Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Enlightenment ideas of science, writers related chemistry to atheism, ma-
terialism, nihilism, and hubris (Section 5), and eventually reinforced the
negative view by transforming the 'mad alchemist' into the 'mad scien-
tist' (Section 6). My overall thesis is that nineteenth-century writers cre-
ated the 'mad scientist' as one of four literary responses to the emergence
of modern science in general and of chemistry in particular. Since these
responses appeared in all Western countries, by their most prominent
writers in different languages and in different literary styles and forms,
3
it had far-reaching consequences, including the ongoing split between the
so-called 'two cultures' and the peculiar public image of chemists.
Unfortunately, the topic has not attracted much attention from schol-
ars of literature studies,
4
whereas the impact of alchemical theory, allego-
ries, and hermeticism on nineteenth- and twentieth-century authors has
recently become a 'hot topic' in the field.
5
The only monograph on the
representations of scientists in (mostly English) literature is the already
mentioned excellent study by Rosalynn D. Haynes. There is an older
topic on the 'pharmacist' in the literature, written by Georg Urdang
(1921, enlarged and modified as Urdang 1926). However, unlike what is
suggested by the English term, the chemist, in the sense of the pharma-
cist, plays quite a different role in the literature that I omit in the follow-
3
Although there is, of course, some variation, depending on the literary form and the
specific cultural traditions of authors, such differences are, from the comparative
point of view of this study, less important in face of the overwhelming similarities.
Future studies might explore whether cultural differences in the current public image
of science are related to nuances in their corresponding literature traditions.
4
However, there are numerous literature studies that deal with the much wider Faust-
ian and Promethean tradition, which may include almost any profession from phi-
losophers to writers, engineers, and politicians, and several studies on the legacy of
Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein
, on which I occasionally draw. In addition, there are
several studies on the literary image of medical doctors, including Browner 2005 and
Rothfield 1992.
5
The best comprehensive topic on various nineteenth- and twentieth-century authors is
Meakin 1995; on French authors, although somewhat disappointing, there is Marteau
1995; a study on some English and American authors is Clack 2000. There are nu-
merous monographs about the 20 or so most famous writers, first of all about Goethe,
and their relations to alchemy and hermeticism, references to which may be found in
the topics above. I mention only two studies not cited there: Stiasny 1997 and
Deghaye 2000. A recent anthology is Lembert & Schenkel 2002. From a history of
science point of view, it is not always clear to what kind of alchemy these studies are
referring.
