The Age of Enlightenment Where did Mary Shelley get her ideas for Frankenstein The eighteenth century when Shelley was born was considered part of the Enlightenment because many scientific principles were being discovered at the time Electricity what it was and how it worked was a hot topic Mary Shelley knew about these ideas She was well-educated and especially interested in science She also knew lots of famous scientists including Sir Humphry Davy a well-known electrical researcher and scientist of the era Monster Fact The word galvanize meaning to excite or shock people into taking action was coined from Luigi Galvani’s name 1717 Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer 1752 Benjamin Franklin proves lightning is electrical See page 15 1769 James Watt’s steam engine propels the Industrial Revolution 1781 William Herschel discovers Uranus 1790 John Fitch invents the first successful steamboat 1792 William Murdoch invents gas lighting 1800 Alessandro Volta builds the first battery See page 12 1809 Humphry Davy creates the first electric lamp Franken-frog Around 1780 Luigi Galvani made an important discovery When his assistant touched a metal scalpel to a dead frog’s exposed nerve its leg jumped Galvani believed that electricity ran through the frog’s nerves If this was true he wondered could electricity be the source of life Scientists did a series of experiments to find the answer Electric shocks were even applied to victims of drowning in attempts to bring them back to life These experiments were not only interesting to scientists They also became a source of edutainment for ordinary people Traveling exhibitions toured Europe to show the effects of electricity One of the showmen was Giovanni Aldini Galvani’s nephew In 1803 at a famous prison called Newgate Aldini shocked the corpse of an executed murderer The corpse sat up Many spectators believed the corpse was coming back to life It wasn’t The shock just made the corpse’s muscles contract like in Galvani’s frog The question of whether electricity was the source of life remained open Monster Fact After the prison experiment the Newgate Calendar reported that the jaws of the deceased criminal began to quiver and the adjoining muscles were horribly contorted and one eye was actually opened
WHAT IS ELECTRICITY ANYWAY Everything in the universe is made up of tiny particles called atoms The atoms are made up of even tinier particles called protons electrons and neutrons The protons and electrons have electrical charges Protons have a positive charge and electrons have a negative charge Neutrons have no charge Particles that have the same electrical charge repel each other push each other away Particles with opposite charges attract each other pull each other together Protons and neutrons form the center or nucleus of the atom and electrons whirl around the nucleus The electrons interact with particles belonging to other atoms They repel particles that have negative charges and attract particles that have positive charges Sometimes an electron will break free and move from one atom to another That motion is electricity When there are a bunch of atoms together and electrons are moving from one atom to another in the same direction it’s called an electrical current In the same way that a current of water has more force than a single water droplet an electrical current has more force than a single electron A current can literally push particles around so they do work like light up light bulbs or make motors spin Some materials are made of atoms that lose electrons more easily than others These materials conduct electricity better because more electrons are moving from atom to atom Copper is one of these materials which is why electrical wires are made from this metal
Galvani vs Volta Galvani believed that the electricity making the frog’s leg jump came from within the frog itself Another Italian scientist Alessandro Volta thought differently He believed that the electricity came from a chemical reaction between the two metals found in Galvani’s scalpel A scientific feud broke out Observers divided into two camps But who was right Galvani or Volta In 1800 Volta invented a device called the voltaic pile It was made of alternating stacks of zinc and copper separated by paper soaked in salt water The chemical reaction between the metals generated electricity like Galvani’s scalpel The voltaic pile was the first battery people had ever seen It also proved Volta right He was able to show that the electrical activity Galvani observed didn’t come from the frog Q How does Frankenstein sit in his chair A Bolt upright THE VOLTAIC PILE HOW IT WORKS Each element has a unique number of electrons That makes them behave differently from each other Some elements such as copper like to give away electrons while others such as zinc like to grab them Salt water contains a special kind of charged particle called an ion Ions have an unequal number of electrons and protons and freely exchange electrons with one another They also help electrons in nearby materials move more freely A voltaic pile is made up of alternating stacks of copper and zinc separated by cardboard or felt soaked in brine salt water The zinc on one end of the stack wants to grab electrons The copper on the other end wants to give away electrons The brine-soaked separators act like bridges carrying the electrons from the copper to the zinc Those moving electrons are an electrical current ELECTRON FLOW COPPER ZINC
The Mad Scientist During the Enlightenment the pace of scientific discovery was lightning fast People worried it might be too fast and go too far Discussions about the ethics the rights and wrongs of science were fierce and frequent Mary Shelley’s novel tackled some of these ethical questions Her story makes readers think about who the real monster is Is it the doctor’s shocking creation or the egocentric doctor himself Dr Frankenstein represented the dangers of this new scientific age so well that he became the model for mad scientist characters in scores of books movies and comic strips Monster Fact There are more than 70 Frankenstein movies based on Mary Shelley’s classic novel Are you mad for mad scientists Hollywood is Compare how scientists and science were portrayed in a thousand horror films made between 1930 and 1990 30 of movies featured mad scientists and their creations as the villains 39 of movies featured scientific research unleashing a dangerous threat 11 of movies featured scientists as heroes MAD SCIENTIST FACT OR FICTION There may be a scientific explanation for the legend of the mad scientist Consider the case of Isaac Newton one of the most famous and influential scientists of all time who endured a period of temporary madness Newton it turns out experimented with the toxic chemical mercury He may have given himself mercury poisoning High levels of the toxic element turned up in his hair samples when they were tested many years after his death Symptoms of mercury poisoning include irritability fits of anger anxiety paranoia restlessness and violent irrational behavior
