Neil deGrasse Tyson wrote for the "Universe" column of Natural History until 2009.
Neil deGrasse Tyson . From 1995 to 2005 , Tyson wrote monthly essays in the `` Universe '' column for Natural History magazine , some of which were published in his books Death by Black Hole ( 2007 ) and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry ( 2017 ) . During the same period , he wrote a monthly column in Star Date magazine , answering questions about the universe under the pen name `` Merlin '' . Material from the column appeared in his books Merlin 's Tour of the Universe ( 1998 ) and Just Visiting This Planet ( 1998 ) .