Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
science. In C.P. Snow's novel
The New Men
(1954) it is widely believed
amongst the nuclear physicists “that the plutonium bomb was dropped
[on Nagasaki] as an experiment to measure its 'effectiveness' against the
other. 'It had to be dropped in a hurry', said someone, 'because the war
will be over and there won't be another chance'.” (Snow 1954, p. 201)
(c) Failure to show concern about the social and moral impact of
their research. This has been most pronounced in the case of nuclear
physicists. J. Robert Oppenheimer regarded the 'success' of the atomic
bomb as “technologically sweet”. Edward Teller was the alleged proto-
type of Dr Strangelove and of Richard Tzessar in Heinrich Schirmbeck's
Ägert dich dein rechtes Auge
(translated into English as
The Blinding
Light
[1957]). Tzesssar refuses to acknowledge a moral dimension to his
research. “We serve the God of free research, the God who says
'Fiat
scientia pereat mundus
- let there be knowledge though the world
perish! … We have no power to prevent it.” (Schirmbeck 1957, p. 341)
Irving Langmuir of the General Electric Company inspired the amoral
Felix Hoenikker in Vonnegut's
Cat's Cradle
(1963) who discovers and
plays with the lethal substance, Ice 9. Turney (1998) has catalogued nu-
merous instances of such lack of concern for consequences in the area of
genetics.
(ix) Also contributing to the ongoing use of the alchemist stereotype
is the appeal of a simplistic, universally understood image. The name
'Frankenstein' has become instantly recognized shorthand for any field
of experimentation popularly perceived as dangerous or likely to back-
fire. From developing viruses for germ warfare, to delivering genetically
modified vegetables ('Frankie foods'), cloning sheep, or growing new
organs from embryonic stem cells, media reports almost invariably in-
voke Victor Frankenstein.
(x) On the other hand, the psychological
complexity
of Mary Shel-
ley's protagonist makes him endlessly relevant as a figure of modern sci-
ence. Unlike the film-makers who have adapted her novel for the screen,
Shelley was not greatly interested in the scientific effects beyond the
claim that they were “not of impossible occurrence” (Shelley 1996, p. 5).
Frankenstein's laboratory is disposed of in one sentence, “In a solitary
chamber, or rather cell, at the top of the house, and separated from all the
other apartments by a gallery and a staircase, I kept my workshop of
