Stacy Conradt
The Quick 10: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mr. Wizard
by Stacy Conradt - June 12, 2008 - 1:54 PM

Don Herbert, AKA Mr. Wizard, died a year ago today at the age of 89. I thought it would be a fitting tribute to do a little research on him and let you know about the guy behind the experiments.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mr. Wizard

1. He acted with Nancy Reagan (then Nancy Davis) in 1940 as an actor at the Coach House summer theater.
2. After summer theater he decided to go pro – when he graduated LaCrosse State Teacher’s College in Wisconsin in 1940, he headed to NYC to pursue a career on Broadway.
3. His Broadway dreams were interrupted when WWII happened and he decided to serve his country as a private in the Army Air Forces. He was a B-24 bomber pilot and flew 56 missions. By the time he was discharged in 1945, he was a Captain and had earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.
4. Although a lot of us probably know him from Mr. Wizard’s World, the idea actually started with a 1951 T.V. show called Watch Mr. Wizard. Among other prestigious awards, the show won a Peabody and three Thomas Alva Edison National Mass Media Awards.
5. Don Herbert and his wife developed a traveling assembly program featuring young performers teaching students about science. It’s estimated that the show was presented to about 1.2 million students every year.
6. Some of Mr. Wizard’s shows included teaching kids why cakes rise, how to cook a hot dog by electrocuting it and showing how centrifugal force worked by using a bucket of water.
7. He took notes on every experiment and never threw them out – he ended up with at least 18 cabinets full of notes.
8. He was a fairly frequent guest on Hollywood Squares during the 1986 season. I so would have called on Mr. Wizard – you know he knew his stuff.
9. You know the Diet Coke and Mentos geyser? The man responsible for the 18-foot record, Steve Spangler, was inspired to start his career in science by none other than Mr. Wizard.
10. The educational show Beakman’s World had a little homage to Mr. Wizard: the two penguin puppets on the show were named Don and Herb.

Do you have a favorite Mr. Wizard experiment? Share it in the comments.

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Comments (15)

  1. I aced HS physics because I had already done every experiment as a child with Mr. Wizard. I loved that show!

    posted by winvin on 6-12-2008 at 2:05 pm

  2. i loved the little penguin puppets on Beakman’s World! one of their gags that has stuck with me was when one penguin told the other penguin to turn on the television and the second penguin said “i love you TV”. hehehehehehe

    sorry, i was rambling there for a moment.

    apparently i fail the spambot test, i can hardly ever read the reCAPTCHA words.

    posted by the creature on 6-12-2008 at 2:14 pm

  3. (In the voice of Johnny Carson)

    I did not know that

    posted by Dave on 6-12-2008 at 2:18 pm

  4. It’s centrifugal force, not centripetal.

    posted by Ron on 6-12-2008 at 4:36 pm

  5. I loved how Mr. Wizard was always above the law because he always got special permission for the fire department. And I loved his little robot monster named HERO.

    posted by Jeremy B. on 6-12-2008 at 4:40 pm

  6. Yeah, I cringed a bit at that one too Ron.

    Anyway, between Mr. Wizard and Beakman’s World its no wonder I ended up working in a scientific/engineering field.

    posted by Allen on 6-12-2008 at 4:42 pm

  7. Sorry, guys. And THAT is why I am a writer, not a scientist. :)

    recaptcha: the juice. Did you know today is the anniversary of the day Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson were murdered? Is RECAPTCHA trying to tell me something?! Or maybe it’s just encouraging me to try steroids.

    posted by Stacy Conradt on 6-12-2008 at 4:49 pm

  8. Mr. Wizard was awesome!! I used to wake up at like 4:00am just to watch him on TV when I spent the night at my Grandma’s when she lived next door to us. I even have his old 50′s DVD’s that you can buy at Wal-mart for a dollar!

    posted by Ryan Smiga on 6-12-2008 at 6:29 pm

  9. Also loved him as the forensic scientist on “Police Squad”

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 6-12-2008 at 8:09 pm

  10. My favorite was when he filled his sink with dry ice and created a cloud in his kitchen!

    posted by Amber on 6-12-2008 at 8:53 pm

  11. OMG I loved Mr. Wizard and was so upset when he died. I would stay up all night just to watch him, because he was AWESOME. I still think about his show from time to time.

    It’s a shame that they don’t have shows like his on anymore. They should add him to the Nick at Nite line up (since it stinks now) I would SO totally watch it.

    RIP Mr. Wizard :(

    posted by Kelly on 6-12-2008 at 10:10 pm

  12. My favorite experiment was simple….if you put your finger on a person’s forehead while they are trying to stand from a sitting position, then cannot get up….I don’t know why, that is one that stands out in my mind.

    I loves Mr. Wizard when I was younger….Nickelodeon was the best!

    (strange side bar: My reCAPTCHA is Adolf repulsed)

    posted by Michelle on 6-13-2008 at 10:14 am

  13. Sorry there rob…it actually is centripetal force. I know it sounds wrong…and you’re all going to start yelling at me…but centrifugal force doesn’t exist. seriously, google it. circular motion is defined by velocity with acceleration to the center, and that acceleration towards the center is centripetal. Yes, the felt motion is towards the outside…but any high school physics student knows centrifugal force doesn’t exist. Its a little bit more complex than that…but thats the simple version. just thought I’d clarify

    posted by hmmmm on 6-13-2008 at 12:11 pm

  14. @ Ron and Allen
    If Mr. Wizard wanted to explain why your shoulder hurts when you swing a bucket of water in a circle, he might describe that force of the bucket/water on your shoulder as centrifugal, but the force that keeps the bucket (and water in the bucket) going in a circle is a centripetal force. “It has not been more simply, or directly stated than by one Isaac Newton in his famous “Principia” (definition 5):
    ‘A centripetal force is that by which bodies are drawn or impelled, or any
    way tend, towards a point as to a center.’” – Dr. Ken Mellendorf

    I say “he might” because a centrifugal force is a “fictitious” force, and proper use would need to describe a rotational frame of reference, describe adherance to Newton’s 3rd law, and detract from the experimentation for which the kiddies are actually tuning in. Or mebbe Mr. Wizard never read Newton.

    Thanks for the article, Stacy. As usual, your first inclination is usually right.

    posted by Eric on 6-13-2008 at 12:17 pm

  15. thx Stacy, brings back a lot of memories….

    posted by louis papciak on 6-13-2008 at 2:45 pm

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