Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 2
HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE 'MAD SCIENTIST':
CHEMISTS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE
Joachim Schummer
Department of Philosophy, University of Darmstadt,
Schloss, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany; js@hyle.org
This chapter traces the historical roots of the 'mad scientist', a concept
that has powerfully shaped the public image of science up to today, by
investigating the representations of chemists in nineteenth-century
Western literature. I argue that the creation of this literary figure was
the strongest of four critical literary responses to the emergence of
modern science in general and of chemistry in particular. The role of
chemistry in this story is crucial because early nineteenth-century
chemistry both exemplified modern experimental laboratory research
and induced, due to its rapid growth, a ramification, and fragmentation
of knowledge that undermined former ideals of the unity of knowledge
under the umbrella of metaphysics and religion. Because most writers
considered contemporary chemistry an offspring of 'wrong alchemy',
all four responses drew on the medieval literary figure of the 'mad
alchemist' to portray chemists. Whereas early writers considered the
quest for scientific knowledge to be altogether in vain, later writers
pointed out the narrow-minded goals and views specifically of chem-
istry. A third response moved that criticism to a metaphysical and
religious level, by relating chemistry to materialism, nihilism, atheism,
and hubris. The fourth response, the 'mad scientist', elaborated on the
hubris theme by attaching moral perversion to the 'mad alchemist'.
1. Introduction
In a speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in 1999, the famous Hollywood play writer and film director Michael
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