The lights of the Phillips Center flickered, signifying the show was to start in a few minutes. As if on cue, the sold-out theater began chanting the famous theme song from “Bill Nye the Science Guy” in unison- “Bill! Bill! Bill!” ACCENT Speakers Bureau brought Bill Nye the Science Guy to speak to an audience of college students passionate about science and nostalgic for Nye’s genius blend of science and comedy.
Before Nye started his lecture (and in classic Science Guy fashion) he explained the physics of light diffusion, encouraging people to put away their cellphones. Without transition, Nye pointed to the picture of the clock behind him on the projector screen and began explaining his fascination with time. He spoke about the complexity of clocks, their ubiquity and how, even though we trust calendars, they have been changed on a whim throughout history. Nye’s fascination with time comes from his father. Ned Nye, Boy Scientist (a self-proclaimed title) learned how to tell time by shadows while in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. Upon returning to the US, he began making sundials.
Time and sundials led to a discussion about the color of shadows. Nye explained that shadows are slightly changed by the color of the atmosphere which is in turn determined by the atmosphere’s chemical makeup. This information led Nye to design and implement sundials on Mars and on the Mars rover, helping NASA determine the true color of the planet. 
His discussion of Mars led to craters and the extinction of dinosaurs before finally getting to the real theme of his talk: maintaining the Earth for the future. He presented data that shows the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. He doesn’t blame any particular source except rapid population growth. He then presented ideas from the Planetary Society, of which he is CEO, to avoid asteroids. He also detailed his own ideas for conserving energy including electric cars, solar power, and a smart grid. Nye drives an electric car and his home runs almost entirely off of solar energy.
Nye then took questions from the audience. One audience member challenged the idea of evolution and the current population numbers. Nye quickly shut him down, explaining the idea of exponential growth and simply saying, “Sir, I really encourage you to take a little time with math.”
The highlight of the entire night came when an audience member asked about the accuracy of the movie “Gravity,” citing Neil deGrasse Tyson’s infamous twitter rant nitpicking details. Nye answered, “Let’s ask him,” and then proceeded to call deGrasse while he was speaking at Ohio State University. The entire audience simultaneously nerdgasmed when the icon of science during our childhoods called the current cool kid of astronomy.
The lecture was a grown up version of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Although he discussed topics that would typically come across as boring and academic, Bill Nye knows how to make it entertaining and engaging. He cracked jokes throughout the lecture and even used recurring jokes, like making up new words, similar to a seasoned comedian. The talk was a lot less goofy than the show, but equally as entertaining.
I watched Bill Nye as a kid and his show defined my middle school science education (yeah, I’m calling you out, Mrs. Fronstein). Seeing him speak live was a dream come true for my 12-year-old self. He’s just as informative and entertaining today as he was twenty years ago when “Bill Nye the Science Guy” first started. For many of us he really did prove that “science rules,” and he’s still proving it today.
