Julius Sumner Miller
Encyclopedia
Julius Sumner Miller was an American
physicist
and television personality. He is best known for his work on children's television programs in North America and Australia.
the youngest of nine children. His father was Latvia
n, his Lithuania
n mother spoke 12 languages.
Miller graduated with a Philosophy
degree and a Master's
in Physics
from Boston University
in 1933 but due to the Depression
worked as a butler for a wealthy Boston doctor for the next two years during which time he married the doctor's maid, Alice Brown; they were to have no children, but he was to go on to reach millions of children through his popular science programs.
After making over 700 applications for employment, in 1937 he was offered a place in the Physics Department of Dillard University
, a private, black liberal arts college in New Orleans. During World War II
he worked as a civilian physicist for the U.S. Army Signal Corps while holding fellowships
in physics at the universities of Idaho and Oklahoma and was a Ford Foundation
Fellow at UCLA
. In 1950 he enrolled in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J.
where he was a student of Albert Einstein
. He became a lifelong friend of Einstein and went on to amass a collection of Einstein memorabilia that included Einstein's birth certificate. Miller also taught at Princeton but disliked large institutions, leaving in 1952 to join the Physics Department at the then small El Camino College
in Torrance, California
(1952–1974), to maximum student enrollments due to his great popularity and where he was instantly recognizable by his casual hair and horn-rimmed spectacles.
Miller was intolerant of misspelled words and misplaced punctuation and often angered his colleagues because he charged that the students of most faculty were not learning enough. During an interview in the 1940s, he stated that intellectual life in America was in trouble, a belief he held for the rest of his life.
From 1963 to 1986 he was the visiting lecturer for the Physics Department of the University of Sydney
and from 1965 to 1985, the US Air Force Academy
.
Channel 2 in Los Angeles
. From 1962 to 1964, Miller was Disney
's "Professor Wonderful" on new introductions, filmed at Disneyland, to the syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club. 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
.
Miller's first television appearance in Australia
was on Bob Sanders People in 1963. In an improvised physics demonstration he attempted to drive a straw
through a raw potato. A paper straw does not have the strength but if you pinch the end, the trapped air acts as a piston, easily piercing the potato. For the first time in his career he could not get it to work and 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 ABC Television
. When asked how much money he wanted he replied 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? (his eventual stock phrase), was broadcast from 1963 to 1986 and became an instant hit known for it's "cool experiments, interesting science, and fantastic hair." The 1960s program became Demonstrations in Physics
(also called Science Demonstrations when it was aired on American Public television
). He introduced each episode with the line: "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls [sometimes adding "and teachers"]. I am Julius Sumner Miller, and physics
is my business."
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.
In 1966 questions from his show with an answer to the previous day’s question were published as "Millergrams" for The Australian
newspaper. 112 of these questions were published as a book "Millergrams; Some Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds". Further books were published in 1967: "The Second Book of Millergrams: Some More Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds" and 1988: "Why is it So?: The Very Best Millergrams of Professor Julius Sumner Miller".
Miller appeared as "The Professor" in the Canadian series The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
(1971), in a 2- to 3-minute segment each episode where he demonstrated physics experiments and explained the principles involved.
Miller was also an occasional guest in the 1970s on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
in the United States.
, using his stock phrase "Why is it so?", demonstrating a simple scientific principle, and describing how each block of chocolate "embraces substantial nourishment and enjoyment," and contained "a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk
."
While in Australia, Miller also appeared in ads for non-stick
saucepans and Ampol
Petroleum which included demonstrations of real principles of physics, albeit briefly. The ads were sufficiently popular to be played for some years after his death.
. Miller died six weeks later on April 14, 1987, in San Jose, California
. Miller willed his body to the University of Southern California's School of Dentistry, no services were held at his request. 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.
Through an offer by Cadbury-Schweppes Pty Ltd, the Cadbury-Julius Sumner Miller Scholarship for Academic Excellence was set up to provide undergraduate scholarships in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney
.
