Mad scientist

Image:Mad scientist caricature.png

A mad scientist is a stock characterof popular fiction, either villainous, or benign and scatterbrained. Whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, the mad scientist is often working with some utterly fictional technologyin order to forward his or her evil schemes. Alternatively, he or she doesn't see the evil that will ensue from the hubrisof "playing God". Because of recent profusion of geekculture, modern mad scientist depictions are often satiricaland humorousrather than critical. Some are actually protagonists, such as Dexter in the cartoon series Dexter's Laboratory.

Defining characteristics

Mad scientists are typically characterized by obsessive behaviour and the employment of extremely dangerous or unorthodox methods. They often are motivated by revenge, seeking to settle real or imagined slights, typically related to their unorthodox studies.

Their laboratories often hum with Tesla coils, Van de Graaff generators, Jacob's ladders, perpetual motionmachines, and other visually impressive electrical oddments, or are decorated with test tubesand complicated distillationapparatus containing strangely-colored liquids with no obvious purpose.

Other traits include:

• Pursuit of science without regard to its destructive or even ethicalimplications (such as violating the Nuremberg Code).
• Self-experimentation.
• Playing god, tinkering with nature.
• Not caring about their appearence, often wearing dirty clothes and having hair full of flyaways.
• Lack of normal relationships, often to the point of being hermits.
• Perpetually unkempt appearance or physical deformity, including forgetfulness towards basic but uninteresting tasks.
• In English-language works: Speaking with a Germanor Eastern Europeanaccent. (This was in large part the result of many scientists from Germany and Eastern Europe emigrating to the United States in two waves: one before World War IIcomprising refugees from Nazism, and one after the war comprising refugees from the Soviet Unionand, in some cases, former Naziemployees. See: Operation Paperclip).
• In villains, maniacallaughter, especially pronounced when their experimentsreach their climax.
• They have some academic title, usually Doctoror Professor.
• They are almost invariably whitemales.

It is notable that most of these traits are little more than exaggerations of typical stereotypesof normal scientistbehavior: Scientists are often stereotyped as being obsessive about their work, taking a dim view of societal considerations that interfere with it, perpetually adopting a "disinterested" worldview for the purposes of objectivity, etc. It is also perhaps interesting to note that the general public encounters working scientists largely while taking college classes from them. In this stratified environment, it is easy for professors to give an impression of being egotistical, obsessed with their research, or unconcerned.

As a fictional archetype, the mad scientist can be seen as representing the fear of the unknown, and the consequences that will result when humanity dares to meddle with "things that are best left unknown." Similarly, the tendency of the mad scientist to place himself in the role of Godmay be an extension of the differences between religion and science, as exemplified by such topics as the debate over evolution-- which is a favorite subject for mad scientists, who often create fantastic beasts and monsters in their laboratories. When the Frankensteinmonster was born, its creator Victor Frankenstein cried out, "Now I know what it feels like to be God!" This statement was considered controversial enough for the line to be censoredfrom the 1931filmed version of the story.

There is no firm dividing line between sane scientists and mad scientists, and the ones mentioned in the rest of this article cover the entire spectrum.

For a contrasting view of scientific exploration, see the List of heroic fictional scientists.

History

Precursors

Since ancient times, popular imagination has circulated on archetypal figures who wielded esoteric knowledge. Shamansand witch doctorswere held in reverence and fear of their rumored abilities to conjur beasts and create demons. They shared many of the same perceived characteristics that have been passed onto mad scientists such as eccentric behavior, living as hermits, and the ability to create life.

When the Catholic Churchsupressed these animisticbeliefs, a strain survived by passing itself off as a rational inquiry into nature, alchemy. Alchemists were well known for behaving strangely, usually a result of mercury poisoningas in the case of Isaac Newton. A common ambition was to create the homunculus, an artificial human. Alchemy declined with the advent of modern science during the Enlightenment.

Birth of science and science fiction

Since the 19th century, fictitious depictions of sciencehave vacillated between notions of science as the salvation of society or its doom. Consequently, depictions of scientists in fiction ranged between the virtuous and the depraved, the sober and the insane. Until the 20th century, optimism about progress was the most common attitude towards science, but latent anxieties about disturbing "the secrets of nature" would surface following the increasing role of science in wartime affairs.

The prototypical fictional mad scientist was Victor Frankenstein, creator of Frankenstein's monster, who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novelFrankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. Though Frankenstein is a sympathetic character, the critical element of conducting forbidden experiments that cross "boundaries that ought not to be crossed", heedless of the consequences, is present in Shelley's novel. Frankenstein was trained as both alchemist and modern scientist which makes him the bridge between two eras of an evolving archetype. His monster is essentially the homunculusof a new form of literature, science fiction.

