Julius Sumner Miller (May 17, 1909 – April 14, 1987) was an American physicist and television personality. He is best known for his work on children's television programs in North America and Australia.

Off-screen

Julius Sumner Miller was born in Billerica, Massachusetts, as the youngest of nine children. His father was Latvian and his Lithuanian mother spoke 12 languages., and from 1965 to 1985 at the United States Air Force Academy.

Television

In 1959, Miller began hosting his educational program, Why Is It So?, on KNXT (now KCBS-TV) Channel 2 in Los Angeles. From 1962 to 1964, he was Disney's "Professor Wonderful" on new introductions, filmed at Disneyland, to the syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club. He also starred in the Disney series Great Moments in Science and Science and its Magic. During the same period, he appeared on a semi-regular basis, performing physics experiments, on Steve Allen's late-night TV show in Hollywood, syndicated by Group W. Eventually, he also had his own TV shows in Australia, Canada, Norway, and New Zealand.

Miller's first television appearance in Australia was on Bob Sanders People in 1963. In an improvised physics demonstration, he attempted to drive a drinking straw through a raw potato. A paper straw normally is not strong enough, but if one pinches the end, the trapped air acts as a piston, easily piercing the potato. For the first time in his career, he could not get this to work, and he loudly exclaimed: "Australian straws ain't worth a damn!" The next morning, Miller arrived at his Sydney University laboratory to find one million drinking straws on the floor with a telegram reading "You might find one of these fitting your requirements". He later stated, "I sat amongst the straws with straws stuck in my hair and ears. But clearly I had made a mistake. I should have said: 'Australian potatoes ain't worth a damn', and I'd have cornered the potato market!"

Shortly after, he was offered a job presenting science for Australia's ABC Television. When asked how much money he wanted, he replied that he never asked, he listened to an offer, then "multiplied it by a factor between two and ten". Due to budget constraints, the offer was withdrawn, but an agreement was reached for Miller to host his own science-based TV series, which was filmed at the University of Sydney, where he taught. Why Is It So? (the program title, which also would become his stock phrase), broadcast from 1963 to 1986 and became an instant hit known for its "cool experiments, interesting science, and fantastic hair". The 1960s program became Demonstrations in Physics (also called Science Demonstrations when it was aired on American PBS television). He introduced each episode with the line:

<blockquote>How do you do, ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls [sometimes adding some others like: and teachers, and fathers, and mothers, and people].<br>I am Julius Sumner Miller, and physics is my business [whereupon often presenting the subject of each lesson after the characteristic phrase: And my very special business today is ...]</blockquote>

Around 1963, Miller was also one of the team of celebrity lecturers in the University of Sydney's pioneering "Summer School of Science", broadcast early in the morning during Australia's long summer holidays in January. Fellow presenters included physicist Harry Messel and the molecular biologist James Watson, but decades ahead of his work on the Human Genome.

<blockquote>My first TV series on demonstrations in physics – titled Why Is It So? – were now seen and heard over the land. The mail was massive. The academics were a special triumph for me. They charged me with being superficial and trivial. If I had done what they wanted my programs would be as dull as their classes! I knew my purpose well and clear: to show how Nature behaves without cluttering its beauty with abstruse mathematics. Why cloud the charm of a Chladni plate with a Bessel function?</blockquote>

Miller's on-air popularity was due to an enthusiasm not normally associated with serious science. Shows would be liberally sprinkled with phrases such as "He who is not stirred by the beauty of it is already dead!" and he also liked to trick the audience. A common ploy would be to hold up an empty glass and ask guests to confirm it was empty....then chide them for not noticing it was full of air. Before each demonstration, he would usually ask for a show of hands to indicate which of several results they expected. Often, he would then add, "hands up those who don't care".

In 1964, Miller suffered a near-fatal heart attack. Scheduled to give a lecture in Australia, he sent Sydney University a telegram saying, "I've dropped dead here." He would suffer a second heart attack in 1986. which included demonstrations of real principles of physics, albeit briefly.

Death

In February 1987, Miller became ill while visiting Australia and returned to the United States, where he was diagnosed with leukemia. Miller died six weeks later on April 14, 1987, in Torrance, California. In accordance with his will, no services were held, and Miller's body went to the University of Southern California's School of Dentistry.

Foundations

Professor Miller's wife, Alice Brown Miller, wanted to perpetuate the memory and achievements of her husband, and so conceived the idea of the Julius Sumner Miller Foundation, which was established in 1998.

The character Julius in the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger video game series is inspired by Miller, and frequently uses the phrase "Why is this so?"

A rock band in Calgary, Alberta, founded in 2013, named itself Julius Sumner Miller, having seen him on The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Their first album, released in 2016, is titled Why Is It So?

Bibliography

  • Time: Selected Lectures On Time and Relativity, the Arrow of Time, and the Relation of Geological and Biological Time and On Men of Science, Shakespeare Head Press, 1965
  • Millergrams; Some Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, Ure Smith, 1966
  • The Second Book of Millergrams: Some More Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, Ure Smith, 1967
  • Quiz Questions in Physics, Horwitz-Martin, Australia 1967
  • Physics Fun and Demonstrations, Central Scientific Company, 1968
  • Why It Is So, ABC books, 1971
  • The Kitchen Professor, ABC books, 1972
  • Why It Is So: Heat and Temperature, ABC books, 1973
  • Why It Is So: Sound and Electricity & Magnetism, ABC books, 1973
  • Why It Is So: Mechanics, Heat & Temperature, Sound and Electricity, ABC books, 1978
  • Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds, Currey/O'Neil, 1982
  • Why is it so?: the very best Millergrams of Professor Julius Sumner Miller, Australian Red Cross Society, Ringwood, Vic; Penguin Books, 1988
  • The Days of My Life: An Autobiography, Macmillan, 1989.

Discography

Albums

  • Professor Julius Sumner Miller (Professor Wonderful) Relating Stories of Isaac Newton (Walt Disney Productions 1964)
  • Professor Julius Sumner Miller (Professor Wonderful) Relating Stories of Galileo (Walt Disney Productions 1964)
  • Professor Julius Sumner Miller (Professor Wonderful) Relating Stories of Benjamin Franklin (Walt Disney Productions 1964)
  • Professor Julius Sumner Miller (Professor Wonderful) Relating Stories of Michael Faraday (Walt Disney Productions 1964)

See also

  • Don Herbert (Mr. Wizard)

References

  • Julius Sumner Miller, Physics Demonstrations, a playlist on YouTube
  • Julius Sumner Miller Foundation
  • Australian Julius Sumner Miller tribute page
  • Julius Sumner Miller page at a Hilarious House of Frightenstein tribute site
  • Why is it so? site at Australia's ABC.net.au featuring original episodes
  • Julius Sumner Miller 1909–1987, Physics Department, University of Sydney.
  • "The Drama of Really Cold Stuff" and Julius Sumner Miller |GeekDad |Wired.com, 12.07.07

Archival collections

  • Julius Sumner Miller papers, 1948-1967, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
  • Julius Sumner Miller letters to Richard Zitto, 1976-1978, Niels Bohr Library & Archives
  • Julius Sumner Miller Collection, 1929-1987, McDermott Library, United States Air Force Academy