Passing of a childhood hero

Just in case you missed it, I'm a nerd.

In college I came to the realization that I always had been, but also learned that I didn't care. I love science and science stuff (though begging my parents for a chemistry set proved fruitless, and I see now how insightful they were). I took extra science classes when ever I could, and even put them in place of easy electives. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea.


I'm sure there's something genetic that pre-disposes me to Nerddom. Give the Eggheads long enough with their Human Genome Project and they'll find some link. I however think Don Herbert had a little something to do with that as well.

For those of you that missed the nerd bus in the 80's Don is better known as Mr. Wizard. He had a great show in the 70's and 80's that was 30 minutes of science goodness. I can still remember vividly two of his experiments. One, he had a kid stand on a walkway about 35 feet above a jar of grapejuice. he had that kid try to drink it through a straw, though he couldn't. He then stuck a pump at the top and showed that it couldn't draw the juice significantly further up the straw (it's an air pressure thing.) The other was a demonstration where he covered the bottom of a paper towel tube with tissue paper, he jammed a stick through it, and of course the paper tore. But then he filled the tube with a couple inches of salt, and it was enough to disperse the force, and prevent the tissue from tearing.

I couldn't get enough of the show growing up, but missed many of them due to the schedule a child must keep (apparently Educational programming is not the same as school when you're grounded from TV. My parents were so unfair!).

The sad news is that Don Herbert died Tuesday at the age of 89, from Bone Cancer. What one man can say they turned 2 generations of youth on to science? What an amazing life!

Lucky for the world at large, these episodes are available for purchase, including the show he did in the 50's-60's! Check out Mr. Wizard Studios for the DVD's. They make great Fathers Day or birthday gifts.

Goodbye Mr. Wizard. We will miss you.