Don Herbert, better known to generations of TV viewers as Mr. Wizard, died June 12th at the age of 89. This is from Ars Technica (
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070...dies-at-89.html ) Before Bill Nye the Science guy there was Mr. Wizard who taught you there was a point to homework and something to watch instead of cartoons. I read science books (and science fiction) because of ideas he stirred up in my little head!
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After a few years in radio, he began developing a science demonstration program for television; its first episode appeared in 1951. From then until 1964, he produced 39 live performances a year of Watch Mr. Wizard for NBC. His influence went well beyond the shows, however, as his viewers formed over 5,000 Mr. Wizard Science Clubs in numerous countries, and he reached adults via appearances in major magazines and on talk shows, including Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
There is also a "very" nice piece at the NY Times:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/1...ning-mr-wizard/It quotes someone at Slashdot:
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I distinctly remember watching an episode of Mr. Wizard when I was about 5 years old. He was showing the power of centripetal force; took a bucket full of water and made a quick vertical circle with it. All the water stayed in the bucket of course. To my 5 year old mind, that totally blew me away.
Golly Mr. Wizard, You Made the World a Better Place!
