On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Let’s spend some belated Christmas time with Neil Degrasse Tyson. It seems the astrophysicist spent Christmas morning tweeting some things about the holiday and some things not about the holiday, and now some people are upset with him. Tyson spent the days leading up to the holiday celebrating little boy Alex and Santa’s interplanetary sleigh in the window of Macy’s in New York.
Little boy Alex travels aboard Santa’s interplanetary sleigh. @Macys, New York City #ChristmasWindows pic.twitter.com/pJKgqTQw5I — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 23, 2014
Alex & his dog float in space above Jupiter & Saturn. Joyriding with Santa in @Macys #ChristmasWindows pic.twitter.com/dlhDJlFHaA
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 23, 2014
My Room looked something like this at his age. Kudos this season to @Macys Cosmic @ChristmasWindows. pic.twitter.com/lKoz8VJC8M — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 23, 2014
But it was his tweets Christmas morning that resulted in the ~*drama*~:
On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday Isaac Newton b. Dec 25, 1642
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
QUESTION: ThIs year, what do all the world’s Muslims and Jews call December 25th? ANSWER: Thursday — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Merry Christmas to all. A Pagan holiday (BC) becomes a Religious holiday (AD). Which then becomes a Shopping holiday (USA).
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Santa knows Physics: Of all colors, Red Light penetrates fog best. That’s why Benny the Blue-nosed reindeer never got the gig — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 25, 2014
Some did not take kindly to the light ribbing, accusing him of trolling Christmas and being a bigot against Christianity.
@neiltyson why are you such a bigot towards Christianity? #BigotedHack
— Jamie (@JmeMiller1974) December 25, 2014
.@neiltyson is trolling Christmas today to show you how smart he is. #ScroogeWithaTelescope #Insecurity pic.twitter.com/HL8hQhJMJz — Bryan Jacoutot (@BryanJacoutot) December 25, 2014
The Isaac Newton tweet quickly became Tyson’s most retweeted tweet ever. The response grew to such that Tyson took to both Twitter and Facebook to respond. The former:
Imagine a world in which we are all enlightened by objective truths rather than offended by them.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) December 27, 2014
And an excerpt from the latter:
A few facts: My average re-tweet rate falls between 2,500 and 3,500. My fun tweets can go somewhat higher – up to 10,000. My boring tweets barely break 1,000. The Newton Christmas day tweet, as of this writing – a day after posting — is rising through 62,000 re-tweets.
I wonder if you are as astonished by this fact as I am. For example, I’ve made direct reference to Jesus in previous tweets that have not come close to this number. How about:
“Some claim the USA is a Christian nation, compelling me to wonder which assault rifle Jesus would choose: the AR-15 or AK-47.”
Posted September 7, 2014, that one garnered 13,000 re-tweets. So I can honestly say that I don’t understand the breadth and depth of reaction to the Newton tweet, relative to all my other tweets over the years.
What do you all think of all this hooplah?
(via CBS News)
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