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Mark Ben Holzberg / Fox Broadcasting via AP
John Noble, left, plays a charmingly mad scientist who assists an FBI agent (Anna Torv, wearing the electrodes) and his own son (Josh Jackson, at right) on the Fox sci-fi show "Fringe." Jasika Nicole (seen in the background) also stars.
When it comes to mad scientists, it's hard to top Dr. Walter Bishop, the eccentric genius at the heart of the Fox TV series "Fringe" —but some of the most famous figures in scientific history have come pretty close. You could even argue that their eccentricity played a role in their scientific success.
At least that's what Baltimore science teacher John Monahan argues in his book, "They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge." Today, some of history's most prominent scientists might well have been diagnosed with mental conditions such as Asperger's syndrome or obsessive-compulsive disorder, he said.
"The popular wisdom is that you've got to be kind of 'off,'" he told me. "My take on it is, yeah, in a way, it did help them look at things from a different perspective, to see outside the box, to see stuff that other people hadn't recognized even though they were looking at the same thing. Those sorts of brain differences may be very important to being considered a genius."
And if the differences come out as charming eccentricities, as they do in the case of the fictional Dr. Bishop, so much the better. Here's a guy who spent years in a mental hospital ... who keeps a cow in his lab so he can have fresh milk on demand ... who fantasizes about pancakes as he does brain surgery ... and who blurts out, "Let's go synthesize some LSD!"
They called Tesla mad
No doubt we'll spot more of Walter's eccentricities in a series of new "Fringe" episodes starting tonight, and marvel over the madness of it all. But if Walter Bishop could travel back in time, he might find a kindred spirit in Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), a real-life genius who was equally as eccentric. For example, Tesla would stay in a hotel room only if its room number was divisible by three, and he reportedly became so attached to a pigeon he fed that he was devastated when the bird died.
Bishop may have invented a sparking and sizzling contraption that could thrust him and his "Fringe" teammates into a parallel universe (fictional!), but Tesla invented sparking and sizzling contraptions that opened the way for modern-day AC electrical current and future-day beamed power (fact!).
Tesla's life provides a textbook case on the potential pitfalls of a mad-scientist image. He was engaged in a years-long battle with another famous inventor, Thomas Edison, over whether AC or DC would win out as the standard for electrical distribution. "Edison would use publicity to portray Tesla as a mad scientist, a crackpot, in order to diminish the standing of AC," Monahan said. For example, Edison had an elephant and other animals electrocuted in an effort to show the public that AC was too dangerous. (Which doesn't sound like all that sane of a publicity strategy to me.)
Ultimately, the supposedly mad scientist prevailed. "Tesla won that battle," Monahan said.
Another mad-scientist duel took place after the development of the atomic bomb: After World War II, the Manhattan Project's scientific director, J. Robert Oppenheimer, didn't want the U.S. government to build a more powerful hydrogen bomb. But his rival on the research team, Edward Teller, persuaded the government to move ahead with the H-bomb project. Teller prevailed in part because he was able to tar Oppenheimer with the "mad scientist" brush, Towson University's Glen Scott Allen told the Why Files. (Allen has written his own book about scientific personalities, titled "Master Mechanics and Wicked Wizards.")
Archimedes and Frankenstein
Monahan traces the real-life history of mad scientists back to Archimedes (287-212 B.C.), who is known for running out into the streets of Syracuse naked after figuring out the principle of buoyancy in his bathtub. The best-known fictional tale of a mad scientist came much later, of course, in the form of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel about Victor Frankenstein. Shelley's classic was inspired by experiments in galvanism, which involved animating frog legs (or even the corpses of criminals) by jolting them with electricity.
The tail end of the Frankenstein saga has a real-life parallel in the story of Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century English scientist and clergyman who is credited with the discovery of oxygen and the invention of carbonated water. Priestley's political and religious views got him into so much trouble that rioters burned down his house and his laboratory. Eventually, Priestley and his family fled to America, where the scientist spent the rest of his life.
