Don Herbert, better known as "Mr. Wizard" died on Tuesday, June 12 at the age of 89. As the character "Mr. Wizard" he used the medium of television to bring science into our homes with balloons, eggs, soda bottles, and cryogenically frozen bananas. Although Mr. Wizard hasn't been on TV for a while, he was the pioneer. Carl Sagan, Bill Nye "the Science Guy", and even Neil deGrasse Tyson all owe their success indirectly to him. I first watched the show when it was revived on Canadian TV in the 1970's. I'd occasionally catch the show on Nick when I was in college and he was a guest on Letterman more than a few times.
Bill Nye wrote a nice piece about him in the Los Angeles Times. To echo the Science Guy:
Thanks, Don; you changed the world
You certainly changed it for me...
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