a sad day for science geeks

I read last night that Don Herbert, who was known to generations of protogeeks as Mr. Wizard, passed away yesterday. He was nearly 90 years old.

I remember watching Mr. Wizard's World, You Can't Do That On Television and The Third Eye on Nickelodeon when my parents first got cable television, and I was so excited that there were three shows that appealed to the three strongest (at the time) aspects of my personality.

But learning about science though experiments that seemed kind of dangerous was my favorite. I loved Mr. Wizard's World so much, I even made an effort to understand their funny accents and mysterious metric system, so I knew what the kid was talking about when he said, "Um, aboot four meters?"

Mr. Wizard was the original Bill Nye The Science Guy, and Mr. Wizard's World was the original Beakman's World, so if you damn kids today have no idea who I'm talking about, at least you know what I'm talking about. Now get off my lawn.

Update: Reader rasa nails it: "He was the Mr. Rogers for us geeks, that's for sure. A sad day indeed."

Comments

[Tara]

I loved Mr. Wizard's World. I watched it as a kid and fell in love with science. The experiments were always fascinating. Mr. Wizard made science fun and interesting. It is guys like him that make learning so much fun. TV today could use more shows like Mr. Wizard and Bill Nye (sorry I've never seen Beakman's World) and less pointless cartoons that don't teach kids anything.
~~TARA~~

[Rikki]

Awww, I loved that man! He did make science fun.
RIP Mr. Wizard. ; ;

[Joseph J. Finn]

Wow, I kind of was beginning to think I was the only person who remembered The Third Eye on Nickelodeon. And from the same time period, there was the Tomorrow Children, which I'm happy to see there are now DVDs of!

[electricsoup]

I adored Mr. Wizard, he really did a lot of good for people, in providing such access to science in such a 'new' way for its time. And The Third Eye - I haven't even thought about that for years!! Thanks for the link, I'm about to take a walk down memory lane.

[Brian]

I remember seeing Flight Simulator for the first time on Mr. Wizard's World. It looked both cool (so complex!) and antiquated (CGA? My TI can do more color than that!) at the same time. And yes, thanks for the Third Eye mention. I was reminded of "Under the Mountain" while watching some classic Who, but had no idea what it was called.

[Kirsten]

I saw this on the news this morning...so sad. I loved Mr. Wizard.

[prof_rocko]

Mr. Wizard's World was great. I was right there with you, Wil watching those shows on Nickelodeon in the early 80's. One of the best things (looking back on it now) was the pattern of the children's responses to Mr. Wizard. They generally went from something like "What's that, Mr. Wizard?", to "What do you mean, Mr. Wizard?", to "Oh- so when the ions of the sodium chloride conduct the electricity through the water as an electrolyte, then the ciruit is completed and the flow of electrons in the filament heat it up and the light comes on!" in a few moments.

[rasa]

He was the Mr. Rogers for us geeks, that's for sure. A sad day indeed.

When I did phone support for a Microsoft partner years ago, he called for tech support! My friend took the call and when the caller said his name was Frank Herbert, in that distinctive voice, my friend was all "OMG MR WIZARD?!" Mr. Wizard was so pleased and honored that he was "recognized".

I so wanted to be one of his helpers. Like Mr. Rogers, I just always assumed he'd be there one day for my (hypothetical, not extant) kids.

[Carrie]

I, too, was saddened to hear of his passing, although he obviously lived a long, full life. I loved watching his show on Nickelodeon, and the love of science and experimentation that eventually led me to become an engineer was definitely nurtured by it.

I don't recall "The Third Eye," although I have fond memories of "You Can't Do That On Television." Other Nick favorites from the early '80s were "Pinwheel" and "Today's Special," but since I'm about 5 years younger than you, you might not have watched those.

[laanba]

I have such fond memories of Nickelodeon when I was growing up in large part because of those shows.

I liked being a geek and watching the science shows while other kids my age were watching who knows what. I still like being a geek. Thanks Mr. Wizard.

[rasa]

...err, Don Herbert. While Mr. Wizard rocked, he did not write Dune. Oops.

[Pirate Fae]

Yeah, I heard the news last night.

