The Physicist as Mad Scientist
JUN 01, 1988
Deep‐rooted forces have created a stereotype of scientists: sometimes noble, but sometimes cold‐blooded, domineering and a danger to humanity.
DOI: 10.1063/1.881120
A crazed scientist with a deadly “atomic robot” set out to enslave the human race in a recent Saturday morning cartoon show. He was no exception: Unstable scientists plotting to master and destroy can be found almost anywhere one looks in children’s television and comics—and in a surprising amount of adult fiction as well. Probably no other profession is so consistently drawn upon for storybook villains. To many people, then, the words “nuclear physicist” bring to mind a weird and evil picture.
More about the Authors
Spencer R. Weart. American Institute of Physics, New York.
© 1988. American Institute of Physics
