It all began in a small, 5,000 watt station in… Sorry! Wrong “It all started…” speech!
Having done (and still doing BTW) a bit of the BDSM ‘Rubber Chicken Circuit’, perhaps I should tell a bit of from where I got my interest in science and technology and perhaps a bit of my presenting style.
Having ‘been around a while’ (and no snide remarks about Dino E-Play), most of you in counting back will realize that I actually was as a kid living in the tail-end of the radio era and the beginnings of the early television era, i.e., the 1950’s. Of particular interest to me was the Saturday radio kid shows and in 1953, when my family got its first television, the educational shows. Understand that for television this was before MTV, Bevis and Butthead, and the other ‘inspiring’(?) and ‘morally uplifting’(HAH!) shows of today. The TV industry was still trying to carve its cultural niche in society by saying it was an ‘educational force for good’. As a result there were shows like "Uncle Ned’s Flying Squadron” and “Dr. Daniel Q. Posen” teaching aviation and physics. Even the adventure stories like "Atom Squad” and "Captain Video” had ‘embedded’ lessons on atomic energy and space travel. All were the hot science topics of the day. Then there was Don Herbert (1917 – 2007).
Launching in 1951 Mr. Herbert had an extremely popular television show called “Mr. Wizard’s Science Secrets”. Its sponsor was The Cereal Institute which emphasized “…eat a hearty breakfast of fruit, cereal, milk, bread, and butter.”
Though coming from a theater and radio production background, he did get some practical technical training as a B-24 bomber pilot during WWII (check out Mr. Wizard Studios website). Nonetheless, every Saturday his program covered some physical science topic. One week it might be on electricity; another it’d be on combustion chemistry. The thing is that all the topics were presented in an easy-to-understand style with demonstrations and experiments that were drawn from everyday items: spark plugs, a doorbell, flour, kitchen cookware, etc. This was no school lecture hall with educational institution glassware and apparatus. It was science that a kid could sink his(er) teeth into. And it inspired the kids to do their own DIY experimentation—seeing as the setup and equipment wasn’t complex at all. And it certainly wasn’t like many a science teacher that presented the subject in a manner less interesting than pocket lint.
“Mr. Wizard” was my most favorite show. I watched it religiously every Saturday till I went to High School, and it gave me a way of understanding …really understanding… science that I still use today. Yes, there were other shows too—the space exploration lectures given by Dr. Wernher vonBraun on the Walt Disney show being a notable one, but Mr. Wizard imprinted me forever.
You’ll notice that in my lectures (unless you’re only there for the NGGE; see below) and my published experiments that I try (in my own—perhaps feeble—way) to carry on Mr. Wizard’s tradition. It was indeed sad for me to learn of his death in 2007—having almost reached his 90th birthday.
Thank you Mr. Wizard.
Cao-4-Now
Having done (and still doing BTW) a bit of the BDSM ‘Rubber Chicken Circuit’, perhaps I should tell a bit of from where I got my interest in science and technology and perhaps a bit of my presenting style.
Having ‘been around a while’ (and no snide remarks about Dino E-Play), most of you in counting back will realize that I actually was as a kid living in the tail-end of the radio era and the beginnings of the early television era, i.e., the 1950’s. Of particular interest to me was the Saturday radio kid shows and in 1953, when my family got its first television, the educational shows. Understand that for television this was before MTV, Bevis and Butthead, and the other ‘inspiring’(?) and ‘morally uplifting’(HAH!) shows of today. The TV industry was still trying to carve its cultural niche in society by saying it was an ‘educational force for good’. As a result there were shows like "Uncle Ned’s Flying Squadron” and “Dr. Daniel Q. Posen” teaching aviation and physics. Even the adventure stories like "Atom Squad” and "Captain Video” had ‘embedded’ lessons on atomic energy and space travel. All were the hot science topics of the day. Then there was Don Herbert (1917 – 2007).
Launching in 1951 Mr. Herbert had an extremely popular television show called “Mr. Wizard’s Science Secrets”. Its sponsor was The Cereal Institute which emphasized “…eat a hearty breakfast of fruit, cereal, milk, bread, and butter.”
Though coming from a theater and radio production background, he did get some practical technical training as a B-24 bomber pilot during WWII (check out Mr. Wizard Studios website). Nonetheless, every Saturday his program covered some physical science topic. One week it might be on electricity; another it’d be on combustion chemistry. The thing is that all the topics were presented in an easy-to-understand style with demonstrations and experiments that were drawn from everyday items: spark plugs, a doorbell, flour, kitchen cookware, etc. This was no school lecture hall with educational institution glassware and apparatus. It was science that a kid could sink his(er) teeth into. And it inspired the kids to do their own DIY experimentation—seeing as the setup and equipment wasn’t complex at all. And it certainly wasn’t like many a science teacher that presented the subject in a manner less interesting than pocket lint.
“Mr. Wizard” was my most favorite show. I watched it religiously every Saturday till I went to High School, and it gave me a way of understanding …really understanding… science that I still use today. Yes, there were other shows too—the space exploration lectures given by Dr. Wernher vonBraun on the Walt Disney show being a notable one, but Mr. Wizard imprinted me forever.
You’ll notice that in my lectures (unless you’re only there for the NGGE; see below) and my published experiments that I try (in my own—perhaps feeble—way) to carry on Mr. Wizard’s tradition. It was indeed sad for me to learn of his death in 2007—having almost reached his 90th birthday.
Cao-4-Now
Unc’
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