Memories of Bob Miller
by ryan
We at the ExploratOrium were saddened to hear of the death of Bob Miller this weekend. He was an artist, scientist, educator and one of the founders of the museum. Although I didn’t know him as well as some others, I feel fortunate to have experienced one of his famous light walks this past September as part of our explainer training for the upcoming school year. It was a very special moment to have the new class of field trip explainers gathered in a circle watching this man share his amazing gifts with us.
If you did not have the chance to go on one of Bob’s walks, follow the link below for an online version.
For me, the experience was one of those moments where I couldn’t wait to get home to tell other people about my day at work. I wanted to show them how when you cross your fingers and let the light shine through, you can see little circles, or how the sunlight travels through the branches of the trees, or how white light contains all the colors and information…it’s just waiting to be separated out.
But more than anything it was one of those times where I felt genuinely lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of educators and scientists who can explain the secrets of the universe but would rather let you figure them out for yourselves. I remember talking on the phone to my Dad that night, trying to explain how it felt to have a job where you really love to show up to work and can count on being around great people and end up looking at the world in ways that you never thought of before.
I feel very privileged to have had that experience and to be able to continue learning and discovering every day at the museum. I will remember Bob when I see the lights floating down in circles through the leaves of the trees as we wait for school groups. And when I tell kids in the cow eyeball dissection how amazing it is that everything that we can see in the world comes into our eyes through a hole smaller than a pea. And I will remember him when I come into the Exploratorium in the morning and see the light of the sun, broken into many rainbows, scattered across the walls and floors and ceiling of the museum, all emanating from his sun painting exhibit.
Feel free to write any memories, thoughts, or stories that you have about Bob in the comments to this post.
Bob’s Image Walk was a gift to anyone who experienced it. It transformed my conception of the physical world.
Rest in peace.
Going through Bob’s papers, he made it very clear that one of his greatest joys was meeting each new group of explainers and imparting his unique vision of the world to them. It restored his faith in a future where people can make a difference by trying to understand this crazy beautiful thing called life.
Keep up the good work.
D.
[...] people have been lucky enough to participate in this walk with Bob over the years, I was happy to see a post on the Exploratorium Explainers Blog talking about going on the light walk just last [...]
Thanks so much for this post. Bob will certainly be missed. David I came across this poster you made of Bob.
http://isaac.exploratorium.edu/dbarker/bobmiller.html
A great way to remember him.
I, too, feel so fortunate to have been in the presence of such a great scientist and educator. Bob presented science as something so simple, so ubiquitous, so beautiful, and so fascinating. I was completely blown away by his presentation of what he called “the poor man’s digital.” I get so excited every time I walk out of my apartment building to find circles of sunlight, coming through the different shaped and sized slits in the awning, on the front steps.
The people who were present, the content, the aesthetics, the knowledge I gained, Bob’s training is one that will stay with me, forever. Maybe it was the bright sunny weather or the divine image of the Palace of Fine Arts in the lens but, for me, the thought of Bob Miller always brings a sense of hope.
It was in my redwood house in the suburbs of Redwood City more years ago than I can possibly calculate that Bob first entertained his vision for the sun painting. I remember all the many prisms he collected, the joy and excitement shared by him and Jack (my then husband) who was also a visionary scientist; I remember the times out in our wild backyard looking at the stars and talking about the possibilities of his vision … his sweet heart and his burning mind and his melancholy eyes. He was part of our family, loved by my children and pets alike. I grieve for the shortening of a life so wild with possibilities, for the struggles he had holding the course… I wish I had been able to say goodbye to this special being.
Thank you so much for this blog. I have been so very saddened by Bob’s death. Reading the story you wrote about your experience with Bob brought some Bob joy back. Your excitement about your experience with the light walk, your desire to share it when you got home, is exactly what Bob hoped to inspire in others. All who experienced the world with Bob on one of his light walks ,or in some other explortaion of the world with him, were changed forever for the better.
I am so happy and hopeful to read your words. Bob lved to open those doors inside of others. He would have loved to ready your post.
Wow, I just learned of Bob’s death and memories flood in of good times we had when I was an artist in residence during the summer of ’77 and how he helped me, both then and later. Along with Frank, of course, he was one of the people who shaped or reshaped me as an artist that beautiful summer, and beyond. Bless him and the Exploratorium he loved.
Jerry
Like Ryan, I was in complete awe and wonder when Bob took us on the Light Walk earlier this year. This was my second time having the privalage of such an experience. The first time I must’ve been about 14 or 15, I don’t think I realized it then but Bob and his light walk caused a fascination, and perhaps obsession, with the way that we see. When I first started explaining, I avoided the Cow Eye Dissection, after going on the light walk for the first time, it gave me reason to care and find interest in the dissection. Realizing that the pupil is merely a hole opened up possibilities of understanding perception, physics and genuinely sparked my curiosity. Holes in a Wall and Magic Wand have always been among my favorite exhibits. After Bobs passing I cannot help but look at his exhibits differently, that I am lucky to still have access to the creativity and genuis of bob. I was recently checking out the Sun Painting and Aurora with a few other Explainers and we talked about how Bobs exhibits conveyed concepts strongly (for instance Magic Wand: that image is always there, that all the pieces of info come together in our minds to construct the little girl dancing) but also that there is an open ended element of play, that everything isn’t figured out or handed to the visitor but that tools of discovery are provided. Bobs impact on the Exploratorium and the communities that access the institution (the visitors, staff, other mueseums where Bobs exhibits live, etc) will be immeasurable. Bob Miller is an Exploratorium Great! And words cannot do justice to the contributions that this man has made to the world. Thank you for everything, you have truely inspired me and so many others.
I met Bob in 1962 and saw him 5 times since, every time except the last by “accident”. The first time, he was recovering from having his spleen removed. He stayed with his brother, Jim, and I for a couple weeks. I never laughed that much in a short period of time like that. We didn’t talk about science or our work at all. We laughed.
The next time was in 1970. I went to a party in San Francisco and he was there. We ended up sitting on the kitchen floor (all the others had gone into the living room tohear the host and his group play “difficult listening music”). We had trouble muffling our laughs. It was like we hadn’t seen each other in a week. That feeling was always there, even the last time 3 years ago.
We laughed about suicide. I said, “I don’t get it. Time must collapse, ’cause otherwise you’d remember that things always go from worse to better.” He said, “You just get convinced that the good times were fake”. I asked him to let me take out some life insurance on him with me as the beneficiary. We enjoyed each other so much. So, so much.
I hope he gets another body soon. We’ll laugh again.
[...] find out more about Bob Miller: I recommend this page on the Explainer blog. He is in many ways one of the founders of the Exploratorium, and his legacy is unmissable in the [...]