Most of our generation remember the wonderful joy of the TV cart being rolled in during elementary school and knowing that Bill Nye the Science Guy would be teaching that day. He was the man who for some first brought up concepts that many are devoting their studies to here at UW. But what many might not know is that he is more than a television personality-he is also one of science’s chief ambassadors.
Recently, many had Nye brought back into their lives with his debate with creationist Ken Ham over the merits of evolution. Many Christians, including a blogger from the Christian Science Monitor, viewed the debate as a “one sided statement between a true scientist and a T.V Entertainer”. Many do not realize that Bill Nye is in fact a very well educated and universally respected man of science.
Since working as an engineer for Boeing, he has gone on to write and star in 100 episodes of Bill Nye: The Science Guy, written multiple books for children and adults, appeared on multiple news programs as a science advisor, was a key consultant for the Mars Curiosity Rover, continues to serve on the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, is President of the Planetary Society and is a board member of the Mt. Saint Helens commission.
In his debate with Ken Ham, Nye brings up undisputable points of valid science, including tree rings, the impossibility of every creature having been an herbivore, the formation of the Grand Canyon and the carbon dated layers found within and even tectonic plates, only to have them haphazardly brushed off as “impossible” or “you have no proof, you weren’t there” or even “if you come to my museum (its free for kids adults pay a fee) you can see my evidence.”
Yes, Ken Ham claims that tree rings are a fallacy. Even Pope Benedict XVI said, “this clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”
Bill Nye, while not being a professional orator and lacking a power point full of expensive comics, completely won the debate using only logic and virtually universally agreed upon facts. But he also had a true message.
At the end of the debate, Nye stated, “What keeps the United States ahead, what makes the United States a world leader, is our technology. If we continue to eschew science, and try to divide science between observational science and “historical science,” we are not going to move forward, we will not embrace natural laws, we will not make discoveries, we will not invent.” He wants science not just because he loves it, but also because it makes all of our lives better and keeps the United States and our economy able to compete with nations across the world.
