For anybody interested, there is a Mr. Wizard marathon on the Science Channel today. I used to watch him all the time as a kid. I wonder if anyone else in the world has inspired as many children into scientific careers (or at the least a scientific outlook) as Mr. Wizard. The ones they're showing are the old-school black and whites. A bit before my time, I watched them on Nickelodeon during the 80's.

Please share any Mr. Wizard inspired story you might have.

Long live Mr. Wizard.

You know, I just had a thought. Mr. Wizard (can't remember his real name Don something?) should be given a nobel peace prize for what he's done. If Kissinger get's a peace prize, Mr. Wizard certainly deserves one. Anybody know what strings to pull to make this happen?

mr. wizard? for those of us who were born in the 90's, live outside the US and dont have staellite TV. who is he

A great man who taught science to children. He has had several television shows where he brings in kids and did various experiments (not on the kids, well, not really. I did just watch him pour some kind of iodine powder in a beaker then had a girl pour in water and all kinds of iodine vapor came out, can't be good to breathe. :p)

I was wondering if he made it outside of North America. If not, then you guys missed out. You poor latter day people were raised in a mentally destitute age. I pity you. :p Young whippersnappers. He was kind of like Bill Nye the science guy but with a brain. You probably don't know who he is either, do you? Are there any European Mr. Wizards?

Here's a site that has excerpts from some of his TV shows.

http://www.profzounds.com/wiz.html

Ah, a response. I was going to delete this thread since the marathon was over and no one seemed to care but I couldn't figure out how. Anyone know? I thought if you deleted the original post the thread would go; but when I clicked edit on the post, there was no delete option.

Thanks for the link, Cosmic, a shame they are only audio samples. I suppose if I had enough initiative I could search for some links myself to educate the world about Mr. Wizard. But I probably won't. I really think he should get a Nobel prize, or maybe just some American award, since the rest of the world doesn't know who he is. He really did influence a lot of kids. Several generations of children. I'm sure there's several scientists or scientific-minded people on this forum who owe their interest to science to this man.

Sorry Nexus, but my hero is still Mr. Bean. My previous hero was busted for perversion in a dark movie theater.

He was a great educator that is true but I wouldn't think an award other than a TV award for his show would be appropriate.

Ok, maybe I was a bit carried away with the Nobel prize, but surely his influence extends beyond entertainment.

YadaYada,

Mr. Bean? Learn a lot of science from him? And Pee Wee wasn't much on experiments either, at least not the non-sexual kind. :p


edit: And the thing about the Nobel prize. Kissinger got one for being a war criminal. :p Ok, that's an exageration, but his peace deal fell through.

By 1954. Watch Mr. Wizard was seen live on 14 stations and via kinescope on an additional 77. The National Science Foundation (NSF) cited Herbert and his show for promoting interest in the sciences and the American Chemical Society presented him their first citation ever awarded for "important contributions to science education." Three years into his network run, there were more than 5,000 Mr. Wizard Science Clubs across North America with a membership totaling in excess of 100,000.

Sensing the decline of Chicago as a production center. Herbert moved his show to New York in 1955. During this time, he would win a number Of national awards including the prestigious Peabody Award and three Thomas Alva Edison National Mass Media Awards. The total number of Mr. Wizard fan clubs would increase nearly tenfold to 50,000, Notwithstanding these accomplishments, NBC canceled the series on 5 September 1965.

Herbert's abilities as a teacher-producer of quality televised science education led him to the National Educational Television network where he produced a series of shows under the title Experiment (1966). He also produced films for junior and senior high schools, wrote a number of books on science and developed the Mr. Wizard Science Center outside of Boston. On 11 September 1971 NBC revived Watch Mr. Wizard but Herbert's old leisurely pace of the 1950s seemed outdated and the show left the air on 2 September 1972.

http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/watchmrwiz/watchmrwiz.htm