Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is an Australian-Canadian

science communicator Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

, filmmaker, and television personality, who is best known for his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

channel Veritasium. Muller has also appeared as a correspondent on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

Bill Nye Saves the World ''Bill Nye Saves the World'' is an American television show streaming on Netflix hosted and created by Bill Nye. It is both a sequel and a revival of sorts of Bill Nye The Science Guy, which is also created by Bill Nye. The show's byline was, ...

'' since 2017.

Early life and education

Muller was born to South African parents in Traralgon,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

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, for ...

, Canada, when he was 18 months old. In 2000, Muller graduated from West Vancouver Secondary School. In 2004, Muller graduated from Queen's University in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Tor ...

, with a

Bachelor of Applied Science The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as B.AS., BAS, BSAS, BASc, B.A.Sc., or BAppSc, is an undergraduate degree. There are also ''Bachelor of Arts and Science'' and ''Bachelor of Administration Science'' undergraduate degrees, also a ...

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. Approximatel ...

from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, 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 Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

'' 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 YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second most vis ...

"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 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 " ...

'' 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'', 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 ''

''. 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 ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'', ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'', ''

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'', ...

'', and '' i09''.

Veritasium and other YouTube channels

In January 2011, Muller created the educational science channel ''Veritasium'' on

, 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 M ...

, 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 Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

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 element A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei, including the pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements canno ...

s. In its logo, which has been a registered

trade mark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from oth ...

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 Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...

' famous novel. In July 2012, Muller created a second

, ''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 toy. At 2012 Science Online, the video "Mission Possible: Graphene" won the Cyberscreen Science Film Festival and was therefore featured on ''

'' as the video of the week. A video debunking the common misconception that the moon is closer than it is, was picked-up by ''

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

''. 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 '' Bil ...

and

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...

. 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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, they moved to

, 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

he met Raquel Nuno, a planetary scientist whom he married. They have three children (2021).

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