I'd Rather be in Hell

-AND-

If there were true justice in the world, the roles would be reversed.

If only Hell existed...

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Admission time: I have a slight man-crush on Neil deGrasse Tyson. Besides being

• An Astrophysicist and science communicator
• Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space
• Host of NOVA scienceNOW on PBS
• Frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Jeopardy!.

The man has an awesome mustache that could lead men into battle in days gone by. Just look at this BAMF

Tyson was offered to be an understudy of Carl Sagan at Cornell University, but turned it down to study at Harvard instead. Today, he keeps Sagan's legacy alive by studying the stars and funneling his knowledge down to the common people. Along with Stephen Hawking and Noam Chomsky, Neil Tyson is one man whose lifetime I consider myself lucky to live during.

Though Tyson hasn't fully come out and said specifically that he is an atheist, here's a video of him ripping apart "Stupid Design" which is a moniker for intelligent design.

Carl Sagan Day

While I was hoping for a more introductory first day, I of course could not pass up the opportunity to celebrate the day honoring perhaps modern time's most influential atheist astronomers: the great Carl Sagan.

Astronomer, Atheist, Author, and Professor, Carl Sagan is the man behind such discoveries that we now take for granted as the surface temperature of Venus, the idea that the moon Titan may have liquid water, and the notion that every heave element in existence was formed through the extreme heat and pressure present in a supernova.

Or, as he put it, "We are made of Star Stuff". Nothing short of inspirational, if you ask me.

But perhaps his greatest achievement was not discovering something new, but instead hosting a television show in which he allowed the everyman to access his discoveries. I am speaking of course about the show "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" as well as the book by the same name.

Today I will celebrate by perusing my worn edition of "The Demon Haunted World". Should you wish to celebrate in a similar fashion, a complete list of his works can be found here

So to summarize, let us not forget a man and an atheist who has brought so much essential new information to the fields of cosmology and astronomy and who has also made that information understandable to the general public.