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Very sad to learn about the passing of Don Herbert, most famously known as Mr. Wizard. He died yesterday at the age of 89. He was part Mr. Rogers, part Dick Van Dyke, all legend. He was a WWII bomber pilot, Peabody Award recipient, and host of the longest-running show on Nickelodeon, Mr. Wizard’s World, an amped-up version of earlier incarnations of his show. When I was left to my own devices in the 80s, I plugged myself in to Nickelodeon. I loved watching Mr. Wizard welcome such pleasant, sweater-vested understudies into his homey, duplex-next-door laboratories–here was an adult who was brilliant and patient and wasn’t going to grade you on your attempts to shadowbox with the world of physical science! He taught me how to crush a gallon can, electrocute a hot dog, boil water with ice, make spaghetti dance, pour water along string, create a homemade volcano, find my pulse, and make a rainbow. He was my babysitter and he was my Abbie Hoffman. Thank you, Mr. Wizard.
Comments (6)
Comment
there is a great feature on him at the latimes.com website
posted by lee on 6-13-2007 at 3:13 pm
No! That’s horrible! Mr. Wizard was awesome… that’s really a shame. He’s one of the influences that got me into science in the first place. I’m sure he’ll be missed.
I wish kids had something similar to his show nowadays…
posted by Jason! on 6-13-2007 at 3:13 pm
That makes me so sad! I was also a big Mr. Wizard fan back in the day. Later, there was Beakman’s World, which was good and in the same “science is fun” vein, but lacked Mr. Wizard’s simple charm.
posted by Cynthia on 6-13-2007 at 7:38 pm
Mr. Wizard was one of my two childhood heroes - he showed us that science and technology were fun and useful and contibuted to the common good. I credit my going into the technology fields to his influence.
My other hero was Hopalong Cassiday.
Both taught me to always question self-proclaimed authority. Find the answers for yourself. Maybe that wasn’t their plan, but I learned it from them anyway.
Doc Stuart
posted by Doc on 6-14-2007 at 7:47 am
I was 8 when Mr. Wizard’s World debuted on Nick and I remember that being one of the few non-cartoon shows I was interested in at that age. I remember being intensely disappointed when I found out that the episodes were taped in Alberta, Canada - more than a few miles from my home in Mississippi - and that I’d never have the chance to be on the show and do experiments with him.
Bill Nye appears to be the successor to Don Herbert’s legacy and while I thoroughly appreciate what Nye does and has done, nobody (imho) could do it better than Mr. Wizard.
posted by Tom on 6-14-2007 at 8:03 am
Another fact about ‘Beakman’s World’: The two penguins were named Don and Herbert, I assume in homage of our Mr. Wizard.
Another such homage was on ‘Dinosaurs’ was a science show called “Mr. Lizard”, where the catchphrase was always ‘We’re gonna need another Timmy!’
posted by Michael on 6-16-2007 at 1:43 am