In 1993 the Australian Science Foundation for Physics established the Julius Sumner Miller Fellowship in his memory. The fellowship is currently held by Karl Kruszelnicki
, best known as "Doctor Karl" for his appearances on Australian radio and television as a science commentator and author.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
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, MassachusettsBillerica, Massachusetts
Billerica is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,243 at the 2010 census. It is the only town named Billerica in the United States and borrows its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England.- History :...
the youngest of nine children. His father was Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n, his Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n mother spoke 12 languages.
Miller graduated with a Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
degree and a Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in 1933 but due to the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
worked as a butler for a wealthy Boston doctor for the next two years during which time he married the doctor's maid, Alice Brown; they were to have no children, but he was to go on to reach millions of children through his popular science programs.
After making over 700 applications for employment, in 1937 he was offered a place in the Physics Department of Dillard University
Dillard University
Dillard University is a private, historically black liberal arts college in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1930 incorporating earlier institutions that went back to 1869, it is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church....
, a private, black liberal arts college in New Orleans. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he worked as a civilian physicist for the U.S. Army Signal Corps while holding fellowships
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
in physics at the universities of Idaho and Oklahoma and was a Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
Fellow at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
. In 1950 he enrolled in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J.
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
where he was a student of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. He became a lifelong friend of Einstein and went on to amass a collection of Einstein memorabilia that included Einstein's birth certificate. Miller also taught at Princeton but disliked large institutions, leaving in 1952 to join the Physics Department at the then small El Camino College
El Camino College
El Camino College is a two-year public community college located partially in the unincorporated area of Alondra Park and partially in the City of Torrance in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is commonly referred to as "Elco" or "ECC"...
in Torrance, California
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
(1952–1974), to maximum student enrollments due to his great popularity and where he was instantly recognizable by his casual hair and horn-rimmed spectacles.
Miller was intolerant of misspelled words and misplaced punctuation and often angered his colleagues because he charged that the students of most faculty were not learning enough. During an interview in the 1940s, he stated that intellectual life in America was in trouble, a belief he held for the rest of his life.
"We are approaching a darkness in the land. Boys and girls are emerging from every level of school with certificates and degrees, but they can't read, write or calculate. We don't have academic honesty or intellectual rigor. Schools have abandoned integrity and rigor."
From 1963 to 1986 he was the visiting lecturer for the Physics Department of the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and from 1965 to 1985, the US Air Force Academy
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy is an accredited college for the undergraduate education of officer candidates for the United States Air Force. Its campus is located immediately north of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States...
.
Television
Miller began hosting his educational program, "Why Is It So?" in 1959 on KNXTKCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
Channel 2 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. From 1962 to 1964, Miller was Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's "Professor Wonderful" on new introductions, filmed at Disneyland, to the syndicated reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club. During the same period, he appeared on a semi-regular basis, performing physics experiments, on Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
's late night TV show in Hollywood, syndicated by Group W
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
.
Miller's first television appearance in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
was on Bob Sanders People in 1963. In an improvised physics demonstration he attempted to drive a straw
Drinking straw
A drinking straw is a short tube intended for transferring a beverage from its container to the mouth of the drinker by use of suction. A thin tube of plastic or other material, straight or with an accordion-like living hinge, it is employed by being held with one end in the mouth and another end...
through a raw potato. A paper straw does not have the strength but if you pinch the end, the trapped air acts as a piston, easily piercing the potato. For the first time in his career he could not get it to work and 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
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
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 ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
. When asked how much money he wanted he replied 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? (his eventual stock phrase), was broadcast from 1963 to 1986 and became an instant hit known for it's "cool experiments, interesting science, and fantastic hair." The 1960s program became Demonstrations in Physics
Demonstrations in Physics
Demonstrations in Physics was an educational science series produced in Australia by ABC Television in 1969. The series was hosted by American scientist Julius Sumner Miller, who demonstrated experiments involving various disciplines in the world of physics.The series was also released in the...
(also called Science Demonstrations when it was aired on American Public television
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
). He introduced each episode with the line: "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen, and boys and girls [sometimes adding "and teachers"]. I am Julius Sumner Miller, and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
is my business."
"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 abtruse mathematics. Why cloud the charm of a Chladni plateErnst ChladniErnst Florens Friedrich Chladni was a German physicist and musician. His important works include research on vibrating plates and the calculation of the speed of sound for different gases. For this some call him the "Father of Acoustics"...
with a Bessel functionBessel functionIn mathematics, Bessel functions, first defined by the mathematician Daniel Bernoulli and generalized by Friedrich Bessel, are canonical solutions y of Bessel's differential equation:...
