Bill Nye

{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the British character actor, {{wpl|Bill Nighy}}}}

[[File:Bill_Nye.jpg|thumb|165px|Bow ties are cool!]]{{skepnav|1}}
'''Bill Nye''' {{lived|1955|}}, popularly known as "'''Bill Nye the <strike>Humanist</strike><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxX11c1cSWU</ref> Science Guy'''," is an [[United States of America|American]] [[science]] educator, [[humanist]],<ref>[http://www.americanhumanist.org/system/storage/29/1538/FM_Spring10-web.pdf AHA]</ref> television host, comedian, and mechanical [[engineer]], most popularly known for his children's [[education]]al television program ''Bill Nye: The Science Guy.''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbrVxrsBLuw A clip from his television program]</ref>  A fellow for the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]], he is most well known, in the years since his ''Science Guy'' program, for being a heavy critic of [[global warming denialism]].  Nye points out vast numbers of scientists agree [[global warming]] is real and man made.  Nye agrees with an interviewer the real conspiracy involves fossil fuel industrialists deceiving the American public over climate change so they can continue burning fossil fuel and maintain profits.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/07/29/bill-nye-counters-common-arguments-against-the-reality-of-climate-change/ Bill Nye Counters Common Arguments Against the Reality of Climate Change]</ref>  That has not kept Nye from questioning and critiquing other [[pseudoscience]]s as well.<ref>Such as in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQPFoDkGFrU this video], where he explores [[astrology]].</ref>

==Television programs==
Bill Nye's most notable for his ''Bill Nye: the Science Guy'' children's television series. In this series, he melded humor and entertainment with ''actual'' teaching about science and scientific concepts. This often included watering down complicated scientific theories, such as [[evolution]], into [[Pop science|easily understandable]], "do-it-yourself at home" sketches. Being a [[skeptic]] himself, he once dedicated an entire episode of his program to the exploration of [[pseudoscience]].<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtEVirQgPeI&feature=related</ref>

Nye starred in the 2017 Netflix series ''Bill Nye Saves the World''. With a 78% Rotten Tomatoes score,<ref>[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bill_nye_saves_the_world/ Bill Nye Saves the World] ''Rotten Tomato''</ref> it has 3 seasons, and the future of the show is unknown. Nye has also starred in ''The End is Nye'', which explored potential doomsday scenarios and natural disasters and how they could be prevented, or overcome.

==Some interesting personal appearances==
*On 5 April 2006, Nye made two public appearances at McLennan Community College in [[Waco]], [[Texas]].  During both lectures, he mentioned {{bible|Genesis|1|16}}, which states "And [[God]] made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the [[star]]s also."  He then stated that the "lesser light" was, in fact, not a light, but a reflector.  During the evening (7 p.m.) lecture, some audience members started booing him at this point.  One woman with three kids yelled "We believe in Gawd[sic]" at him, then dragged her kids out of the building.<ref>Matthew, Morgan. [http://www.thinkatheist.com/profiles/blogs/bill-nye-bood-in-texas-for "Bill Nye Boo'd In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun"], ''Think Atheist'', 21 February 2009</ref>  During the afternoon (1:30 p.m.) lecture, Nye had given the same lecture to about 600 appreciative school children, their teachers and a few of their parents.  So, it's ''possible'' that this was a flash mob organized by a few incensed [[fundie]]s upset by Nye's contradiction of [[Genesis]] (The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' published this story in their 6 April 2006 edition, but pulled the story from their website soon after it got international attention<ref group=note>Fortunately, the Wayback Machine grabs ''everything'' that appears on the [[Internet]], even for only a few hours.  The story, titled "'The Science Guy' is entertaining and provocative at MCC lecture" and written by staff writer Tim Woods, [http://web.archive.org/web/20060412101020/http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2006/04/06/04062006wacbillnye.html is archived here].</ref>).

*On 27 July 2011, Nye appeared on [[Fox News]]' ''Happening Now'' with Jon Scott.  During the interview, Scott wondered how the [[moon]] could have had volcanoes billions of years ago if there were no [[fossil fuel]]s being burned up there back then.  Nye was [[Not Even Wrong|momentarily stunned]] by this query.<ref>[http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201107280007 Fox Anchor Wonders If Moon Volcanoes Mean Global Warming Isn't Happening], ''Media Matters'', 28 June 2011</ref>

*On 29 August 2011, Nye appeared on [[Fox Business Network]] to talk about [[Hurricane]] Irene and the effects of [[global warming]] on weather patterns.  Being well practiced at discussing science with children, Nye talked to the FBN host and viewers as if they were ten-year-olds.  Host Charles Payne did his best to lead Nye down a few blind alleys, including showing a [[Gore's Law|video of Al Gore]] comparing global warming denialism to [[racism]], then asking Nye to comment on it.  Then, when they ran short on time, Payne said that "the route that (Nye had) taken (to explain the matter) is still confusing some of the viewers."<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/bill-nye-on-climate-science_n_942459.html Bill Nye Discusses Climate Change With Fox Business Network's Charles Payne], ''Huffington Post'', 30 August 2011</ref>

*On July 29, 2011, Nye (wearing his classic bow tie) was on ''[[Countdown with Keith Olbermann]]'' (with a guest host) on a "Screwy Science" segment in which Nye discussed with the host about illuminated puppies in which Nye was interrupted several times... and they also discussed a "solar panel bikini." Nye was cut off at the end. This was essentially fodder to fill the show.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9_kQq9Oas</ref>

*Wednesday, 10 December 2014, Nye comes off as a bit of a dork in this [http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/12/10/bill-nye-evolution/ CBC ''Q'' interview with Wab Kinew] (click [http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2014/12/10/bill-nye-evolution/ here] to go straight to the audio).

