Even though I’m a journalism major and pretty much set on being a writer, editor or reporter, I still love learning science-y things.
As a kid, I loved all of it. I was the one who wasted vinegar and baking soda trying to make cool stuff happen in my kitchen. Which is probably why “Bill Nye the Science Guy” was right up my alley.
The show, which ran from 1993 to 1998, was geared toward elementary and middle school aged kids and featured Bill Nye and his teenage team of scientists performing experiments based on a broad topic for an episode, such as flight, buoyancy or gravity.
It ran on PBS Kids, but the show was often used for educational purposes in schools. I remember one of my favorite episodes was “Phases of Matter,” where Bill teaches you about solids, liquids and gases.
After we watched it, we got to make oobleck, a gooey substance that’s a liquid when you pour it but a solid when you squeeze it. It’s based on Dr. Seuss’s “Bartholomew and
the Oobleck.”
But whatever happened to Bill Nye?
Despite a good number of people believing he had died, Nye is still alive and kicking and, perhaps unsurprisingly, still excitedly teaching people about science.
Since the end of “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” Nye has made numerous appearances on other science-centric TV shows, including “The Eyes of Nye,” “BattleBots” and “Numb3rs.” He currently hosts a show called “Stuff Happens” on the Planet Green network.
Outside of television, Nye holds several U.S. patents, encourages environmental activism and advocates for general scientific literacy through his fellowship of the Committee of Skeptical Inquiry.
For someone who started out as a serious engineer and became a well-respected educator, Bill Nye certainly made my childhood more entertaining than it would have been otherwise. He was the entertainer … of science!