Bill Nye

Did you know?!

1. A change of course

   Nye won a Steve Martin lookalike contest in 1978, which led him to stand-up comedy. Friends asked him to perform Steve Martin impressions at parties, and he moonlighted as a comedian while at Boeing.

2. A change of course

   Nye worked as a mechanical engineer at Boeing, where he came up with a hydraulic resonance suppressor tube for 747 airplanes. He also put in four unsuccessful applications to NASA's astronaut training program.

3. A first

   Bill Nye the Science Guy joined a group of syndicated shows that local stations could schedule to satisfy Children's Television Act rules. That made it the first program to run at the same time on public and commercial stations.

4. Early training

   Nye studied mechanical engineering at Cornell, where an astronomy class taught by Carl Sagan deepened his enthusiasm for science; he graduated with a B.S. in 1977.

5. A first

   Bill Nye's name appears on three United States patents. They cover ballet pointe shoes, a magnifying glass for teaching that uses water inside a clear plastic bag, and an athlete's throwing trainer.