Chapter 1 EARLY INTERESTS Bill Nye speaks at an event in 2016 william Bill Sanford Nye has always loved science As a kid he was fascinated by bees He also thought bicycles and airplanes were cool He knew that one day he wanted to become a mechanical engineer
But Nye's professional life was not all about science He started doing stand-up comedy Then he found a unique way to combine his passions for science and comedy He went on TV to teach kids and to dig into his life's work saving the world through science Nye went on to become the host of a popular kids TV show in the 1990s SCIENCE FROM THE START Bill was born on November 27 1955 His parents were both interested in math and science His mother Jacqueline had worked as a code breaker during World War II 1939 1945 His father Edwin had a scientific mind and always encouraged Bill to make things His father was also fascinated by sundials He'd spent four years without electricity as a prisoner of war in Japan There he'd learned to tell time by watching the shadow of a shovel handle as it moved and changed throughout the day Growing
up in Washington DC Bill learned all about sundials from his dad Bill went to public elementary school But his parents worked hard to get him into a private high school because they believed he would get a better education there Bill worked hard too He earned a partial scholarship to attend Sidwell Friends School His teachers encouraged his interests in science and math Bill poses for a photo during his senior year of high school
After graduating from Sidwell Friends School in 1973 Bill went to Cornell University in Ithaca New York He studied mechanical engineering He also took an astronomy class taught by the famous scientist Carl Sagan Bill was impressed by Sagan's lectures He has continued to be inspired by Sagan's words throughout his career 8 8386 TECH TALK When you listened to Carl Sagan talk or lecture he was eloquent He used perfectly chosen words that were inspirational Everything he talked about had this wonderful quality to it this reverence for the cosmos and our place within it Bill Nye
