Mr. Wizard

Back when I was a kid, when television was fuzzy and in black and white, there was Don Herbert. He was as close to a TV action hero as nerds could get. Don Herbert was Mr. Wizard.

I mean, look at that picture to the left! Could there be anything that was more geek chic than whatever they were doing that produced the cloud of smoke (in those pre-smoke detector days)?

He crushed cans with barometric pressure, produced starch clocks and explained everything from electromagnetism on down. I’m sure if I were to watch those shows again today I’d notice the lack of production values and slow pace – TV has changed. Still, with Mr. Wizard, science was cool.

He was a grownup when I was a kid, over 40 years ago. Who knew if he was dead or alive? But, I just got an article from Cousin Michael which ran in yesterday’s New York Times. He’s alive and well and living in California – probably still crushing cans with atmospheric pressure. I do.