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By Michele Arduengo, Ph.D., Promega Corporation But as for Rappaccini, it is said of him that he cares infinitely more for science than for mankindHe would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge. (from Rappaccini's Daughter, Nathaniel Hawthorne) In the 1800s Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote several stories about scientists whose scientific pursuits, conducted in relative isolation, resulted in tragedy and death. Robert Louis Stevensons infamous Mr. Hyde was the creation of a scientist, Dr. Jekyll, who had isolated himself from his colleagues. And perhaps most famously, Mary Shelleys, monstrous creation, Frankenstein, illustrated fearful consequences of scientists working in isolation, single-mindedly, on one thing to the exclusion of all else. Over the centuries, writers and other artists have portrayed scientists as entropic creatures obsessed with a single pursuit. The work of these fictional researchers is mysterious and not understandable by the average person, even though that person may be intelligent and initially curious and fascinated by science.
is accessible only from a secret entrance through a maze of tunnels and passages. Like Jekyll, Rappaccini has also fallen out of favor with his colleagues and is isolated from his peers. The entropy that results from the isolation of the scientific characters in these stories is revealed in many ways. The scientists homes and labs are almost always in states of decay. Hawthorne magically captures the dilapidated state of Dr. Heideggers study: It was a dim, old-fashioned chamber, festooned with cobwebs and besprinkled with antique dust. Rappaccinis garden contained a crumbling fountain at its center. These out-of-touch scientists are inevitably pursuing something mysterious and infathomable. In Dr. Heideggers study, Hawthorne describes the curious ponderous folio volume, bound in black leather with massive silver claspsa hard to open, heavy book. Hawthorne continues by noting that there were no letters on the book, so that nobody knew the title or contents. Only the scientist knows the books contents. The story continues and reveals that Dr. Heideggers guests also had little understanding of the science, even when they are invited to see an experiment: When the doctors four guests heard him talk of his proposed experiment, they anticipated nothing more wonderful than the murder of a mouse in an air-pump, or the examination of a cobweb by the microscope, or some other similar non-sense. In The Birthmark, Alymers notebooks are described as many dark old tomes, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is filled with references to several sealed letters that indicate mystery and secrecy. In addition to being separated from their peers, in enviroments decaying and secret, these scientists share a third quality: their single-minded, obsessed pursuit of science. The word singular is used numerous times in reference to the scientists and their goals. One prominent example occurs in Hawthornes description of Rappaccinis countenance as a face singularly marked with intellect and cultivation. A second example is found in Jekylls confession: but the temptation of a discovery so singular and profound at last overcame the suggestions of alarm. Hawthorne provides a particularly vivid description of the obsessed scientist in his introduction to The Birthmark: It was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of woman in its depth and absorbing energyThe higher intellect, the imagination, the spirit and even the heart might all find their congenial aliment in pursuits, which as some of their ardent votaries believed, would ascend from one step of powerful intelligence to another until the philosopher should lay his hand on the secret of creationHe [Alymer] had devoted himself, however too unreservedly to scientific studies ever to be weaned from them by an second passion.
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Lanyons health immediately deteriorates upon Jekylls revelation of his terrible achievement. Alymers innocent bride is destroyed by his own medicines. The products of the scientists experiments are described as monstrous offspring of mans depraved fancy (from Rappaccinis Daughter). These are dire and depressing consequences. Fortunately, they are also fictional. However, these literary lessons about entropic scientists can inform our modern pursuit of science.
for understanding his reasons for proposing that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Yet, these scientists were criticized by their scientific colleagues and even society in general.