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 body o Electricity as the élan vital His monster is scary It ends badly Extra scary at the time because this might be real science o 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 that o 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!