Lynn Poole

Who is Lynn Poole?

Lynn Poole was the creator and host of an early U.S. science television program, The Johns Hopkins Science Review, and the author of more than 20 popular science books. In 2002, Patrick Lucanio and Gary Coville wrote that "In retrospect, Lynn Poole created one of those unique series that allowed television to fulfill its idealized mission as both an educational and an entertainment medium." Marcel LaFollette argued that year that contemporary science television such as NOVA and the Discovery Channel derives from the innovations of Poole and others.

Poole was born in Eagle Grove, Iowa. He received his bachelor's degree from Western Reserve University in 1936, and a master's degree in 1937. In 1938 he joined the staff of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, where he directed the education department. In 1941 he married Gray Johnson, then working as a journalist at The Evening Sun. Following service during World War II as a public relations officer for the VII Bomber Command, in 1946 he joined Johns Hopkins University as its first director of public relations.