==Current activities==
Bill Nye has long been a member of the Planetary Society, an international NGO supporting the exploration of the [[Solar System]], and in 2011 became the CEO of that organization. He regularly appears on the Planetary Society's podcast, Planetary Radio which interviews a prominent scientist every week.

Bill Nye also makes appearances at [[geology]] and [[astronomy]] conventions and occasionally lobbies [[Congress]] for [[NASA]] funding.

Nye has also made TV appearances stating that [[UFO]]s are more likely explainable, human-caused phenomena, rather than [[aliensdidit]].<ref>[https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/l/bill-nyes-explanation-for-strange-ufo-sightings/vp-AAChSkE "Bill Nye's explanation for strange UFO sightings," CNN, June 22, 2019. Accessed July 22, 2019.]</ref>

===Creationism is not appropriate for children===

In 2012, Nye came out with a video<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbYJfwFgOU Courtesy of Big Think]</ref> in which he eloquently argued against the teaching of [[creationism]] to children. According to Nye, "your world just becomes fantastically complicated when you don't believe in evolution." This video, of course, was met with typical ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks by [[Creation Museum|promoters of nonsense]] that he was stifling "[[academic freedom]]."

===Debate with Ken Ham===
:''See main article: [[Bill Nye debates Ken Ham]]''
On January 2, 2014, [[Answers in Genesis]] announced that [[Ken Ham]] and Bill Nye would debate on "Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?" on February 4, 2014 at the [[Creation Museum]].<ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2014/01/02/bill-nye-ken-ham-debate/</ref> Ham whined about criticism of the debate on his blog, stating, "You see, the [[atheist]]s are actually insecure in their beliefs. Not only that, but atheists in many ways have managed to censor information concerning creation from the public" (on a blog with no comments, of course).<ref>http://blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2014/01/03/evolutionists-running-scared/</ref>

[[RationalWiki]]'s commentary on the debate may be found [[User:Reckless Noise Symphony/Ham vs. Nye commentary|here]].

===Pro-choice viewpoints===
Spending time with Big Think again, Nye spent a few moments speaking about the abortion debate.<ref>[http://bigthink.com/videos/bill-nye-on-abortion-and-womens-rights Bill Nye: Can We Stop Telling Women What to Do With Their Bodies?]</ref> His scientific dissection of fertilized eggs is pretty spot on.

===Flipping on GMOs===
Nye at one point was skeptical about [[genetically modified food]]s, producing a short video segment on how there is uncertainty about the science. In 2014 using his first book ''Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation'', he reiterates this point. In 2015 after first round publishing, [[Monsanto]]'s chief technology officer Robb Fraley invited him to the campus to alleviate Nye's fears and educate him on the current state of GMO science. To follow up, second edition books going forward have the chapter about GMOs revised to be positive based on these experiences.<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-nyes-stance-on-gmos-2015-3 See? Science works!]</ref>

===Big Think video on philosophy===
As an example of an [[inverse stopped clock]] on a subject outside his area of expertise, Nye made some rather embarrassing statements about philosophy in a Big Think video.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROe28Ma_tYM</ref> He has subsequently changed his mind about philosophy.<ref>https://www.mesapress.com/opinion/2017/05/03/bill-nye-found-appreciation-for-philosophy/</ref>

== Other ==
Nye was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Joe Biden in 2025.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced87711zlno Jan 2025 Presidential Medal of Freedom awards] BBC, 4 January, 2025.</ref>

==Bibliography ==

*Nye, B. (2014). Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation. New York: St. Martin's Press. [[Special:Booksources/978-1250007131|ISBN 978-1250007131]]
*Nye, B. (2015). Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World. New York: St. Martin's Press. [[Special:Booksources/978-1250007148|ISBN 978-1250007148]]

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6iBa3ySbE&feature=player_embedded Watch your childhood get ruined.]  Bill, you perv.
*[http://planetary.org/multimedia/planetary-radio/ Planetary Society podcast] that Bill Nye appears on each week.
*[http://debunkingdenialism.com/2012/09/04/the-uninformed-creationist-assault-on-bill-nye/ A blog post] on the back and forth on Bill Nye's [[YouTube]] video about creationism.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Agnostics]]
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[[Category:Engineers]]
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Categories: Agnostics, Educators, Engineers, Living people, Popular science