A childhood influence, Don Herbert, dies
Before Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Beekman, there was Mr Wizard. During the dim days of black-and-white broadcast TV, Don Herbert portrayed a kindly, soft-spoken science pal to scores of youngsters appearing on his show, and thousands of kids watching at home on the TV. I turned on “Watch Mr. Wizard” whenever it was on, and mourned its loss when it was canceled in 1964.
Now I mourn the loss of the man himself. Herbert died yesterday at age 89 at his California home, after suffering for years with bone cancer.
Herbert’s show, by today’s glitzy, high-tech standards, was slow and dull. Most kids nowadays would probably not have the patience to watch it all the through. But in the 1950s and early ’60s, that’s what TV was like. The appeal of Herbert’s show was the gee-whiz effect he created, encouraging kids to use household materials to discover science.
(You can order Mr Wizard programs here.)
One Mr Wizard trick I still use is his method of removing tarnish from silver. Fill a disposable aluminum-foil pan with hot water (or place a sheet of Al foil in a glass baking dish) and dissolve a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of baking soda in the water. Place the silver article in the water and wait. Gradually the tarnish (silver oxide) will leave and be deposited on the aluminum. Why? Because aluminum is more reactive than silver; oxygen would rather form an oxide with Al than with Ag.
Whether Herbert’s show had any influence on my eventual choice to become a science teacher, I can’t say for sure, but watching him during those early years of childhood (before age eight) — according to the experts, those are the chief “imprinting” years of children — did encourage my love of science.
I collected rocks, checking them against a rocks and minerals field guide. I looked at the night sky with a telescope and binoculars. I had a chemistry set (the kind that would never be sold today because of the fear of liability suits). I read science books.
And studied physics in high school, college and grad school.
So, Don, thanks for all your help. I hope to be as good a teacher as you were.
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Amazon also has a few items produced by Don Herbert:
Mr. Wizard’s Supermarket Science
June 15th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Didja know I played volleyball a few times with Bill Nye? A fine Seattle denizen. And actually a fairly intense volleyball player, surprise surprise.