1927's Metropolis, directed by Austrian expressionist director Fritz Lang, brought the archetypicalmad scientist to movie audiences in the form of Rotwang, the evil genius whose machines gave life to the dystopiancity of the title. Rotwang's laboratoryinfluenced many subsequent movie sets with its electrical arcs, bubbling apparatus, and bizarrely complicated arrays of dials and controls. Portrayed by actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Rotwang himself is the prototypically conflicted mad scientist; though he is master of almost mystical scientific power, he remains slave to his own desires for power and revenge. Rotwang's appearance was also influential -- the character's shock of flyaway hair, wild-eyed demeanor, and his quasi-fascistlaboratory garb have all been adopted as shorthand for the mad scientist "look". Even his mechanical right hand has become a mark of twisted scientific power, echoed notably in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

Nevertheless, the essentially benign and progressive impression of science in the public mind continued unchecked, exemplified by the optimistic "Century of Progress" exhibition in Chicago, Illinois, 1933, and the "World of Tomorrow" at the New YorkWorld's Fairof 1939. However after the first World War, public attitudes began to shift, if only subtly, when chemical warfareand the airplanewere the terror weapons of the day. As an example, of all science fiction before 1914which dealt with the end of the world, two-thirds were about naturalistic endings (such as collision with an asteroid), and the other third was devoted to endings caused by humans (about half were accidental, half purposeful). After 1914, the idea of any human actually killing the remainder of humanity became a more imaginable fantasy (even if it was still impossible), and the ratio switched to two-thirds of all end-of-the-world scenarios being the product of human maliciousness or error. Though still drowned out by feelings of optimism, the seeds of anxiety had been thoroughly sown.

The most common tool of mad scientists in this era was electricity. It was viewed widely as a quasi-mystical force with chaotic and unpredictable properties by an ignorant public.

After 1945

Mad scientists had their heyday in popular culturein the period after World War II. The sadistic medical experiments of the Nazisand the invention of the atomic bombgave rise in this period to genuine fears that science and technology had gone out of control. The scientific and technological build up during the Cold War, with its increasing threats of unparalleled destruction, did not lessen the impression. Mad scientists frequently figure in science fictionand motion picturesfrom the period. The movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, in which Peter Sellersplays the titular Dr. Strangelove, is perhaps the ultimate expression of this fear of the power of science, or the misuse of this power.

In more recent years, the mad scientist as a lone investigator of the forbidden unknown has tended to be replaced by mad corporateexecutiveswho plan to profitfrom defying the laws of nature and humanity regardless of who suffers; these people hire a salaried scientific staff to pursue their twisted dreams. This shift is typified by the revised history of Superman's archenemy, Lex Luthor: originally conceived in the 1930sas a typically solitary mad scientist, a major retconof the character's origins in the early 1980s made him the head of a megacorporation who also plays a leading role in his R & Ddepartment. Bob Page, the master villain in the computer game Deus Ex, is another example. Still, the pose has been used whimsically by popular science writers to attract readers.

The techniques of mad science also changed after Hiroshima. Electricitywas replaced by radiationas the new tool to create, enlarge, or deform life (e.g. Godzilla). As audiences became more savvy, genetic engineeringand artificial intelligencehave taken the spotlight. (e.g. Blade Runner)

Mad scientists, and the relationship between man and technology in general, are the focus of the current webcomicA Miracle of Science[1]. In the series, mad scientists are in fact victims of Science Related Memetic Disordera contagious memeticdisease that causes obsessive behavior focused on some form of technology.

Quotations

A recent survey of 1000 horror films distributed in the UK between the 1930s and 1980s reveals that mad scientists or their creations have been the villains of 30 per cent of the films; that scientific research has produced 39 per cent of the threats; and, by contrast, that scientists have been the heroes of a mere 11. (Christopher Frayling, New Scientist, 24 September 2005)

See also: List of mad scientists, Cranks, Evil genius

Fields of research

• Archaeology, at least where magicalartifactsare involved
• Astrophysics
• Biochemistry, especially biotechnology
• Biology, especially genetics, eugenics, cyberneticsand revival of the dead
• Botany
• Chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Cryptozoology
• Electrical engineering
• Entomology
• Genetic engineering, molecular genetics
• Mechanical engineeringand mechatronics
• Physics, especially nuclear physics
• Psychology, particularly its application to mind controland similar topics
• Relativity theory, with a special emphasis on time travel
• Robotics
• Surgery

Untouched fields

Fields largely untapped by mad scientists include:

• Civil engineering, excepting demolitions.
• Geology, except where trying to destroy the world, where physics is more involved than true geology.
• Metallurgy, unless trying to make armor and the like, when metals with rather implausible strength may be used. Or, unless you consider the case of robotcreation, where a knowledge of metals is fundamentally important. Or nuclear physics, for which metallurgy is crucial.
• Pure mathematics, though the main protagonist in the film Piis a mathematician who arguably embodies some aspects of this archetype. Real-life Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, who was a mathematician, also springs to mind.
• Social sciences
• Archaeology, subjective, unless you consider Beloq, from Raiders of the Lost Ark, as the mad archaeologist archetype.

