Before Bill Nye

Today, a TV legend and one of my childhood heroes passed:

Don Herbert, who as television's 'Mr. Wizard' introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.

I can remember watching his show and seeing all the cool experiments he did on Mr. Wizard's World. I still have his book, Mr. Wizard's Supermarket Science, which listed lots of experiments you could do with a common items.

"He modeled how to predict and measure and analyze. ... The show today might seem slow but it was in-depth and forced you to think along," Jacobs said. "You were learning about the forces of nature."

Herbert encouraged children to duplicate experiments at home, said Jacobs, who recounted serving as a behind-the-scenes 'science sidekick' to Herbert on the '80s 'Mr. Wizard's World' that aired on the Nickelodeon channel.

We will miss him and his passion to inspire young people.