The Fear of Science portrayed in Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Well's "The Time Machine", and Shelley's "Frankenstein"

Essay by Alice Angel LeeA+, January 1996

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To live in the today's world is to be surrounded by the products of

science. For it is science that gave our society color television, the

bottle of aspirin, and the polyester shirt. Thus, science has greatly

enhanced our society; yet, our society are still afraid of the effect of

science. This fear of science can be traced back to the nineteenth century

where scientist had to be secretative in experimenting with science.

Although science did wonders in the nineteenth century, many people feared

science and its effects because of the uncertainty results of science.

Our thrist for science can be traced back through many decades.

However, the nineteenth century society felt that science was a great

investment towards a better life. This investment in science gave the

nineteenth century society the discovery of light waves and radio waves,

the electric motors, the first photograph and telephone, and the first

publication of the periodic table.

Science also caused an uproar in

society when Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, which became

the scientific basis for the study of the evolution of humans. Many people

in the nineteenth century detested Darwin's theory of the evolution of man

because it went against their religion, which believed that God created the

world. Science, soon, developed the big bang theory, which states that

earth was created by the attraction of atoms. The nineteenth century

society was afraid of science because it contradicted their beliefs, and

was afraid that the results of science would lead to the destruction of

mankind. Thus, the study of science was limited because of fear of its

effects.

The fear of the effects of science was expressed in literature.

Novels like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Time Machine, and Frankenstein

showed the dangers of science and that...