Neil deGrasse Tyson Reveals The Mathematical Formula Responsible For His 34-Year Marriage.

Neil deGrasse Tyson recently appeared on an episode of the comedy podcast This Past Weekend to promote his newest book, "Starry Messenger."

Host, Theo Von, and Neil deGrasse Tyson on episode #420 of "This Past Weekend"Photo byTheo Von / YouTube

The 64-year-old New York native, Harvard-educated astrophysicist, author, and science educator, chatted with host and standup comedian, Theo Von, about everything under the sun -- including love, lust, and lasers.

During their nearly 3-hour discussion, the odd couple landed on the topic of Tyson's 34-year marriage with his wife, Alice Young. Segwaying from some in-depth philosophy on truth and beauty (from Tyson's book), Von asked Tyson if he ever applies "these same concepts into like whenever you were falling in love and stuff like that?”

Tyson's answer:

"So, the answer is yes I do. I don't often talk about this... do you want to hear it?"

Tyson went on to explain the "5-dimensional vector space" that allowed him to commit to his wife, whom he ironically met in a college class on mathematical relativity.

Admitting, "this is a little geeky", Tyson described his system for finding long-lasting love, using a 3-dimensional cube as an example. Each side representing a unique value -- a coordinate.

"Ask yourself, what do you care about in a relationship? Do you want the person to look hot? Nothing wrong with that. Make a note of that. Do you want the person to be good in bed? That's fine, be honest with yourself... Let's get a third one... Do you want the person to be kind, let's say."

Tyson instructed Theo (and the audience) to then "rate this person from 0-10" based on each coordinate. For example:

- Looks (5/10)

- Kindness (5/10)

- Good in bed (10/10)

How to calculate the volume of a cube.Photo byCurve Breakers / curvebreakersprep.com

"Get each person's volume. And go after the person with the largest volume. Because they might be higher in one than the other. But if you really care about them, it's the totality of that package that matters."

Tyson added, as a reminder, to pick coordinates you truly care about. Because volume is calculated by multiplying coordinates (as opposed to adding them), "if any of those go to zero, the volume goes to zero."

Tyson closed the analogy with one final piece of advice:

"Don't be ashamed of your values... be honest. People are their own individuals, why pass judgment on it?"

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