"He ended up being literally driven from England by a torch-wielding mob," Monahan said. (For more on Priestley's life and times, check out "The Invention of Air" by Steven Johnson.)
The present and future of mad scientists
You probably wouldn't call Priestley "mad" in the psychological sense of the word. In fact, psychiatrist Arnold Ludwig reviewed the biographies of more than 1,000 famous people and reported that the lifetime prevalence of psychiatric disorders for the natural scientists on the list was 28 percent — lower than that for the general population. (The comparable number for creative writers and artists, however, was a maddening 73 to 87 percent.)
Other studies have suggested that the cluster of characteristics associated with highly creative people can sometimes look a lot like the signs of mental maladjustment — for example, unconventional beliefs, nonconformity and defocused attention.
"Psychopathology is by no means a sine qua non of creativity," Dean Keith Simonton, a psychologist at the University of California at Davis, reported in one research paper. "Instead, it is probably more accurate to say that creativity shares certain cognitive and dispositional traits with specific systems, and that the degree of that commonality is contingent on the level and type of creativity that an individual displays."
The specialties of fictional mad scientists tend to change with the times. For Victor Frankenstein, it was reanimating stitched-together cadavers. For Walter Bishop, it's creating interdimensional portals. And Monahan expects that genetic engineering and nanotechnology will become the hot topics for tomorrow's mad scientists. "If I were going write a mad-scientist story set 100 years in the future, that's probably what I'd go for," he told me.
But Monahan wonders if mad scientists will eventually become as obsolete as Tesla's sparking and sizzling coils. In the old days, he said, cutting-edge science was primarily the domain of experimenters working in relative isolation.
"Now science is different," Monahan said. "Now, if you're a scientist, you're probably working for a university or a large corporation or some other large group. It's much more of a cooperative kind of thing. So when you look at the science now that's pushing the envelope — genetic engineering, nanotechnology, that sort of thing — really, it's more of a faceless kind of thing. You don't have this mad-scientist face on it. But the anonymous, corporate world that's behind that is just as threatening. A lot of folks are just as afraid of it nowadays, and you see that reflected in a lot of movies and TV shows."
Like "Fringe," for example. One of the frequent foils for Dr. Bishop and the gang is a mega-conglomerate named Massive Dynamic. (Slogan: "What Don't We Do?") If it comes down to a charmingly mad scientist against a faceless mad corporation, I'll go with the scientist. How about you? Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts about the way science is done, in fiction and in real life, by leaving a comment below.
More about mad science:
- History reveals: Tesla totally awesome!
- Mad science? Growing meat without animals
- Mad scientists use tarantulas to terrify
- The 10 greatest fictional inventors of all time
- Science Olympiad: The Science of 'Fringe'
- The Mad Scientist Network
- Workman's Mad Science Club (with experiments!)
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Leave a Comment:
I put gasoline and leavened bread batter in a beer bottle and then resealed the bottle with a blasting cap and made a very affective firebomb. It only works in a small room such as an apartment bathroom, cubcle, giftshop, etc..
There need to be more mad scientists nowadays. Unfortunately, all the science being done now costs a bajillion dollars.
Cheap discovery is not yet dead, but maybe in life-support. The problem is that scientists are just too hampered by political forces. There is too much teamwork going on, so what you get is average opinion and this translates to average discoveries. Also, we have the obsession to do things the "targetted way", which means that we set out a goal to discover something and we just slog through it. This makes the discovery process very expensive indeed. This also means that people who seem to be doing work outside these targetted areas are marginalized. It should be noted that a lot of great discoveries are not Manhattan projects. They were serendipitous and opportunistic. I believe the best way to break the wall of barrier to knowledge is to work through the cracks that mad scientists from any field of research recognize, with minimum roadblocks from political forces.
