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January 23, 2006
Miller Time
For all ye Padawan who don't remember, there once was a time when T.V. shows were sent through the air like cellfone calls. One of my favorite over-the-air shows was a PBS show called Mr. Wizard. Mr. Wizard was a cool scientist-guy who did experiments with kids in order to get them to like science. It obviously worked on me.
When I got to High School I wasn't quite studious enough to take the "real" physics class but Mr. Wizard had convinced me that science was cool. I enrolled in the what was informally known as "Mr. Wizard Physics," a course intended for flunkies like me.
This turned out to be one of the coolest classes I ever took. The teacher, known only as "Miller" was even cooler than the T.V. knockoff. In his class I saw students walking barefoot on broken glass and stand motionlessly as bricks careened at their noses. He electrified the doorknob to get the attention of the tardy and had another teacher break bricks on his chest with a sledgehammer. It was memorable.
Two days ago as I walked the dogs in a mild snowstorm I saw a man clearing the snow from his driveway using only one arm to push the shovel. On more careful inspection I saw the characteristic limp that sparked a long-buried memory.
Though I rarely think of it, Miller was, in fact, "disabled." He has very little use of his right side and yet somehow manages to ride his bicycle to work 90% of the time. He also can draw perfect circles by affixing the chalk in his right hand, standing with his right shoulder at the board, and throwing his right arm in a circle with his left. It's an amusing trick, but Giotto would be jealous of "Miller's O."
The shoveler in the driveway with the limp--not a winning answer in Clue, but, in fact, my old Physics teacher. He lives two blocks away from me. I chatted with him for a while, though I don't think he remembers me specifically (I can forgive him, he said he's been teaching over 40 years now) he was still as jovial as ever.
He was the bearer of bad news, though, as he's exclusively teaching advanced students and has been expressly forbidden from performing most of his old tricks. Bloody shame--no students will ever get the Miller Experience again. Maybe it's just as well, though. I hear the latest craze in education is to insist that kinematics is only a theory and that the idea that an intelligent mind directs the paths of moving objects is equally valid.
Posted by james at January 23, 2006 07:02 PM
Comments
Glad to hear he's still teaching. He was the bastard that got me interested in science in the first place. And now look at me, I'm drowning in it! I'd say I'd beat him up for it, but he'd probably outrun me on his bicycle.
Posted by: jarrad at January 24, 2006 12:58 PM