S. L. FULLER
News Editor
When Fredonia announced last Spring that Bill Nye would be coming to campus to dedicate the Science Center, word spread quickly. Students have waited in lines at the Ticket Office hours before it opened and have been excitedly chattering about how much they love their favorite science guy. Bill Nye is excited, too. So excited, in fact, that he took the time to have a phone interview with The Leader and talk about everything from humor to critical thinking. It started with the most important question:
SLF: Are you wearing a bowtie at this moment, right now?
BN: No. That is a very important question but no, not right now.
SLF: Do you have a story behind why you wear a bowtie in the first place?
BN: Ya! So I was in high school and at the girls’ athletic banquet, the boys are the waiters for the girls; we serve the girls. And I said to my colleagues, “if we’re going to be waiters, let’s dress the part — let’s show them a good time.” I was trying to impress the ladies.
SLF: Oh, understandable.
BN: My father was very good with knots, an excellent boy scout. He showed me how to do it and I practiced and practiced. I showed a lot of guys how to do it. I’ve tied a few guys’ knots. They have great practical value. Bowties do not slip into the soup — do not slip into your flask. I realized they have great value and later on, I started wearing them more and more frequently and now, I wear them exclusively. Hey here’s another thing — when I wear a bowtie, I also wear a shirt. I’m sure I could pull it off, but…
SLF: You sold out King Concert Hall in four hours. What does it mean to you to have impacted so many college students who watched you when they were kids?
BN: I don’t think I get it. I tried to get the significance of the show, I tried to understand. But I’m not sure I do. So many people got so much out of it; so many lives seem to have been affected by it and it’s really gratifying. It’s fantastic. Along these lines, I think the reason the show can stand the test of time — or the body of work stands the test of time — is because it’s about pure science, not about technology. What you love about your favorite teachers or your favorite professors is his or her passion. And I think everybody on the crew, with me as the leader, I’ll admit, everybody in the crew had this passion. When you’re in love, you want to tell the world, as the old saying goes.
SLF: When you were in college, did you know what you wanted to be?
BN: I wanted to be a mechanical engineer because of my love of airplanes and bicycles.
SLF: Why, then, did you transition from mechanical engineer to being the CEO of the Planetary Society?
BN: Space exploration brings out the best in us. It’s where humankind thinks of deep questions about where we all came from and whether or not we might be alone in the universe. And the technology and challenges required to explore space science advance science. And the exploration of what I like to call our “place in space.” As far as we know, humans are the only species who think about what it means to be a living thing on planet Earth. I mean, I’ve spoken to dogs about this quite often but I don’t think they’re experiencing it in the same way I do.
SLF: Well, I guess we’ll never know.
BN: Or maybe we will! Ya! Maybe there’ll be an MRI of a dog and it’ll turn out that he, or she, is actually thinking quite deeply about [that]. Especially your dog who I bet is the smartest, most charming dog ever.
SLF: That’s correct! So one thing that sets you apart from many other scientists is your sense of humor. Even in your debate with Ken Ham, you were humorous to an audience that may not have been that receptive to it. Is that just your personality or is it an effective way to get your ideas across?
BN: I think my parents were both very funny. Humor keeps people engaged. It’s how you deal with the ironies of life. So when I was brought up, humor was valued in our household. Being funny was considered a skill.
SLF: Were you ever afraid that using comedy would cause you to lose credibility in the scientific community?
BN: Yes. Oh yes. People don’t take you seriously. People say “you lack gravitas.” And I say, “well you lack a sense of humor!” Anyone can pretend to be serious. But no one can pretend to be funny. So which is harder? Which is more important? Which is actually a better expression of humans understanding of our place in space. You need seriousness and humor in my opinion. And the other thing about my opinion, which is a huge time saver, my opinion is correct. I remind people of this often enough.
SLF: You seem to have become a voice of reason and also the voice of science in our society. How did you go from just a science show host to now representing an entire community?
BN: To me, they’re not inconsistent, they’re of a piece. I wanted to affect the future. So that’s why I went into children’s educational television about science. So that in the future, we had a hope perhaps, of having a generation of people who have an appreciation for science and don’t take it for granted and want to do something really cool to change the world. That work was done so I kind of kept going and was consistent: fighting for science, reason and critical thinking. Critical thinking is the most important thing to do.
SLF: What are your latest projects? Is anything in the works?
BN: I’m trying to make — and I’ve always been trying to do this — trying to make a movie. And we’re in negotiations right now.
SLF: What kind of movie?
BN: It will be a historical movie about Nathaniel Bowditch, a navigator from Salem, Massachusetts born in 1773, who revolutionized navigation and commercial sailing in general. So that’s one thing. But everybody wants me to do a TV show — and so do I. I’m in negotiations with several production companies. And then the main thing for you all, and for me, is my book comes out on the 4th of November. It’s called “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation.” I’m really proud of it. It’s really good.
SLF: What would you say is the subject in science that you’re most passionate about?
BN: The most important thing is for people to understand is the process of science. That’s the most important thing. Taxpayers and voters — everybody — do not appreciate that science is at least two things: it’s a body of knowledge … and the most important thing, the main thing, is for people to appreciate how we get that knowledge; how we know there are protons and count them. That’s the most important thing because when you embrace that process, then you will discover climate change, you will discover evolution. You will come to understand the significance of 7 billion people on a planet whose atmosphere is barely 100 km thick.
SLF: Do you see yourself as this generation’s Carl Sagan?
BN: No. I’m a different guy with a different personality. That would be quite an honor. There are a lot of people involved in popularizing science. But in Carl Sagan’s day, in my opinion, he was sort of the lone guy. So the environment’s different and we all are part of Carl Sagan’s legacy. And I will acknowledge that I stand by my approach: we have to get young people excited about science. Anybody who is excited about anything, whether it’s science or journalism or storytelling, in your case I believe, got excited about it before he or she was ten; before he or she was eight. And that fundamental idea is lost on a lot of people. You know, we have science scholarships and stuff for high school students but, by then, it’s too late. Students have already decided what they’re going to do. So I stand by that making a kid’s show. We made 100 shows about the fundamentals of science; if we had a chance, we would revive things. The dinosaur show certainly could use a little updating. There’s hardly anything in there about feathers; there’s a little bit about birds. I’d have to look at the computer science show again. I think it could stand the test of time. It’s about switches and the nature of switches and logic. And now we have superconductor materials which could be better addressed. But I digress. So, I’m showing up and we’re gonna have fun!
SLF: Have you ever been here, to the very most western part of New York, before?
BN: You know, I went to school in Ithaca and I drove to San Francisco on Route 80. I have friends in Buffalo. I’m hip. I’m down. Bring it on! I want some apples! I want some cider!
SLF: We’ll have jugs of cider ready for you!
BN: I don’t think so. Not yet. It’s a little too early [in the season].
On his speech on the 18th
“I want the students to change the world — to believe they can change the world and then go out and change the world.”
On his goal as a speaker
“I want people to think that their way of thinking is worthy and that working together, we can accomplish great things.”
On reaching out to youth
“Well there are 7 billion people living on a planet that turns out to be not that big. And we’re headed for trouble unless we all get to work. Change the world (said in a dramatic voice).”
On evolution
“We live in the most technically advanced society. People can make an argument for Japan or New Zealand and I appreciate that. But … we’ve got the most Nobel prizes. And yet a very large fraction of our society doesn’t believe in evolution — doesn’t believe in the fundamental idea in all of life science. It’s like having a society that doesn’t believe in geology [or] doesn’t believe in tectonic plates.”