I think Joseph Papp (and his noble gas engine) will someday be another example of a mad scientist:
scripturalphysics.org/qm/issues.html#PappEngine
Yep, I am glad that I grew up in the late fifties. Was 11 when Sputnik launched, so cool. I was just like the boys in October Sky. Made my own rockets, bombs, experiments, and then, people weren't paranoid. Local hardware store, carried dynamite sticks, and only sane people bought them to get rid of tree stumps. Used to carry my 22 rifle, at 12 through town, nobody thought a think about it. Wanted to be a mad scientist, got to be one, all by myself, at 12. Everybody now is too paranoid, for a kid to be a real kid. Damn, that was fun!
Right on. The 50's and 60's were dangerous and wonderful times. One of my best days was when we found a box of blasting caps in the woods. If I did a percentage of the stuff I did then now I would spend the rest of my days in jail. I met one guy that told me he and his buddies would buy a clunker at a junk yard , fill the tank half full , put a rag in the filler tube , light the rag and shove it off a cliff. Timing was very important. He said Caddies were the best. I lose count when I try to figure out how many today laws that stuff broke. I am amazed we all lived.
Yep, P Sues, you are so right. I wouldn't take a fortune for all the memories that I have. Like you said, it was dangerous and wonderful. Knew a couple kids that lost fingers, or eyes, to experimenting with black powder, gun powder, blasting caps, cherry bombs, etc. We went to work in the orchards at 12 for my own money, had so much to do. Had to have an adult with you, we had Goldie. Early 70s, but could kick your butt. Waited for her to get in the outhouse, then us boys, laid it over; boy did she scream at us brats. We set it back up, she came out, and chased us all over the orchard. Went back in it, later,we got her good, was a urine trail up the wall, ha! I should have not made it either, playing on railroad cars, jumping off bridges, sledding off cliffs, build caves, dirt forts, driving tractors, oh my, oh my, what a time--feel sorry for kids now-a-days don't know how to have so much fun in the day, that you are asleep, before you hit the bed at night.
I must respectfully dissent-- I grew up in the 80's and early 90's and I spent plenty of time doing a lot of what you guys are talking about. We had a subterranean fort that we built that was the envy of the neighborhood. To protect it, we built some pretty nasty pit traps and drew maps for all of our friends so they wouldn't, you know, get a foot full of rusty nails. We also built pipe bombs, flash bombs, shot rifles, jumped off of roofs and stole our parent's beer. Miraculously, none of us were ever severely injured, though my good friend had his knee cap knocked loose on a trampoline (I'll never forget the sickening sight of him trying to move it back into place and his scream as it slid back askew). That little incident required a trip to the hospital, surgery to reattach the tendons and a couple months of rehab to get it working again. He's fine now, and honestly I don't think he'd trade those memories for anything... Ah, the good ol' days.
I suspect that some of you guys are are the guys on Mythbusters!
I went back in time, became Tesla, and invented alternating current. Then I went back in time again, and invented ACDC.
First off, Nikola Tesla was NOT a mad scientist. He was only called mad, because he credited some of his inventions was due to extraterrestrial intervention, as well as those he worked on just himself. Besides, would a mad scientist be murdered just to get his blue prints in which some of his technology is used today? hmmmm. A mad scientist would be someone who took the darker route, such as mutating humans with insects, mutilations and such. Was Tesla worked on was free energy, and devices that would help society.
"Besides, would a mad scientist be murdered just to get his blue prints in which some of his technology is used today?"
Umm yeah he would if the multi-universe comglomerate of Boing the Beneficeint found out about it. Those guys just hate mad scientists.
If Tesla wasn't mad, he surely had a lot of issues and phobias. Which to most average people on the street can appear to make anyone look a bit "mad," or eccentric at the very least. Hanging out with buddy, Mark Twain, and showing off his latest electrical inventions, which surely looked like they would kill anyone once stepping inside of them, probably didn't help matters in that department.
Edison on the other hand, was quite average, although he knew how to market himself better than Tesla, who didn't really have a clue in that regard.
