Frankenstein: Annotated for Scientists, Engineers, and ...

1 FRANKENSTEINOR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUSMARY SHELLEYEDITED BY DAVID H. GUSTON, ED FINN, AND JASON SCOTT ROBERTMANAGING EDITORS JOEY ESCHRICH AND MARY DRAGOTHE MIT PRESSCAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTSLONDON, ENGLANDANNOTATED FOR SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS, AND CREATORS OF ALL KINDS 2017 David H. Guston, Ed Finn, and Jason Scott Robert Corrected 1818 text of Mary Shelley s frankenstein Charles E. RobinsonTitle Page of the First Edition of frankenstein , 1818 (litho), English School (19th century) / New York Public Library, USA/ Bridgeman ImagesAll rights reserved.

2 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the book was set in Century Schoolbook Pro and PF DIN Pro by The MIT Press. Book design by Marge Encomienda. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataNames: Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797 1851, author. | Guston, David H., 1965- editor. | Finn, Ed, 1980- editor. | Robert, Jason Scott, 1972- : frankenstein : Annotated for scientists, engineers, and creators of all kinds / Mary Shelley ; edited by David H.

3 Guston, Ed Finn, and Jason Scott : Cambridge, MA : The M IT Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical : LCCN 2016041014 | ISBN 9780262533287 (pbk. : alk. paper)Subjects: LCSH: frankenstein , Victor (Fictitious character)--Fiction. | frankenstein s Monster (Fictitious character)--Fiction. | Scientists--Fiction. | Monsters--Fiction. | Horror fiction. | Science fiction. | Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851. frankenstein . | Science in : LCC PR5397 .F7 2017 | DDC 823/.7--dc23 LC record available at 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Sam and his enthusiasm and patience Dave GustonFor Anna and our beloved monsters, Nora and Declan Ed FinnFor three very well-parented creatures: Annika, Astrid, and Alexandra Jason RobertAnd to the memory of our friend and colleague Charles E.

4 Robinson. Charlie s scholarship and generosity were crucial to this volume, as to so much of the prior study of frankenstein . We hope through his work presented here, among the last of his completed before his death, that his knowledge, wisdom, and gentility will reach a new generation of OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUSVOLUME I . 1 VOLUME II . 71 VOLUME III . 127 Introduction to frankenstein (1831) . 189 Chronology of Science and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley . 195 ESSAYST raumatic Responsibility: Victor frankenstein as Creator and Casualty.

5 201by Josephine Johnston I ve Created a Monster! (And So Can You) . 209by Cory DoctorowChanging Conceptions of Human Nature . 215by Jane Maienschein and Kate MacCordUndisturbed by Reality: Victor frankenstein s Technoscientific Dream of Reason . 223by Alfred NordmannFrankenstein Reframed; or, The Trouble with Prometheus . 231by Elizabeth BearEditors Preface . xiAcknowledgments . xxiIntroduction by Charles E. Robinson . xxiii viii CONTENTSF rankenstein, Gender, and Mother Nature . 239by Anne K. MellorThe Bitter Aftertaste of Technical Sweetness.

6 247by Heather E. DouglasAPPENDIXESR eferences . 255 Further Reading . 261 Discussion Questions . 263 Contributors . 275 EDITORS PREFACEDAVID H. GUSTON, ED FINN, AND JASON SCOTT ROBERTNo work of literature has done more to shape the way humans imagine science and its moral consequences than frankenstein ; or The Modern Prometheus, Mary Shelley s remarkably enduring tale of creation and responsibility. frankenstein is the literary offspring of an eighteen-year-old girl ensconced in a romantic yet fraught summer getaway on the shores of Lake Geneva in response to a dare to come up with a ghost story.

7 That dare was issued a little more than two hundred years ago. In writing frankenstein , Mary produced both in the creature and in its creator tropes that continue to resonate deeply with contemporary audiences. Moreover, these tropes and the imaginations they engender actually influence the way we confront emerging science and technology, conceptualize the pro-cess of scientific research, imagine the motivations and ethical struggles of scientists, and weigh the benefits of scientific research against its antici-pated and unforeseen world will celebrate the bicentennial of frankenstein s publication on 1 January 2018.

8 Arizona State University (ASU) will be the epicenter of this celebration of the power of literature, science, art, imagination, and ingenuity. ASU s frankenstein Bicentennial Project is a constructive, intel-lectual, and public endeavor meant to celebrate frankenstein s pervasive influence on contemporary culture and scientific research. With funding from the US National Science Foundation (NSF Award no. 1516684), we are producing a citizen-curated, digital narrative experience of frankenstein and Frankensteiniana in collaboration with dozens of museums and other partners.

9 Our goal is to understand the galvanizing power of frankenstein to stoke the public imagination and to harness that energy to ignite new conversations about creativity and responsibility among science and tech-nology researchers, students, and the public. We hope these conversations will inspire a deeper understanding of how to govern science and technol-ogy responsibly. We believe frankenstein is a book that can encourage us to be both thoughtful and hopeful: having these conversations can help all of us make better decisions about how to shape and understand scientific research and technical innovation in ways that support our well-consid-ered values and Shelley s landmark fusion of science, ethics, and literary expres-sion provides an opportunity both to reflect on how science is framed and understood by the public and to contextualize new scientific and technolog-ical innovations, especially in an era of synthetic biology, genome editing, robotics, machine learning.

10 And regenerative medicine. Although Franken-stein is infused with the exhilaration of seemingly unbounded human creativity, it also prompts serious reflection about our individual and xii EDITORS PREFACE collective responsibility for nurturing the products of our creativity and imposing constraints on our capacities to change the world around us. Engaging with frankenstein allows a broad public and especially future scientists and engineers to consider the history of our scientific progress together with our expanding abilities in the future and to reflect on evolv-ing understandings of the responsibilities such abilities entail.