Real-life prototypes

The scientists of literature and popular imagination have better defined our image of "mad science" than have actual scientists, because that is their function: to reflect back our own prejudices. "Popular belief and behavior are influenced more by images than by demonstrable facts" (Roslynn Doris Haynes, 1994). Some real-life scientists, not necessarily madmen, whose personalities (and sometimes, appearances) have contributed to the stereotype:

• Albert Einstein, physicist, whose hairstyle (or perhaps lack thereof...) is commonly given to mad scientists.
• B. F. Skinner, behavioristand utopian.
• Edward Teller, nuclear physicist who worked to develop the hydrogen bomb.
• Francis Galton, British scientist who developed statisticsand eugenics.
• Gerald Bull, engineer.
• Dr. Gunther von Hagens, inventor of plastination(to halt decomposition after death), and performer of public autopsies.
• Harry Harlow, psychologist who wanted to study love through its deprivation.
• Professor Heinz Wolff, Berlin-born Emeritus Professorof Bioengineering at Brunel University, and popular radio and television presenter.
• Herman Kahn, futurist who articulated policy of mutually assured destruction.
• Horace Donisthorpe, myrmecologist.
• Dr. Ishii Shiro, Lieutenant General of Unit 731of the Imperial Japanese Army.
• Jack Parsons, rocket propulsionresearcher.
• Jeremy Bentham, Britishphilosopherwho had himself mummified.
• Dr. Josef Mengele, Nazi"Angel of Death", doctor at Auschwitz.
• Professor Julius Sumner Miller.
• Magnus Pyke, British TV presenter.
• Nikola Tesla, physicist, mathematician, inventor, and electrical engineer.
• Oliver Heaviside, British scientist who replaced his furniture with giant granite blocks.
• Patrick Moore, British astronomer.
• Philo Farnsworth, inventor of television, and the first nuclear fusiondevice.
• Stanley Milgram, psychologistwho pioneered work on obediencestudies.
• Thomas Alva Edison, "The Wizard of Menlo Park", inventor.
• Trofim Lysenko, Soviet biologistwho terrorized Russian genetics.
• Wernher von Braun, development of rockettechnology in Germanyand the United States.

See also

• Absent-minded professor
• Evil genius

Related lists

• List of mad scientists
• List of people widely considered eccentric

References analyzing the cultural motif

• Haynes, Roslynn Doris (1994). From Faust to Strangelove: Representations of the Scientist in Western Literature. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-4801-6.
• Christopher Frayling- Mad, Bad and Dangerous?: The Scientist and the Cinema (Reaktion Books, 2005) ISBN 1861892551
• Junge, Torsten; Doerthe Ohlhoff (2004). Wahnsinnig genial: Der Mad Scientist Reader. Aschaffenburg: Alibri. ISBN 3-9332710-79-7.
• Tudor, Andrew (1989). Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History of the Horror Movie. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-15279-2.
• Weart, Spencer R. (1988). Nuclear Fear: A History of Images. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

External links

• Analyzing the culture motif
  • Gary Hoppenstand, "Dinosaur Doctors and Jurassic Geniuses: The Changing Image of the Scientist in the Lost World Adventure"
  • The Scarecrow?s Brain - images of the scientist in film, Christopher Frayling
  • Breaking Down the Stereotypes of Science by Recruiting Young Scientists

• Within the genre
  • Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists
  • The International Society of Mad Scientists
  • The League of Mad Scientists
  • The Ernest Glitch Chronicles- fictional stories of a Victorian mad scientist discovering modern phenomena
  • Bookproject about the Difference between Madness and Science
  • Online community dedicated to the propagation of 'Mad Science'
  • MadSci Network- collective group of scientists answering science questions
  • Denver Mad Scientists Club- Developers of the "Critter Crunch", widely credited as the first real-life Robot combatcontest
  • Homepage of a freelance mad scientist.
  • MAD About U.humor webcomic about a college for Mad Scientists.es:Científico loco

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad+scientist Wikipedia article Mad scientist.