William Sanford "Bill" Nye, popularly known
as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American
science educator, comedian, television host,
actor, writer, and scientist who began his
career as a mechanical engineer at Boeing.
He is best known as the host of the Disney/PBS
children's science show Bill Nye the Science
Guy and for his many subsequent appearances
in popular media as a science educator.
Early life and education
Nye was born on November 27, 1955 in Washington,
D.C., to Jacqueline, a codebreaker during
World War II, and Edwin Darby "Ned" Nye, also
a World War II veteran, whose experience without
electricity in a Japanese prisoner of war
camp led him to become a sundial enthusiast.
His maternal grandmother was French, from
Dancevoir.
After attending Lafayette Elementary and Alice
Deal Junior High in the city, he was accepted
to the private Sidwell Friends School on a
partial scholarship and graduated in 1973.
He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell
University and graduated with a Bachelor of
Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1977.
Nye occasionally returns to Cornell as a professor
to guest lecture introductory level astronomy
and human ecology classes.
Career
Nye began his career in Seattle at Boeing,
where, among other things, he starred in training
films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance
suppressor still used in the 747.
Later, he worked as a consultant in the aeronautics
industry.
In 1999 he told the St. Petersburg Times that
he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few
years, but was always rejected.
The Science Guy
Nye began his professional entertainment career
as a writer/actor on a local sketch comedy
television show in Seattle, Washington, called
Almost Live!.
The host of the show, Ross Shafer, suggested
he do some scientific demonstrations in a
six-minute segment, and take on the nickname
"The Science Guy".
His other main recurring role on Almost Live!
was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle
superhero.
From 1991 to 1993, he appeared in the live-action
educational segments of Back to the Future:
The Animated Series in the nonspeaking role
of assistant to Dr. Emmett Brown, in which
he would demonstrate science while Lloyd explained.
The segments' national popularity led to Nye
hosting an educational television program,
Bill Nye the Science Guy, from 1993 to 1998.
Each of the 100 episodes aimed to teach a
specific topic in science to a preteen audience,
yet it garnered a wide adult audience as well.
With its comedic overtones, the show became
popular as a teaching aid in schools.
Nye has written several books as The Science
Guy.
In addition to hosting, he was a writer and
producer for the show, which was filmed entirely
in Seattle.
When portraying "The Science Guy", Nye wears
a light blue lab coat and bow tie, and takes
on the persona of an excited, jocular science
educator.
This popular image of Nye has been parodied
by numerous sources, including the webcomic
xkcd and the satirical news organization The
Onion.
In response to the fake headline "Crack Nearly
Killed Me", Nye took the joke in good humor
and sent The Onion an email thanking them
for "dealing compassionately with this matter."
Nye's Science Guy persona appears alongside
Ellen DeGeneres and Alex Trebek in a video
at Ellen's Energy Adventure, an attraction
that has played since 1996 at the Universe
of Energy pavilion inside Epcot at Walt Disney
World.
His voice is heard in the Dinosaur attraction
in Disney's Animal Kingdom park, teaching
guests about the dinosaurs while they queue
for the ride.
He appears in video form in the "Design Lab"
of CyberSpace Mountain, inside DisneyQuest
at Walt Disney World, where he refers to himself
as "Bill Nye the Coaster Guy."
Entertainment/edutainment
Nye remained interested in science education
through entertainment.
He played a science teacher in Disney's 1998
TV movie The Principal Takes a Holiday; he
made a hovercraft to demonstrate science in
an unusual classroom manner.
From 2000 to 2002, Nye was the technical expert
in BattleBots.
In 2004 and 2005, Nye hosted 100 Greatest
Discoveries, an award-winning series produced
by THINKFilm for The Science Channel and in
high definition on the Discovery HD Theater.
He was also host of an eight-part Discovery
Channel series called Greatest Inventions
with Bill Nye.
