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At the age of 9 he knew what he wanted to do with his life, and he never wavered from his goal. Now, he's one of the world's most famous scientists. He's earned the title of "Most Powerful Nerd In The Universe" from National Public Radio and the title of "The World's Sexiest Astrophysicist" from People Magazine. He was instrumental in cutting down the number of planets in our solar system, and in doing so upset entire generations who had come to love Pluto as the quirky, smallest planet. And who is this icon of science that's recognizable by the general populace? ... Neil deGrasse Tyson.
在9岁时，他就知道自己这辈子想要做什么，并且一直坚定地追求这一目标。如今，他是世界上最著名的科学家之一。美国国家公共广播电台授予他“宇宙最强书呆子”的称号，《人物》杂志授予他“全球最性感的天体物理学家”的称号。他帮助推动太阳系行星数量的削减，此举令热爱冥王星的几代人感到十分失望，他们认为冥王星是最小的奇特行星。老百姓们都认识的这位科学界偶像是谁呢？他就是奈尔·德葛拉司·泰森。
Early Life
早年生活
Tyson was born in New York City in 1959 and grew up in the Bronx. His mother worked for the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and his father worked for the City of New York. Tyson was a star student at the Bronx High School of Science. Well before beginning at the Bronx High School of Science, Tyson had decided that science was the path he wanted to follow in life. When he was in elementary school, Tyson's class took a field trip to the Hayden Planetarium. While there, he felt that he was literally called to a career in science. "...so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the universe called me." Tyson immediately began committing time to his newfound interest - some might say obsession - and his time in high school showed his dedication to the study of the stars.
1959年，泰森在纽约市出生，他在布朗克斯长大。他的母亲在美国卫生、教育与福利部工作，父亲在纽约议会工作。泰森是布朗克斯科学高中的优等生。在泰森去布朗克斯科学高中就读之前，他就决定这辈子要走科学这条路。泰森在读小学时，他们班曾组织去过海登天文馆。在那里，他就决定要把科学作为自己的事业。“夜空给我留下的烙印太强了，我确信自己别无选择，事实上，宇宙在召唤我。”泰森迅速投入到自己的新兴趣上——有些人称之为痴迷——他的高中生涯可以展现出他对研究星星的付出。
While attending the Bronx High School of Science, Tyson was a wrestler but he devoted much time to his studies. He was the editor of the Physical Science Journal, and regular classes weren't enough for him ... he took classes at the very place that sparked his interest in astrophysics - the Hayden Planetarium. After school, he spent time observing the sky, moon, and stars from the roof of his New York home.
在布朗克斯科学高中就读期间，泰森是一个摔跤选手，但他的大部分时间都花在了学习上。他是物理学报的编辑，普通的课程已经无法满足他了……他参加了海登天文馆的课程，那里正是激发他对天体物理学兴趣的地方。他放学后就在纽约家中的屋顶上观察夜空、月亮和星星。
His dedication to science and academics during his teenage years grabbed the attention of some prominent people. One, you may have heard of - Carl Sagan. When it came time for Tyson to apply to college, Cornell was among the schools he applied to. Sagan was a professor at Cornell, and the admissions office made sure he was sent a copy of Tyson's application after they relieved the talent and potential that was within this aspiring scientist. Sagan was duly impressed by what Tyson had written in his application, so much so that he invited Tyson up to spend a day at Cornell. Tyson remembers that day in 1975 as one of the most formative in his life. Sagan died in 1996, and Tyson came into possession of his datebook which includes the notation "Neil Tyson" on the square for December 20, 1975.
在他的少年时代，他对科学和学术的投入吸引了几位杰出人士的注意。其中有一个人你们可能听说过，他就是卡尔·萨根。康奈尔大学是泰森申请的大学之一。萨根是康奈尔的教授，招生办公室可以确定他收到了泰森的申请书副本，此前，他们确信这位有抱负的科学家是有才华和潜力的。萨根对泰森写在申请书里的内容印象深刻，以至于他邀请泰森来康奈尔待一天。泰森记得，1975年的那天是他一生中最重要的一天之一。1996年萨根去世，泰森拿到了一本记事簿，在1975年12月20日的方框上标记着“奈尔·泰森”。
The two science-minded men spent the day together, touring Cornell's labs and discussing the mysteries of the universe. Sagan gifted Tyson with a copy of the book "The Cosmic Connection," inscribing it to indicate his prediction and hope for Tyson's career - "To A Future Astronomer." Tyson never forgot what he learned from Sagan that day, and the lessons he took back to the Bronx with him were about far more than the scientific method. "I already knew I wanted to become a scientist, but that afternoon I learned from Carl the kind of person I wanted to become. He reached out to me and to countless others. Inspiring so many of us to study, teach, and do science. Science is a cooperative enterprise, spanning the generations."
