During America's invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003, Neil deGrasse Tyson faced a hard choice. Tyson – astrophysicist, sonorous TV host, poet laureate of the sky – was attending a symposium of the non-profit Space Foundation, which promotes space exploration. The meeting brought together university scientists, experts on space war and representatives of the military industrial complex that supports them both.

Between sessions, conference-goers watched CNN coverage of American weaponry pounding targets in Iraq. "Every time a corporation was identified as the producer of a particular instrument of destruction, its employees and executives in the audience broke into applause," Tyson writes. He blinked back tears. He thought about walking out and resigning from the foundation's board. But then he decided instead to "explore other ways to reconcile my emotions".

Washington Post