The Modern Myth of the Mad Scientist

疯狂科学家的现代神话

• 批准号: 0004200
• 负责人: William Clark
• 金额: $ 11万
• 依托单位: Clark, William G
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-04-01 至 2003-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0004200&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Modern; Myth; Mad; Scientist

Many scientific autobiographies and biographies, as well as many learned and popular histories written about science situate themselves, consciously or not, within the horizon of the modern myth that the extraordinary scientist is a "mad" one, either an eccentric or an evil genius. In popular mentalities, moreover, such attributes tend to be projected onto scientists per se. This project seeks to illuminate the origins of this myth or "metanarrative" about the modern scientist. The origins of the "mad" scientist are traced from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Methodologically, the project connects to cultural studies and the history of mentalities, and it makes a contribution to a rather new research field, the "history of scientific personae." The PI reconstructs how various sorts and cases of normal and extraordinary scientists - for example, "mechanical philosophers," anatomists, galvanists, and individuals including Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Anton Mesmer, Charles Babbage, Thomas Edison - were conceived, imagined, fashioned, and presented as scientists or "natural philosophers," themselves, by their colleagues and by the public. As a contribution to the history of mentalities and of scientific personae, the research also examines fictional or literary "mad" scientists. The popularity of Frankenstein and Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, for examples, illuminate extant mentalities about scientists; moreover, such works may alter popular and even learned mentalities about the persona or figure of the scientist. Tracing the early origins of the myth, the project attends to certain figures, such as the Philosopher and the Sorcerer, that were important in the period before the emergence of the modern scientist. The PI is investigating the extent to which such figures played a role in shaping the image of the eccentric or evil genius. The research for the project is being conducted at the Max-Planck-Institut fiir Wissenschaftsgeschichte in Berlin, as well as at libraries in and around Berlin. At the end of two years of research, the PI intends to have produced an academic monograph that will contribute to the new field of research on the history of scientific personae. This study also should advance better understandings of both extraordinary and normal scientists by illuminating the deep-seated historical context and socio-cultural public fears suggested by pervasive notions of scientist as eccentric or evil genius.

许多科学自传和传记，以及许多关于科学的学术史和通俗史，都有意或无意地把自己置于现代神话的视野之内，即非凡的科学家是一个“疯狂”的科学家，要么是一个古怪的天才，要么是一个邪恶的天才。此外，在流行的心态中，这些属性往往被投射到科学家本身身上。这个项目旨在阐明这个神话或关于现代科学家的“元叙事”的起源。“疯狂”科学家的起源可以追溯到17世纪到19世纪。 在方法论上，该项目与文化研究和心理史相联系，并对一个相当新的研究领域--“科学人物史”做出了贡献。PI重构了各种类型和情况下的正常和非凡的科学家-例如，“机械哲学家”，解剖学家，电流学家，以及包括约翰内斯·开普勒，艾萨克·牛顿，本杰明富兰克林，安东·梅斯默，查尔斯·巴贝奇，托马斯爱迪生在内的个人-是如何被构思，想象，塑造和呈现为科学家或“自然哲学家”，他们自己，他们的同事和公众。作为对心理史和科学人物史的贡献，这项研究还考察了虚构的或文学上的“疯狂”科学家。例如，《弗兰肯斯坦》、《杰基尔博士》和《海德先生》的受欢迎程度说明了现存的关于科学家的心态;此外，这些作品可能会改变关于科学家的人格或形象的流行甚至学术心态。追溯神话的早期起源，该项目关注某些人物，如哲学家和巫师，这些人物在现代科学家出现之前的时期非常重要。PI正在调查这些人物在塑造古怪或邪恶天才形象方面所起的作用。该项目的研究正在柏林的马克斯-普朗克科学研究所以及柏林及其周边地区的图书馆进行。在两年的研究结束时，PI打算制作一本学术专著，这将有助于科学人物历史研究的新领域。 这项研究还应该通过阐明根深蒂固的历史背景和社会文化公众的恐惧，更好地理解非凡和正常的科学家，这些恐惧是普遍存在的科学家是古怪的或邪恶的天才的概念所暗示的。