How Mad Can a Scientist Get?

You probably already knew that Nikola Tesla , who develop alternating current electricity , was so OCD that he could n’t consume nutrient until he ’d determined its precise good deal . But did you know that Jack Whiteside Parsons , founder of NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Lab , was a Pagan who loved orgies ? Or that Marie Curie , who discovered radium and coin the full term “ radioactive , ” put up bouts of slump because as a woman she was n’t allow to work as a prof even after she ’d advance two Nobel Prizes ? This week you’re able to delve into the lives ( and madness ) of well - know scientists with a new account book from Daniel “ How to Survive a Robot Uprising ” Wilson and Anna C. Long , The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame . shady and filled with good , crunchy facts , The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame is like “ Behind the Music ” for scientists . We learn a little about the scientists ’ magnificence , and then discover how it all went terribly , terribly incorrect . Plus , about half the scientists that Wilson and Long discuss are fictional , which give the profiles of real - life scientists a delightful , yellow flair . Each chapter give you a little backstory about the scientist and then analyzes just how mad they really were . The armchair psychologizing of the fictional scientists is especially mirthful . Here ’s a snip from the analysis of Dr. No , of James Bond fame :

High grade of intelligence and control ( not to mention nuclear capacity ) are dangerous weapons in the hands of a scientist who exhibit severe symptom of asocial and narcissistic personality disorder .

Mixed in with the pop refinement analytic thinking of scientists like The Fly ’s Seth Brundle and Dr. Evil are actual discussions of psychological science and even nuclear physic . Despite the inherently amusing idea of putting Captain Nemo and Dr. Moreau on the psychoanalyst ’s couch , the chapter on literal - biography scientists are far more riveting than the ones about fictional reference . We are treated to a fascinating account of Stanley Milgram , the adult male who became notable in the fifties for testing how people would reply when order to shock a person to death in a laboratory experiment ( the people “ shocked ” were actors who were told to act like they were in pain and dying ) . Many of the people Milgram tested persist in to ball over a somebody they were convinced was dying , simply because an authorization figure ( Milgram himself , in his white lab coat ) told them to do it . And as I mentioned to begin with , Wilson and Long ’s chronicle of Jack Whiteside Parsons was amazing — I wish there were a whole book ( or an episode of “ Behind the skill ” ) about him . While he was at the helm of the lab that builds U.S. spaceship to this day , he was an fighting member of the Church of Thelema , launch by “ magick ” practician Aleister Crowley . He also have epicurean sex party at his house . minister of religion ’ wife Helen was in a polyamorous relationship with both Parsons and L. Ron Hubbard , and the three lived together in a large house along with other members of their local Church of Thelema congregation . Whoa , way to go Parsons . I never knew rocket engine science was so risque . Do n’t even get me started on Sidney Gottlieb , the scientist and CIA agentive role who was noted for dosing everybody with L.S.D. to “ see what would happen . ” If you love bizarro skill and true criminal offense novels , The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame will extradite a strong VD of both and keep you up recent meter reading . If the analysis of fictitious madness begin to seem twee , just skip to the material - life stuff and be astounded . Mad Scientist Hall of Fame[via Amazon ]

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