两个一心向着科学的人一起待了一天，逛了康奈尔的实验室，讨论了宇宙的奥秘。萨根送给泰森一本《宇宙的联系》，还签上了“给未来的天文学家”的字样，表明他对泰森未来事业的预测和希望。泰森永远不会忘记那天从萨根身上学到的东西，他把学到的东西带回到布朗克斯，这远不止科学方法那么简单。“我已经知道了我想成为一名科学家，但那天下午，我从卡尔身上学到了很多，他就是我想成为的那种人。他联系了我，还联系了无数人，他鼓舞了我们许多人去学习、教学、搞科研。科学是一起合作的事业，它可以传承数代。”
A few months after his visit to Cornell, Tyson graduated from the Bronx High School of Science. Even though his visit with Sagan had a profound impact on his life, Tyson opted not to attend Cornell. But as an excellent student, he had no shortage of prominent schools to choose from. Though Cornell wasn't the right fit for him, Harvard was.
泰森参观康奈尔大学的几个月后，他就从布朗克斯科学高中毕业了。尽管泰森和萨根一起参观校园的经历对他的生活影响颇深，但他依然没有选择康奈尔。作为一名优秀学生，他不缺名校供他选择。康奈尔不合适他，但哈佛适合。
Tyson entered Harvard as an undergrad in the fall of 1976. As a student, he paid his tuition partially through grants and scholarships, but also through a work study program. Part of Tyson's work requirement was to clean bathrooms on campus - including those of other students. On a Larry King Live appearance, he described the experience as "a little weird." But he was willing to do it to pay his way through school and achieve his dreams.
1976年秋，泰森以本科生的身份进入哈佛大学。作为一名学生，他的一部分学费是通过助学金和奖学金支付的，还有一部分是通过勤工俭学项目支付的。泰森的其中一项工作要求是打扫卫生间——包括其他学生的卫生间。在《拉里·金现场秀》的某场中，他形容这一经历“有点奇怪”。但他愿意做，因为可以自己挣学费，还能实现梦想。
Working and studying physics weren't enough to occupy the active and curious Tyson, though. He was on the crew team and the wrestling team while he was at Harvard, and was also a jazz, ballet, and Latin dancer. He graduated from Harvard in 1980 with a degree in physics, and kept his academic career moving forward with an acceptance to the University of Texas for a Master's Program.
对积极又好奇的泰森来说，物理学的工作和学习是不够的。他在哈佛读书时加入了划船队和摔跤队，还会跳爵士舞、芭蕾舞和拉丁舞。1980年，他从哈佛大学毕业，获得了物理学学位，之后他被德克萨斯大学的硕士项目录取了，继续在学术生涯上前行。
He completed his M.A. in astronomy 1983, and he intended to pursue a doctorate from the college. But he hit a roadblock, and Tyson himself admits that the roadblock was largely of his own making. Looking back, he has admitted that he didn't devote as much time to doing lab research during his graduate years as he should have and could have, and this prevented him from being able to go right from his Master's program to earning a doctoral degree. He even had professors tell him to stop working in the field of astronomy.
1983年，他获得了天文学硕士学位，打算攻读博士。但泰森遇到了一个阻碍，他承认这在很大程度上是他自己造成的。回顾过去，他承认自己在硕士期间没有花太多时间来进行实验室研究，而他本应该也本可以做到这一点，这让他无法在硕士毕业后直接攻读博士学位。甚至还有教授让他不要在天文学领域工作。
At one point, struggling as a student and broke, Tyson considered a very different job than that of professor or museum director. He thought about becoming an exotic dancer. He even went so far as to go to a show to see if he could do it. When the dancers came out and their skimpy undergarments were lit up as they gyrated to a rendition of "Great Balls of Fire," Tyson decided that no matter how broke he was, exotic dancing wasn't for him.
泰森在学生时期曾有段时间非常挣扎，他觉得当学生和当教授和博物馆馆长是完全不同的。他还想过做脱衣舞者。为了看看自己能做不能做这行，他还去看了演出。舞者出来后便开始旋转着演唱《大火球》，暴露的内衣也随之亮起，泰森决定不管自己混的多差，都不会去跳脱衣舞。
Thankfully for the scientific community, Tyson's break from academics was short-lived. With his undergraduate achievements and a start on a graduate degree, he was able to land a teaching job at the University of Maryland, and eventually found his way back onto the doctoral track in the Ivy Leagues. In 1991, fifteen years after scrubbing toilets to pay for his undergraduate degree, Tyson graduated from Columbia University with a doctorate in astrophysics. He then stayed in the Ivy League system, moving to Princeton for a postdoctoral position.
感谢科学界，泰森在学术生涯上没有堕落很长时间。有了本科期间的成就和硕士的起步，他可以在马里兰大学任教了，但他最后还是回到了常春藤盟校读博。1991年，也就是泰森打扫卫生间来挣本科学费的15年后，他从哥伦比亚大学毕业，获得了天体物理学博士学位。之后他待在了常春藤盟校系统，来到普林斯顿大学攻读博士后。
