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FOR ASTROPHYSICIST Neil deGrasse Tyson, the tide started turning for geeks in the mid-1980s, when “Revenge of the Nerds” came out. “I think all the people that would otherwise be beating up on the geeks learned that we were the ones who knew how to fix your computer, so you had to treat us with some modicum of respect,” he said. “We’re not fixing your computer if we’re dangling from a hook with a wedgie.”

Dr. Tyson has since become a tour de force in that cultural shift, a dauntless and likable crusader. Whether as the…