Why is it the truely great people of the world are never remembered until after they die?
I was greeted with the news Tuesday that Don Herbert, aka Mr. Wizard, had passed away after a long battle with bone cancer. He was 89. Frankly, that name hadn’t crossed my mind for over 15 years, but immediately my heart sank a little knowing he had died.
Growing up, I was always very curious with the world and how things worked. My favorite toys were Lincoln Logs, Lego, Construx, and anything I could build something with. I don’t think I owned a flashlight that I hadn’t dissected a few times. My mother had to constantly stop me from grabbing and touching things in public. With that in mind, I have to partially credit my love of technology and science to Mr. Wizard. I can’t believe it’s just a coincidence that my job and favorite activities revolve around science and technology.
When I was maybe 8 or 9 years old and being absolutely glued to the TV any time Mr. Wizard was on. The funny thing was I never knew when it was on, so it’d be an extra special day if I got to watch him. I never knew, but it turns out Mr. Wizard had a few different successful series’ in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. The man was probably responsible for thousands of kids getting interested in science at a very formative age. Who knows what those people went on to do. I don’t think they give out Nobel prizes for that, but Mr. Wizard probably deserves one.