The family & I just love watching the Fringe. I find it fascinating and entertaining to watch the efforts Walter Biship and his team. I try to keep an open mind in all areas and promote that to my children, especially when we go to places like the Griffith Observatory. The history of mans efforts to understand the unknown can drive even the sane to the brink of insanity. We humans like to believe that we are in control of everything, so much so that some people have theorized that humans are gods. Now with an attitude like that its no wonder that some of the most credible science has come from those that are considered, "a little off". No matter how you look at it, its just about people and all people are unique in their own way. ~Cheers.
There's a word for being out of the current times: anachronistic.
Groovy man.
far out dude.....
Keen!
Its the bee's knees
Give me five bees for a quarter they used to say.
With an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time.
Archimedes did not run naked because of bouyancy he ran naked because he discovered displacement. His king was sure he was being ripped off by his jewelers and no one could figure out how be sure all the gold he provided was being used in the artistic objects (crowns, goblets, rings, etc.) they created since the weight to volume ratio could not be checked without knowing the volume. Until displacement in water was discovered there was no way to check the volume without melting the object. The king threatened to kill Archimedes (head scientist for the kingdom) unless he could devise a method to check on the jewelers. When A got into his tub with his irregularly shaped body he noticed the level of water in the tub rose and in an instant realised that the amount of displacement could easily be measured he jumped out of the tub and raced to the palace yelling "eureka " (I have found it) since he was happy he was going to live. I do not know if the jewelers were as lucky.
yep
I think that most people perceive the world around them through the filter of commonly held ideas. These are taught to us since childhood by society and wanting to be part of our society, we accept these ideas. What we call 'Mad Scientists' are (usually brilliant) people that are deemed socially awkward because they either chose to ignore or don't understand these commonly held ideas. Therefore their minds are free of the social constraints that tend to limit truly creative thought. Unfortunately, tv, movies, and the internet are forcing society's norms on us and discouraging free thinking.
I actually think that the internet is allowing a renaissance of independent thinking, providing a forum for ideas to be discussed free from the stigma associated with "traditional" institutions. TV and Movies though... ugh. Ever see Jersey Shore? I'd swear I could hear my brain cells committing mass suicide every second I was forced to watch that "reality" show.
I beleive that the availability of computers to greater numbers of scientific and creative minds around the world has resulted in an explosion of discovery and engineering innovation.
However, the politics and 'group think' approaches to science and creativity that are imposed by government, univiersities and corporations only produces a higher caliber of normal innovation. To truly create and invent requires the ability to disagree with the accepted thinking. This cannot happen in the current environment unless the scientific mind rebels against these constraints of thought.
I have invented both the model that proved a tie (in 1978) between the productivity of technology and GNP. I also invented the only functional mesh narrative or many to many communication model. Both required me to throw out conventional thinking and assumptions to see what others could not.
Buy "Lateral Thinking Creativity by Design" by Edward DeBono. Read it, practice it and become a mad scientist yourself. The world needs more inventors.
Jensen..if I was a kid and saw what you were doing. I'd keep a wide berth...it's highly likely that's
what happened. We knew nutters sort of like that and most kids just stayed away from them.
Being a child of the "Baby Boomer Generation " I grew up on Mad
Scientists. Many of the early 'Boob-Tube' programming was pure scifi fare, and each show would have their own, Mad Scientist. Rocky Jones had Prof. Newton, Flash Gordon had Dr. Zarkov, and Buck Rogers had Dr. Huey, just to name a few. Sure I had a Space Helmet, and I wanted to win The Ralston Purina Rocket also but when Scifi became Real Science, everything changed. Sputnik forced The U.S. Government to collar all of their 'Mad Scientists' and put an American Man on the Moon. As a retired Educator with a flair for Science, I also went to Huntsville, AL, for a week of Space Camp for Teachers. We, did it all, from being Astornauts to Mad Scientists. If any Teacher has a yen for Space Science, do not wait, sign up now for this summer's Graduate Teacher's Education Course at Space Camp. It will be one of the most exciting, learning, and rewarding educational 4 Hour Graduate Education Course you will ever take. Yes, I still watch Rocky Jones, just for Prof. Newton saying, "that's amazing!"
