“Importantly, Ms. Frizzle doesn’t teach her students about facts alone. Their adventures are meant to unfold the scientific method, not just its fruits. Although The Frizz herself is fearless, and teaches her students to be bold in asking questions, their exploits are also a lesson in humility. Ms. Frizzle’s rallying cry is “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” For her, science is the process of entering into something larger than ourselves. We try to wait with it, to see it as it is, setting aside our own assumptions and letting it introduce itself to us.
Instead of engaging in this project of curiosity, Nye’s new show is designed to rattle through settled facts, with little attention to how those facts come to be discovered. As a result, it undersells science and its opportunities for wonder. And, even evaluated by its own criteria—as a truth-telling vehicle—it overreaches.”