That’s often good advice. Especially so when you realize afterward that, had you purchased a copy of ”Astrophysics for People in a Hurry,” instead of just reading the first chapter or two in the coffee shop in the amazing Powell’s City of Books the week before in Portland, Ore., you would have a good excuse to approach its author a few days later when you happen across him in Boise, Idaho.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, who makes a living explaining such phenomena to the press and public, had informed the media that he was not to be disturbed during all the run-up to Monday’s solar eclipse.