Farewell, Mr. Wizard

[filkertom]

Great sadness. Don Herbert, better known as Mr. Wizard, has passed away at the age of 89. A lot of us started really learning science from that guy.

Comments

Condolences--and one more thing

[mikescookies.livejournal.com]

Saw a few old episodes on late night PBS a long time ago--he was one of the greats.

Tom, can you contact me soonest regarding what we talked about at FKO? Check your Yahoo mail for details.

Re: Condolences--and one more thing

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Done. And welcome to LJ! :)

[louisadkins.livejournal.com]

Doh! I remember him. I didn't even know he was still alive. Sorry to see him go. I actually took one of his experiments to school - I can't remember the chemical compound that you could sprinkle over flame and get blue sparklies, but I had it in my chem set, at home. I brought it in to my class, and spent the last half hour burning off a vial of it. (I know what would happen if a kid tried to do that, today - I figure that's a snark for another day) He shall be missed.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

That's what I just said to my husband -- "Mr. Wizard died...wait, I didn't know he was still alive!" o_O

Mr. Wizard was a wonderful part of my childhood. R.I.P.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

Aw, hell. I loved Mr. Wizard. =(

I remember looking him up a few months ago and being astounded he was still alive, honestly.

[drzarron.livejournal.com]

I grew up with Mr Wizard. I did just about every experiment he did (that my parents would let me).

It is a VERY sad day for Science!

[amgem.livejournal.com]

I remember watching Mr. Wizard's World on Nickelodeon years ago...that, and You Can't Do That On Television. I couldn't wait to watch his show, though, and see kids doing the experiments with him. He made science interesting and fun.

I agree with the comment above - tis a sad day for Science.

Thank you for posting that, Tom!!

[unclelumpy.livejournal.com]

Aw, man! Mr. Wizard?

That sucks!

Ah, well...

I know you don't much stock into this, Tom, as is your right, but...

I kinda get a kick out of the mental image of Mr. Wizard standing in the big, mighty hand of "The Man Upstairs", and this booming but gentle voice saying;

"You know, I always liked the way YOU put this 'science' thing... Tell me more!"

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Now, how can I help but smile at that? :) Heck, I can imagine Doug Marlette's drawing of that exact scene.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Damn, man! That's like Santa Claus dying or sumthin'! He was teh KEWLIST!

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Bill Nye

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about that at least - I think Bill Nye the Science Guy has taken up Mr. Wizard's mantle for the current crop of whippersnappers

Re: Bill Nye

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Not to mention Paul Zaloom as Beakman.

Re: Bill Nye

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

Holy crap - "Beakman's World"! - I totally forgot about that one :) - that was the show with they guy in the rat suit, wasn't it? :)

Re: Bill Nye

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

Re: Bill Nye

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

If you have time, check out billnye.com (his loading animation is a hoot :) ), especially the "Home Demos". Unfortunately, Disney has control of his videos and is selling them at outrageous institutional prices - $40-$50 per DVD!

Re: Bill Nye

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

This sucks...

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

I remember both series as well :). In fact, he came to a summer day camp one day when I was just a wee bairn. I, to this day, remember him doing the sucking-the-egg-into-the-bottle bit for us. He did some other stuff - he was there the whole day - but that's the bit I really remember.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

We're gonna need another Timmy!!

Oh wait, that was Mr. Lizard from Dinosaurs. Even that was funny because people remembered Mr. Wizard and got the joke right away.

"This is science, Timmy, not a bruhaha!"

*sadness*

[lordavon.livejournal.com]

I *loved* Mr. Wizard.

*sadness*