From Madman to Crime Fighter: The Scientist in Western Culture

A study of the scientist in Western culture, from medieval images of alchemists to present-day depictions of cyberpunks and genetic engineers.

They were mad, of course. Or evil. Or godless, amoral, arrogant, impersonal, and inhuman. At best, they were well intentioned but blind to the dangers of forces they barely controlled. They were Faust, Frankenstein, Jekyll, Moreau, Caligari, Strangelove—the scientists of film and fiction, cultural archetypes that reflected ancient fears of tamperi...