Frankenlecture

October 28, 2015

Meme Moment

Scientist of the Day

Ada Lovelace• Lord Byron’s daughter• Mother didn’t want her to

be a poet, so she only learned math & logic

• Socialite• Met Charles Babbage

(inventor of computer) at a party

• Wrote the first computer program/algorithm

• Famous science writer too

What do these have in common?

• Ada Lovelace• Chemistry• Pee• Frankenstein• Frog legs• Ozymandias• Lord Byron• Batteries• Mary Shelley

The Book• Dr. Frankenstein uses modern

(for the time) science to turn dead parts into a living bodyo Electricity as the élan vital

• His monster is scary• It ends badly

• Extra scary at the time because this might be real scienceo 30 years before, Luigi Galvani

made dead frogs move with electricity

Élan Vital/Vis Vitalis• The spark of life! (Vital force)

At the time (not now):• People thought organic chemistry was totally

different from inorganic chemistry• Organic things like animals, fur, pee, dirt were

different from rocks, metals, etc• Organic things had (or had touched) the spark of

life – the élan vital!• Inorganic could never become organic• Galvani and Volta’s new batteries seemed to

change thato Frankenstein seems like logical progression

Friedrich Wöhler• His experiments failed,

but he found something better

• Was trying to help support Berzelius’ theory, ended up refuting it

• Made urea (pee), which was impossible

• Organic compounds from inorganic stuff

• Changed science!