He created a 13-episode PBS KCTS-TV series
about science, called The Eyes of Nye, aimed
at an older audience than his previous show
had been.
Airing in 2005, it often featured episodes
based on politically relevant themes such
as genetically modified food, global warming,
and race.
Nye has guest-starred in several episodes
of the crime drama Numb3rs as an engineering
faculty member.
A lecture Nye gave several years ago on exciting
children about math was an inspiration for
creating Numb3rs.
He has also made guest appearances on the
VH1 reality show America's Most Smartest Model.
Nye has appeared numerous times on the talk
show Larry King Live, speaking about topics
such as global warming and UFOs.
He argued that global warming is an issue
that should be addressed by governments of
the world in part because it could be implicated
in the record-setting 2005 Atlantic hurricane
season.
On UFOs he has been skeptical of extraterrestrial
explanations for sightings such as those at
Roswell and Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967.
Nye appears in segments of The Climate Code
on The Weather Channel, telling his personal
ways of saving energy.
He still makes regular appearances on the
show, often asking quiz questions.
As of fall 2008, Nye also appears on the daytime
game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as
part of the show's reintroduced "Ask the Expert"
lifeline.
In 2008, he also hosted Stuff Happens, a show
on the then new Planet Green network.
In November 2008, Nye appeared in an acting
role as himself in the fifth-season episode
"Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis alongside
fellow television personality and astrophysicist
Neil deGrasse Tyson.
In 2009, portions of Bill Nye's shows were
used as lyrics and portions of the second
Symphony of Science music education video
by composer John Boswell.
Nye recorded a short YouTube video advocating
clean energy climate change legislation on
behalf of Al Gore's Repower America campaign
in October 2009.
Bill joined the American Optometric Association
in a multimedia advertising campaign to persuade
parents to get their children comprehensive
eye examinations.
Nye made an appearance in Palmdale's 2010
video "Here Comes the Summer"; the band's
lead singer Kay Hanley is his neighbor.
Nye also made a guest appearance on The Dr.
Oz Show.
On March 12, 2011, Nye made an appearance
on CNN to discuss the evolving nuclear incidents
in Japan as a result of the devastating earthquake
and tsunami there.
Nye erroneously stated that cesium is used
to "slow and control" the nuclear reaction.
In reality, cesium is a nuclear fission product,
not a control rod material.
Nye also erroneously stated that the nuclear
reactor involved in the Three Mile Island
incident is still running and that the use
of boron to slow the nuclear chain reaction
is uncommon, when in fact boron-10 is commonly
used in control rods, and is circulated in
the coolant of reactors in the United States,
as well as stored on site as a method of emergency
shutdown.
In September 2012, Nye claimed that creationist
views threaten science education and innovation
in the United States.
In February 2014, Nye debated creationist
Ken Ham at the Creation Museum on the topic
of whether creation is a viable model of origins
in today's modern, scientific era.
On February 28, 2014, Nye was a celebrity
guest and interviewer at the White House Student
Film Festival.
Scientific work
In the early 2000s, Nye assisted in the development
of a small sundial that was included in the
Mars Exploration Rover missions.
Known as MarsDial, it included small colored
panels to provide a basis for color calibration
in addition to helping keep track of time.
From 2005 to 2010 Nye was the vice president
of The Planetary Society, an organization
that advocates space science research and
the exploration of other planets, particularly
Mars.
He became the organization's second Executive
Director in September 2010 when Louis Friedman
stepped down.
In November 2010, Nye became the face of a
new permanent exhibition at the Chabot Space
& Science Center in Oakland, California.
Bill Nye’s Climate Lab features Nye as commander
of the Clean Energy Space Station, and invites
visitors on an urgent mission to thwart climate
change.
Beginning with a view of Planet Earth from
space, visitors explore air, water, and land
galleries to discover how climate change affects
Earth’s connected systems, and how to use
the Sun, wind, land, and water to generate
clean energy.
In an interview about the exhibit, Nye said,
“Everything in the exhibit is geared to
showing you that the size of the problem of
climate change is big.
