometimes it can show us the way. For example many Apollo engineers were inspired by science fiction. Many fantasies from Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury have become reality.

Good advice. I know that I'm a dick at times.

Of my 77 blog posts, two are on Tyson. I am active in other forums besides Disqus discussions. For example the Space Stack Exchange. Very few of those answers or questions mention Tyson.

I guess you don't know about Bell curves either. You seem like a typical IFLS person.

Since his 1992 doctoral dissertation (that was rejected by the first review committee), Tyson has done little astrophysics. He was the lead author of paper on Uranus' tilt. And co-author with some teams hoping celebrity glamor would rub off on them.

Here's another one: Tyson's rant against idiot doctors, the American Medical Association and pre-med students..

In Bush and Star Names Tyson falsely portrays Bush as a demagogue and xenophobe. Hey, I'm fine with slamming Bush. As long as the slam is fact based.

There are penguins that live north of the equator. Tyson often repeats erroneous conventional wisdom. But that's one of the minor ones.

Kriss is saying Tyson is a pedantic bore who often gets it wrong. Newsflash: This isn't dissing science. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Science are not one and the same.