We'll never need another Timmy... *snif*

[sorakirei]

TT_TT I loved Mr. Wizard, and this news makes me so sad. Maybe just maybe, they might release the shows on DVD. Ah my childhood...

[Brian]

I add my own sorrow at Mr. Wizard's passing... I actually teared up a bit when I read that on CNN.com.

Then again, I'm glad someone else actually remembers "The Third Eye"! I loved that show... totally rocked and Ron Moody creeped me out to no end. :-p

And for sorakirei, you can actually buy the TV show on DVD. Apparently, he has a website that sells merch at mrwizardstudios.com.

[Jim Kiser]

I remember some of the original Mr. Wizard's World (Did I mention I'm old?) It was great entertainment that was educational. Shows like it are why we have Sesame Street today.

[somecanuckchick]

RIP: Mr. Wizard

[Hcane_Andrew]

Ah Mr. Wizard. A few years ago, my parents went on a cruise with Don Herbert as the Halley's Comet passed through. He signed these cool worksheets to give to my folks for us kids. It was a cool moment seeing those signed pages that explained how you could jump through a piece of paper - an experiment I had just seen a few weeks prior on his show.

I always thought Beakman's World did the memory of Mr. Wizard's World proud by naming their two penguin characters "Don" and "Herb."

He will certainly be missed.

[Mike Belrose]

Do they still have the thing they used to launch Hunter S. Thompson's ashes? It would be a fitting sendoff .

[Bitt Faulk]

Aha! The Third Eye! I'd been trying to find some reference to the story with the two kids with the red and blue stones for years now, but couldn't come up with anything. Until now. Under the Mountain was one of the stories on The Third Eye. You have solved years of frustration for me. Thank you!

That said, Mr. Wizard dying sucks. I was totally obsessed with that show when I was a kid. Probably still would be if it was still being produced. Some of the segments were kind of lame, mostly the ones where Mr. Wizard was just a voiceover. And the computer segments weren't that great -- not really much science involved in them. But any time he was experimenting, it was totally awesome. Thanks, Mr. Wizard. You helped develop my mind more than any other single TV show I can think of.

[Kyle]

Couldn't agree more, I blogged about my memories of watching Mr. Wizard as well.

http://tinyurl.com/3y28bp

RIP Mr. Wizard.

/kff

[Steve]

I read the news as one of the first things I did this morning. I've been bummed out all day. The worst part was my wife never having heard of him, so she couldn't relate.

[angie k]

Sad. I was very young when I watched him so I don't remember much of the show. I just remember that I watched the show and thought it was awesome.

It's never a good day when someone from your childhood passes away, even if you just knew them from a tv show. Sad. :(

[billyarnie]

RIP Don Herbert. This old geezer remembers "Watch Mr. Wizard" on NBC in the 60's, which was redone as "Mr. Wizard's World" for Nick for Wil & you young whippersnappers in the 80's. Same show; shorter attention span in the 80's. Mr. Herbert did quickie shorts for the National Science Foundation after that, which were on my local TV station weekends. angie k summed it up: "It's never a good day when someone from your childhood passes away, even if you just knew them from a tv show. Sad. :("

[Tibbo]

I'd all but forgotten about Mr. Wizard until I read the news...how sad. :( One after another, the idols of my youth are passing.

But props to Wil and all the others who mentioned "The Third Eye"...I have NEVER forgotten that show, or those three shows, as such...the thing about the Supernova and the English town with the statues was good, the part about the aliens (was it?) and the kids at the lake and those weird tunnels was good, too...

...but the part about that labyrinth and time-travel and the good old guy and the evil woman...that still freaks me out to this day, and now I have a 3 in front of my age, by Zeus!

If I ever, ever come across a DVD of Third Eye, I will buy it more quickly than I could draw a gun.

Oh yeah, and "The Odyssey".

[shewhobeatsass]

I actually cried when I read this. I was on a ten-minute break from my Database class, and I read this and burst into tears. Once the kids found out why I was crying, a few who remembered who it was cried too.

Being quite a bit younger than you, Wil (You're about the same age as my older brother), I have only the vaguest, but happy, recollection of watching Mr. Wizard's World and You Can't Do That On Television when I was a mini-person. Good times with Mr. Wizard. Because of one of his shows, and I forget which experiment it was, I nearly set the dining room table on fire when I was 5.