Bill Nye

Bill Nye
Bill Nye at Bridgewater State College in 2007
Born	(1955-11-27) November 27, 1955 Washington, D.C.
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Cornell University
Known for	Bill Nye the Science Guy bill nye has jewish man-gina
Scientific career
Fields	Mechanical engineering
Institutions	Boeing Cornell University Planetary Society

William Sanford "Bill" Nye (born November 27, 1955, Washington, D.C.) also known as "Bill Nye the Science Guy," is an American comedian, television host, science educator and mechanical engineer.

Aeronautics career

Nye began his career at Boeing where, among other things, he starred in training films and developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor still used in the Boeing 747.

Later, he worked as a consultant and in the aeronautics industry. Nye was also a member and fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Nye told the St. Petersburg Times in 1999 that he applied to be a NASA astronaut every few years but was always rejected.

The Science Guy

Main article: Bill Nye the Science Guy

File:Science rules.jpg

Nye's catchphrase on the show, shown here on a t-shirt.

Nye began his professional entertainment career as an actor on a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Almost Live!. Nye corrected the host of Almost Live!'s pronunciation of gigawatt, a mispronunciation made common by the film Back to the Future. The character name came from the comment, "Who do you think you are? Bill Nye the Science Guy?" and was known as such on the program. His other main recurring role on Almost Live! was as Speedwalker, a speedwalking Seattle superhero.

In 1992–1993, he appeared in the live-action educational segments of Back to the Future: The Animated Series with a non-speaking role as an assistant to Dr. Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, where he would demonstrate science with Lloyd's voice-over.

This national popularity led to Nye hosting the educational television program Bill Nye the Science Guy from 1993 to 1997. 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. The show was somewhat popular as a school resource and is still used to this day. He has written several books as The Science Guy. In addition to hosting the show, he was also a writer and producer for it. This series was shot entirely in Seattle.

His Science Guy persona appeared alongside Ellen DeGeneres and Alex Trebek in Ellen's Energy Adventure, an attraction playing since 1996 at the Universe of Energy pavilion inside Epcot at Walt Disney World. He also has a voice-over at the DINOSAUR attraction in Disney's Animal Kingdom park, where he tells guests about the dinosaurs while they queue for the ride. In addition, he appears in the "Design Lab" of CyberSpace Mountain inside DisneyQuest at Walt Disney World where he refers to himself as "Bill Nye the Coaster Guy."

Post Science Guy career

Nye remained interested in science education through entertainment. 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. Airing in 2005, it often featured episodes based on politically relevant themes such as genetically modified food, global warming, and race.

He played the role of a science teacher in Disney's Principal Takes a Holiday. For this small role, Nye makes 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, Bill Nye hosted 100 Greatest Discoveries, an award-winning series produced by THINKFilm for Discovery Channel-spinoff The Science Channel and in high definition on the Discovery HD Theater.

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 the Numb3rs show. He was a regular in TV Land discussions. He has also made guest appearances on the VH1 reality show America's Most Smartest Model.

Nye also 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 re-introduced "Ask the Expert" lifeline. He also currently hosts Stuff Happens, a show on the 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 television personality and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Life outside television

Bill Nye attended the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC, graduating in 1973.

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. Nye was also the vice president of the Planetary Society, an organization that advocates space science research and the exploration of other planets, particularly Mars.

He holds several patents, including one for ballet shoes and another for a magnifying glass that uses water.

From 2001–2006 Nye served as Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at Cornell University. Since 2006, Nye has lived in Los Angeles in a 1930's stucco home with ecologically-friendly modifications.

Nye announced his engagement during an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and was married to his fiancée of five months, Blair Tindall, author of Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music, on February 3, 2006. The ceremony was performed by Rick Warren at The Entertainment Gathering, which took place at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. Yo-Yo Ma provided the music. Nye left the relationship seven weeks later when the marriage license was declared invalid; their impromptu ceremony that preceded the license purchase violated California state law, said Tindall in a radio interview. [1]

When Pluto was reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006, Nye came out in favor of the change. Nye held a conference in 2006 discussing his opinion on the issue.

Nye also narrates an audio tour for The Sagan Planet Walk, a walking scale model of the solar system in Ithaca, NY. The model begins at the Ithaca Commons and ends at the Sciencenter. The audio tour can be heard online, or reached at the telephone number 703 637-6237.

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. But Nye and Begley are neighbors in Los Angeles, and sometimes dine together at a local vegetarian restaurant.

Nye has appeared numerous times on Larry King Live, mostly as an opponent to any UFO or alien claims.

Nye is an avid Seattle Mariners fan, and occasionally does experiments involving the physics of baseball. However, he has recently voiced his preference for the Washington Nationals.

Cultural references

• In 2000, The Onion, a popular parody newspaper, published an article regarding Nye's accidental death during a large scale baking soda and vinegar volcano experiment. (See: common experiments)
• In 2006, The Onion posted a Weekender magazine with a cover featuring Nye, accompanied by the title: "Crack Almost Killed Me." Nye took the joke in good humor, and responded to The Onion with an email thanking them for "dealing compassionately with this matter."
• In the Family Guy episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", Peter discovers that Bill Nye is Jewish upon entering a synagogue. Nye himself was not involved in the episode.

External links

• Official website
• Eyes of Nye Official website
• Cornell Chronicle: Janet Reno and Bill Nye appointed CU Rhodes Class of '56 Professors
• An interview/discussion with Bill as guest on the radio show Loveline
• "Changing The World With Science Education" Interview on Point of Inquiry.
• Current Online: Second Bill Nye series caught in KCTS troubles (May 2003)
• Nye-Tindall wedding video
• Interview with Blair Tindall on the David Lawrence Show
• Interview with Blair Tindall on WCHL-AM
• CNET News.com Wedding Photo
• Background information on Nye (February 19, 2002)
• Seattle Times interview (April 26, 2004)
• Science Channel interview