bill nye

Bill Nye the Science Guy on Bow Ties, Books, and Binge Watching

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I loved this brief interview with Bill Nye the Science Guy in The Wall Street Journal. So many clever bits here.

I couldn’t agree more with this opinion of a book everyone should read. Elements of Style is on my bookshelf and one of my top ten all-around recommendations:

A book everyone should read is: The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White. Omit needless words!

On his attire of choice:

My uniform is: a sportcoat and a bow tie. I started wearing bow ties in high school; it was then I realized their great utilitarian nature: They do not slip into your soup. They also do not flip into your flask when you’re in a lab. My favorite place to buy them is Seigo Neckwear, whose silk is really beautiful.

I am amazed by contact lenses too:

A technology that amazes me is: my contact lenses. They are multifocal. They breathe. They let water pass through them. And they’re disposable. Six bucks!

On paying attention when driving:

One thing everyone should do more of is: just drive while you’re driving. I have a custom license-plate holder. It says: “Try monotasking.”

The only thing that I disagreed with:

The most overrated tech trend is: binge watching. Sorry, I love you all, but I do not understand it. Knock yourselves out.

I’m anxiously awaiting for House of Cards, Season 3. Which I will likely binge watch.

Read the rest of the interview with Bill Nye here.

A Brief Profile of Bill Nye the Science Guy

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A lovely, colorful profile of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” in this week’s New York Times:

Mr. Nye had come to talk to them, and a few thousand of their friends, at Iowa State University. If he were a politician, college students would be his base. Instead, he is something more: a figure from their early days in front of the family TV, a beloved teacher and, more and more these days, a warrior for science. They, in turn, are his fans, his students and his army.

They have gone from watching him explain magnetism and electricity to defending the scientific evidence for climate change, the age of the earth and other issues they have seen polemicized for religious, political and even economic reasons.

He takes on those who would demand that the public schools teach alternative theories of evolution and the origins of the earth — most famously, in a video clip from the site BigThink.com that has been viewed some five million times. In it, he flatly tells adult viewers that “if you want to deny evolution and live in your world — in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe — that’s fine. But don’t make your kids do it, because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future.”

This was a great piece of trivia:

He tried his hand at stand-up comedy — his first time onstage was during a Steve Martin look-alike competition, which he won.

When I was in my early teens, Bill’s science program was one of my favorites! It’s great to see him stay such a strong advocate for science (while at the same time pushing back on the ultra-religious folks):

The earth’s not 4,000, 6,000, 10,000 years old…I’ve got no problem with anybody’s religion. But if you go claiming the earth is only 10,000 years old, that’s just wrong.

Go Bill!