Showing you a lot about energy use ... It’s
a huge opportunity ... We need young people,
entrepreneurs, young inventors, young innovators
to change the world.”
Nye gave a solar noon clock atop Rhodes Hall
to Cornell on Aug 27 following a public lecture
that filled the 715-seat Statler Auditorium.
Nye talked about his father's passion for
sundials and timekeeping, his time at Cornell,
his work on the sundials mounted on the Mars
rovers and the story behind the Bill Nye Solar
Noon Clock.
Bill Nye conducted a Q&A session after the
2012 Mars Rover Landing.
Nye holds several United States patents, including
one for ballet pointe shoes and another for
an educational magnifying glass created by
filling a clear plastic bag with water.
From 2001 to 2006 Nye served as Frank H.T.
Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at
Cornell University.
Nye supported the 2006 reclassification of
Pluto from planet to dwarf planet by the International
Astronomical Union.
Nye is a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical
Inquiry, a U.S. non-profit scientific and
educational organization whose aim is to promote
scientific inquiry, critical investigation,
and the use of reason in examining controversial
and extraordinary claims.
Interviewed by John Rael for the Independent
Investigation Group IIG, Nye stated that his
"concern right now... scientific illiteracy...
you [the public] don't have enough rudimentary
knowledge of the universe to evaluate claims."
In November 2012, Nye launched a Kickstarter
project for an educational Aerodynamics game,
AERO 3D.
The project was not funded.
Dancing with the Stars
Nye was a contestant in the 17th season of
Dancing with the Stars, where he was partnered
with newcomer Tyne Stecklein.
They were eliminated early in the season after
Nye sustained an injury to his quadriceps
tendon on Week 3.
Personal life
Since 2006, Nye has lived in Los Angeles,
though he has also owned a house on Mercer
Island.
As of July 2007, Nye and environmental activist
Ed Begley, Jr. are engaging in a friendly
competition "to see who could have the lowest
carbon footprint," according to Begley.
In a 2008 interview, Nye joked that he wants
to "crush Ed Begley" in their environmental
competition.
Nye and Begley are neighbors in Los Angeles,
and sometimes dine together at a local vegetarian
restaurant.
Nye often appears on Begley's Planet Green
reality show Living with Ed. Nye enjoys baseball
and occasionally does experiments involving
the physics of the game.
As a longtime Seattle resident before becoming
an entertainer, he is said to have been a
fan of the Seattle Mariners, although recently
he has voiced his preference for the Washington
Nationals.
In July 2012, Nye endorsed President Barack
Obama's reelection bid.
Nye is an agnostic.
Nye announced his engagement during an appearance
on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
and was married to his fiancée of five months,
musician Blair Tindall, on February 3, 2006.
The ceremony was performed by Rick Warren
at The Entertainment Gathering at the Skirball
Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
Yo-Yo Ma provided the music.
Nye left the relationship seven weeks later
when the marriage license was declared invalid.
Nye is an avid swing dancer.
He has been spotted at local dances in the
Los Angeles area as well as at nationwide
events such as Stompology.
Awards and honors
In May 2008, Nye was awarded an honorary doctorate
by Johns Hopkins University.
In May 2011, he received an Honorary Doctor
of Science degree from Willamette University,
where he was the keynote speaker for that
year's commencement exercises.
In addition, Bill Nye also received an honorary
Doctor of Pedagogy degree from Lehigh University
on May 20, 2013 at the commencement ceremony.
Nye received the 2010 Humanist of the Year
Award from the American Humanist Association.
References
External links
General
Official website
Bill Nye at the Internet Movie Database
Bill Nye on Twitter
Interviews
An interview/discussion with Nye as guest
on the radio show Loveline
"Changing The World With Science Education"
interview on Point of Inquiry.
Seattle Times interview
Science Channel interview
Bill Nye interview video at the Archive of
American Television