?"
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
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. 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.
In 1966 questions from his show with an answer to the previous day’s question were published as "Millergrams" for The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
newspaper. 112 of these questions were published as a book "Millergrams; Some Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds". Further books were published in 1967: "The Second Book of Millergrams: Some More Enchanting Questions for Enquiring Minds" and 1988: "Why is it So?: The Very Best Millergrams of Professor Julius Sumner Miller".
Sample Millergram:
Q32: A juggler comes to a foot-bridge of rather flimsy design. He has in hand four balls. The safe load is no more than the juggler himself and one ball. Can he get across the bridge by juggling the balls, always having at most one ball in the hand (and three in the air)?
A: No. A falling ball exerts a force on the hand greater than its own weight.
Rather, a 'thrown' ball exerts greater force than a 'held' one. That is, the additional force equal and opposite to that imparted to a flung ball, in addition to the juggler's mass, would exceed the bridge's tolerance (the bridge can tolerate a juggler and held ball, but not the additional downward force associated with forcing a ball 'up').
Miller appeared as "The Professor" in the Canadian series The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein was a Canadian children's television series produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-TV in 1971. It was syndicated to television stations across Canada and the United States and occasionally still appears today in some television markets...
(1971), in a 2- to 3-minute segment each episode where he demonstrated physics experiments and explained the principles involved.
Miller was also an occasional guest in the 1970s on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
in the United States.
Commercials
During the 1980s Miller appeared in a famous series of Australian television commercials for Cadbury chocolateChocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, using his stock phrase "Why is it so?", demonstrating a simple scientific principle, and describing how each block of chocolate "embraces substantial nourishment and enjoyment," and contained "a glass and a half of full-cream dairy milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
."
While in Australia, Miller also appeared in ads for non-stick
Non-stick surface
A non-stick surface is a surface engineered to reduce the ability of other materials to stick to it. A non-stick coating may be applied to a substrate to produce such a surface. One common application of non-stick coatings is cookware. Until recently, Teflon has dominated this market. However,...
saucepans and Ampol
Ampol
Ampol, the Australian Motorists Petrol Company, was incorporated by Sir William Gaston Walkley in 1936 in New South Wales. This was in response to Australians' concerns about perceived inequitable petrol pricing, and allegations of transfer pricing by foreign oil companies to limit their tax...
Petroleum which included demonstrations of real principles of physics, albeit briefly. The ads were sufficiently popular to be played for some years after his death.
Foundations
In February 1987 Miller became ill while visiting Australia and returned to the United States where he was diagnosed with leukemiaLeukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
. Miller died six weeks later on April 14, 1987, in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. Miller willed his body to the University of Southern California's School of Dentistry, no services were held at his request. 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.
Through an offer by Cadbury-Schweppes Pty Ltd, the Cadbury-Julius Sumner Miller Scholarship for Academic Excellence was set up to provide undergraduate scholarships in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
.
In 1993 the Australian Science Foundation for Physics established the Julius Sumner Miller Fellowship in his memory. The fellowship is currently held by Karl Kruszelnicki
Karl Kruszelnicki
Karl Kruszelnicki AM is a scientist, who is best known as an author and science commentator on Australian radio and television. He is often referred to as Dr Karl....
, best known as "Doctor Karl" for his appearances on Australian radio and television as a science commentator and author.
Popular culture
Miller remains popular in Australia where he is still quoted. As Professor Julius Sumner Miller often asked "Why is it so?" and it's variations is still often used in newspaper articles that pose questions unrelated to science.External links
- Julius Sumner Miller Foundation
- Australian Julius Sumner Miller tribute page
- Julius Sumner Miller page at a Hilarious House of Frightenstein tribute site
- Julius Sumner Miller at TV.com
- Why is it so? site at Australia's ABC.net.au featuring original episodes
- http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/foundation/Outreach/DRK/jsm.pdf Julius Sumner Miller 1909 - 1987, Physics Department, University of Sydney.