I think the oddballs expand our definition of what it is to be human. That is why we like them. <nods like Pauly Shore>
"If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it."- the hand that rocked the craddle of America's first patent law in 1790.
GE would be different if Edson did not contract Tesla's sweat.
Use "mad" at your own discretion.
What's with the 2 advertisements between the replies? The user experience on this page is getting poorer day by day.
Hey Rakesh, Just ignore the ads, everyone else does. Or just install one of the many available programs that will do the ignoreing for you.
Mad is a term that was used for thinking outside the norm of society. The catchphrase these days is, "thinking outside the box". It's not only accepted more today. It is expected. Today mad is measured in dollars. If you increase the bottom line, you are a genius. If you don't, your Mad. No one cares how crazy you are if you are making them money.
Science have progressed to the point that no single person, no matter how much a genius they are, can't make the kind of breakthru discoveries that marks the classical "Mad Scientist" . Lately, all the Nobel prizes are being given to teams of scientists, instead of individuals. That's because almost all new discoveries requires collaborations of multiple scientists.
Hmm, maybe JesterJames. I wouldn't bet against the mad scientist. That single person with a brilliant idea can be pretty world changing.
This just shows that if you are one step ahead of your contemporaries, you are a genius. If you are two steps ahead of your contemporaries, you are a madman.
Great discoveries often involve great risk, both personal and financial. Corporations don't like risk; so many potential discoveries would be missed. Limited resources inspire lateral thinking, if powered flight was left to a multinational corporation, aeroplanes would have wings that flap, space travel would involve a big gun, computers would be as big as buildings and technology would be mostly clockwork and steam power.
You have to be insane to see the possibilities.
Obviously by now Alan you’ve realized as a mad toy inventor & writer, & creative type I’m different and it took me a lifetime to come to terms with that. They now think Einstein suffered from some type of autism, and when they looked at his brain, it was larger in part of the left hemisphere. Just FYI I rarely watch TV (if I do it is generally the History or Science channel-) and I’m not a computer addict. I pride myself on outside of the box ideas the problem in my lifetime is just what you said cooperation’s own all new inventions, forget filing a Patent or Trademark, they will improve it by the mere 10-20% and legally steal it.
The new ideas, inventions and pure creative inventiveness are gone- it is all owned by big business ruining the American dream. One of the reasons I write comments to you is I am hoping to spurn new ideas, plant – thoughts into the science and math machine. I’m an ideas person and without people like me, the world turns boringly corrupt and mad.
Certainly creative genius is a touch of madness but without it, the world is full of working class stiff clones, boring science and math nerds. If people act normal around me, it worries me – and I’m wondering what psychosis they are hiding because everyone has one or a neurosis and what is dear Sir- Normal? Your dollmaker extraordinaire www.adoll4ever.com
i have to be included in the mad scientist category, i grew up way back when as some stated,had a 22 at 12 and roamed around our woods as a free spirit. we had a house in front of a sheer rock wall about 20 meters high and decided at the fine age of 12 i could build a glider to soar over that house! i got the project ramp built and the glider started before dad found out and thankfully his axe killed my project. i was fortunate to live in an area with lots of woods so imagination could run wild.
The article's author is incorrect as far as his information on J. Robert Oppenheimer's "mad" reputation having been the cause of the FBI's 24 hour surveillance and near destruction of his career post A-bomb.
He was labeled a Communist (or Communist Sympathizer) like so many intellectuals and successful creative geniuses by people who ironically made our government agencies' treatment of American citizens with influence the burden of proof as to just how much work our democratic government needs in order to truly serve the people.