At the very same time during the 1950s that some young women wondered why they should study science when all they wanted to do was get married, and magazines aimed at teen girls and women did their best to simultaneously both dispel and uphold the stereotype of the masculine female scientist, Don Herbert was busy showing American kids the wonders of science as television’s Mr. Wizard. And he didn’t discriminate.
As one of you pointed out, and this clip conclusively proves, Mr. Wizard knew that girls as well as boys could be interested in science—and not just the sort involving the chemistry of cooking. In fact, for all but the first year of the show’s run from 1951 to 1965, Mr. Wizard alternated between girl and boy assistants. By 1955, more than 100,000 boys and girls had signed up for membership in one of 5000 chapters of the Mr. Wizard Science Club. Bravo, Mr. Wizard!
