Derek Muller
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Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian science communicator, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the
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web series '' Bill Nye Saves the World'' since 2017.


Early life and education

Muller was born to South African parents in Traralgon, Victoria,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and moved to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada, when he was 18 months old. In 2000, Muller graduated from
West Vancouver Secondary School West Vancouver Secondary School (WVSS) is a five-year secondary school located in the middle of West Vancouver, British Columbia which educates grades 8 through 12. It is one of the three public high schools in West Vancouver. The school has two c ...
. In 2004, Muller graduated from
Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...
in Kingston, Ontario, with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Physics. Muller moved to Australia to study film-making, but instead enrolled for a Ph.D. in
physics education research Physics education research (PER) is a form of discipline-based education research specifically related to the study of the teaching and learning of physics, often with the aim of improving the effectiveness of student learning. Approximately ...
from the University of Sydney, which he completed in 2008 with a thesis: ''Designing Effective Multimedia for Physics Education''. He was still looking for a creative career but did not find a direct path.


Career

Muller has been listed as a team member of the ABC's television program '' Catalyst'' since 2008. During his Ph.D. course, he was also teaching in a tutoring company, where he took a full-time job as science head after he completed the course in 2008. He quit the job at the end of 2010. In 2011 Muller created his YouTube channel "Veritasium" ( see section below), which became his main source of livelihood in a few years. Since 2011, Muller has continued to appear on ''Catalyst'', reporting scientific stories from around the globe, and on Australian television network
Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...
as the 'Why Guy' on the ''
Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...
'' program. In May 2012, he gave a TEDxSydney talk using the subject of his thesis. He presented the documentary ''
Uranium – Twisting the Dragon's Tail ''Uranium – Twisting the Dragon's Tail'' is a television documentary series about uranium, its history, and its uses. It was produced by Gene Pool Productions for PBS and SBS and premiered on both networks in late July and August 2015. The s ...
'', which aired in July–August 2015 on several public television stations around the world and won the Eureka Prize for Science Journalism. On 21 September 2015, Muller hosted the
Google Science Fair The Google Science Fair was a worldwide (excluding Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Myanmar/Burma, Syria, Zimbabwe and any other U.S. sanctioned country) online science competition sponsored by Google, Lego, Virgin Galactic, National Geographic ...
Awards Celebration for that year. Muller has also won the Australian Department of Innovation Nanotechnology Film Competition and the 2013 Australian Webstream Award for "Best Educational & Lifestyle Series". Starting in April 2017, he appeared as a correspondent on the Netflix series '' Bill Nye Saves the World''. Muller presented in film ''Vitamania: The Sense and Nonsense of Vitamins'', a documentary by Genepool Productions, released in August 2018. The film answers questions about vitamins and the use of dietary vitamin supplements. Muller's works have been featured in '' Scientific American'', '' Wired'', ''
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...
'', and ''
i09 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years ha ...
''.


Veritasium and other YouTube channels

In January 2011, Muller created the educational science channel ''Veritasium'' on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, the focus of which is "addressing counter-intuitive concepts in science, usually beginning by discussing ideas with members of the public". The videos range in style from interviews with experts, such as 2011 Physics Nobel Laureate
Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU). He was previously a Distinguished Professor, Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and astrophysicist at the University's Mo ...
, to science experiments, dramatisations, songs, anda hallmark of the channel interviews with the public to uncover misconceptions about science. The name ''Veritasium'' is a combination of the Latin word for truth, ''Veritas'', and the suffix common to many elements, ''-ium''. This creates ''Veritasium'', an "element of truth", a play on the popular phrase and a reference to chemical elements. In its logo, which has been a registered trade mark since 2016, the number "42.0" resembles an element on the periodic table. The number was chosen as it is " The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything" in Douglas Adams' famous novel. In July 2012, Muller created a second YouTube channel, ''2veritasium''. Muller uses the new platform to produce editorial videos that discuss such topics as film making, showcasing behind-the-scenes footage, and for viewer reactions to popular ''Veritasium'' videos. In 2017, Muller began uploading videos on his newest channel, ''Sciencium'', which is dedicated to videos on recent and historical discoveries in science.


Reception

''Veritasium'' videos have received critical acclaim. Two early successful ''Veritasium'' videos demonstrate the physics of a falling
Slinky The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented by Richard James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its ow ...
toy. At 2012
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, the video "Mission Possible: Graphene" won the Cyberscreen Science Film Festival and was therefore featured on '' Scientific American'' as the video of the week. A video debunking the common misconception that the moon is closer than it is, was picked-up by ''
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''. After a video was posted in which Muller is shown driving a wind-powered car, equipped with a huge spinning propeller, faster than the wind, UCLA physics professor
Alexander Kusenko Alexander Kusenko is a theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, and cosmologist who is currently a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In addition, Kusenko holds an appointment of Senior Scienti ...
disagreed with the claim that sailing downwind faster than wind was possible within the laws of physics, and made a scientific wager with Muller $10,000 that he could not demonstrate that the apparent greater speed was not due to other, incidental factors. Muller took up the bet, and the signing of a wager agreement by the parties was witnessed by
Bill Nye William Sanford Nye (born November 27, 1955), popularly known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, is an American mechanical engineer, science communicator, and television presenter. He is best known as the host of the science television show ''Bill ...
and Neil deGrasse Tyson. In a subsequent video, Muller demonstrated the effect with a model cart under conditions ruling out extraneous effects. Kusenko conceded the bet.


Personal life and family

After Derek Muller's parents, Anthony and Shirley, married in South Africa, they moved to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia, Canada, where his two sisters were born (Kirstie and Marilouise). The family moved to Australia, where he was born, after his father got a job in Traralgon at a pulp and paper mill. When he was 18 months old, the family moved back to Vancouver. After Muller moved to Los Angeles he met Raquel Nuno, a planetary scientist whom he married. They have three children (2021).


See also

* Kurzgesagt * CGP Grey * Tom Scott (presenter)


Footnotes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller, Derek Video bloggers Online edutainment Living people 1982 births Australian emigrants to Canada People from Traralgon People from Vancouver Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Sydney alumni Australian Internet celebrities Education-related YouTube channels Male YouTubers Canadian people of South African descent Australian people of South African descent