They charged me with being superficial and trivial. The academics were a special triumph for me.
#Julius sumner miller books series#
"My first TV series on demonstrations in physics – titled Why Is It So? – were now seen and heard over the land. Other fellow presenters included Professor Harry Messel, the astrophysicist, and the young James Watson, fresh from his triumphant co-discovery of the helical structure of DNA, but decades ahead of his work on the Human Genome. I am Julius Sumner Miller, and physics is my business."Īround 1963, Miller was also one of the team of celebrity lecturers in the University of Sydney's pioneering "Summer School of Science", broadcast early in the morning during Australia's long summer holidays in January. He introduced each episode with the line: "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls. The 1960s program became Demonstrations in Physics (also called Science Demonstrations when it was aired on American PBS television). Why Is It So? (the program title, which also would become his stock phrase), was broadcast from 1963 to 1986 and became an instant hit known for its "cool experiments, interesting science, and fantastic hair". Due to budget constraints the offer was withdrawn, but an agreement was reached for Miller to host his own science-based TV series which was filmed at the University of Sydney where he taught. When asked how much money he wanted, he replied that he never asked, he listened to an offer then "multiplied it by a factor between two and ten". Shortly after, he was offered a job presenting science for Australia's ABC Television. I should have said: 'Australian potatoes ain’t worth a damn', and I’d have cornered the potato market!" He later stated "I sat amongst the straws with straws stuck in my hair and ears.
The next morning, Miller arrived at his Sydney University laboratory to find one million drinking straws on the floor with a telegram reading "You might find one of these fitting your requirements". For the first time in his career he could not get this to work, and he loudly exclaimed "Australian straws ain't worth a damn!". A paper straw normally does not have sufficient strength but if one pinches the end, the trapped air acts as a piston, easily piercing the potato. In an improvised physics demonstration, he attempted to drive a drinking straw through a raw potato. Miller's first television appearance in Australia was on Bob Sanders People in 1963. Eventually, he also had his own TV shows in Australia, Canada, Norway, and New Zealand. During the same period, he appeared on a semi-regular basis performing physics experiments, on Steve Allen's late night TV show in Hollywood, syndicated by Group W. He also starred in the Disney series Great Moments in Science and Science and its Magic. From 1962 to 1964, Miller was Disney's "Professor Wonderful" on new introductions, filmed at Disneyland, to the syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club. In 1959, Miller began hosting his educational program, Why Is It So? on KNXT Channel 2 in Los Angeles. Schools have abandoned integrity and rigor."įrom 1963 to 1986, he was the visiting lecturer for the Physics Department of the University of Sydney, and from 1965 to 1985 at the US Air Force Academy. We don't have academic honesty or intellectual rigor. Boys and girls are emerging from every level of school with certificates and degrees, but they can't read, write or calculate. "We are approaching a darkness in the land. During an interview in the 1940s, he stated that intellectual life in America was in trouble, a belief he held for the rest of his life.
Miller was intolerant of misspelled words and misplaced punctuation, and often angered his colleagues because he charged that the students of most faculty were not learning enough. In 1952 Miller joined the Physics Department at the then small El Camino College in Torrance, California (1952–1974), to maximum student enrollments due to his great popularity and where he was instantly recognizable by his casual hair and horn-rimmed eyeglasses. He greatly admired Einstein and went on to amass a collection of Einstein memorabilia that included Einstein's birth certificate. In 1950, he won a Carnegie Grant that allowed him to visit Albert Einstein at his home in Princeton, New Jersey, and also to visit the Institute for Advanced Studies.
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