1955-
Television Personality

Education and Entertainment.

Bill Nye the Science Guy was one of Vice President Al Gore's favorite TV shows. The zany half-hour program aired on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) channels around the nation and, though it was aimed at fourth graders, it appealed to people of all ages. In a format replete with "cool" music, stunts, and flashy graphics, Bill Nye the Science Guy took one important scientific concept with each episode and used it as the learning objective for that show. Interviews with "way cool" scientists and bizarre demonstrations of how science is applied in everyday life were hallmarks of the Emmy-Award winning program.

Beginnings.

Bill Nye was raised in Washington, D.C., and studied mechanical engineering under Carl Sagan at Cornell University. After beginning his engineering career at Boeing Corporation in Seattle, Washington, Nye began moonlighting as a stand-up comic after friends...