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A compilation of moments from Don Herbert's "Mr. Wizard" TV show includes loud noises, hot-wax droppings and lots of corrections. Click on the image to watch the video.
The star of the "Mr. Wizard" science TV programs, Don Herbert, is usually thought of as a kindly old soul who guided kids through the intricacies of math, physics, chemistry and more. But science can be a tough taskmaster, and so could Herbert — as shown in a three-minute YouTube video compilation put together by Onion alums Diane Bullock and Mike Schuster. "Sounds logical, doesn't it? Well, that's wrong," Herbert tells one poor kid. Mr. Wizard also forces the boys and girls to listen to loud noises, strain against a ninja finger applied to the forehead, and stop spelling words out loud as they type them.
Herbert, who passed away in 2007 just shy of his 90th birthday, won the Peabody Award and a lab bench full of other honors. You can be sure he'd look kindlier (and smarter) if you saw the full shows in context. But who said video clips (or science, for that matter) had to be fair? And by the way, if Mr. Wizard were to try to do the things today that he did back then, he might be labeled a terrorist.
More about science on TV:
- A new 'Cosmos' is coming to television
- Why we're just mad about mad scientists
- Were you fooled by Animal Planet's mermaids?
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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What an absurd article. It's bad enough that someone made the video, but did you have to encourage this revisionist point of view? The man did a terrific job and presented what is still the only science class I ever enjoyed. Let's give this non-story a rest.
Yes, it's worth about two paragraphs at most ... and the video is a distortion of the TV show, aimed at a little humorous cognitive dissonance. But I'm thinking his no-nonsense approach is kinda what made the show great. And I'm very troubled by the idea that most of the chemistry experiments he did on TV are now illegal. I'm wondering if we'll get some comments saying that more of that no-nonsense approach is needed today... The way that the video is titled is another matter that I'll set aside. Bottom line: We shouldn't take this too seriously.
Most of the chemistry experiments are now illegal? Can you expand on this?
Check out the linked story about Mr. Wizard as terrorist. It's a good piece from Wired titled "Don't Try This at Home."
More and more, the Nanny State, the Security State, the Cowardly State has become the enemy.
Great link, and such a shame that young people today cannot play with science the way that I was sort of able to, and that our parents definitely did. Nanny State? Sure. McVeigh? Sure. But really--and this is very simplistic logic--our parents were alive to reproduce (and odds are that they had all 10 fingers and 10 toes), so why should future scientists and curious kids today not be allowed to play/experiment the same way that our parents did? While I didn't turn out a scientist, I certainly enjoyed model rockets as a kid and I always dreamed of the mid-alphabet engine sizes--to not be able to build/launch a rocket today is just ridiculous.
Take Frankie's advice--Relax. :)
There are MANY things we shouldn't take so seriously.
Oh for love of Pete. The only problems the kids have today is the world we leave that and what we expect from them or more importantly what we don't.
Well, by seeing some of the comments made under the video on YouTube, quite a few people don't A. Know who Mr. Wizard was, and B. Are taking the video way to seriously. Of course, looking at that now, some people see him as being harsh, but that was also a time when children weren't the delicate little flowers they are today...where no one wants to trample on anyone's self esteem...where every kid wins a trophy, and no one is ever really wrong. Growing up in the 60's and 70's, I was told when I was wrong, as were all my classmates. Only the winning team got a trophy, and teachers and parents didn't worry so much about our self esteem. As Mr. Wizard told those children, "You are wrong." When we were wrong, we were supposed to figure out why we were wrong, and how to correct our mistakes. I think that made us a bit better at standing on our own two feet.
Little kids can be a pain in the arse. If Mr Wizard didn't beat any of them, then he's a saint in my book. lol
I never watched him ....
But many of my science experiments would be illegal today also .... "LOL"
I still attempt some risky experiments ....
Please don't tell .... "LOL"
Thanks Alan ....
Fun with editing, how the news can turn honest people into liars and liars into honest people...
Honesty is not a "dark side". I always loved Mr. Wizard. As a science teacher for 30+ years (now retired), I also told students when they were wrong. I also purposely did failed experiments so we could analyze why they didn't work and tried to help my students learn HOW to think, not WHAT to think. Science stopped being fun when "No Child Left Behind" required us to start teaching only to the tests and ignore using the scientific method to solve problems. As a respected senior teacher, I was able to "get away with" teaching real science instead of the crap they required, and my students managed to excel on test, learn, and grow. I was lucky that my early retirement coincided almost exactly to when I could no longer have done that. Good for me, but extremely sad for future science students.