Product Description

Mary Shelley's Frankestein, a tale crafted two centuries ago 'to awaken thrilling horror', is a story that speaks to deep fears and desires that lie at the heart of our responses to biological progress. Tracing the history of the development of biological science and how it has been received and understood by the public over two centuries, Turney's intriguing book argues that the Frankenstein story governs much of today's debate about the onrushing new age of biotechnology. 'a serious and fascinating contribution to cultural history' Mary Warnock, Times Higher Education Supplement 'This is a fascinating book, interweaving accounts of literature and popular culture with accounts of the growth of modern biology.' John Polkinghorne, University of Cambridge. 'This is an important book - elegantly written - as it helps us to understand public attitudes to biological research.' Lewwis Wolpert, Times 'Combining the research skills of an historian with the writing skills of a fine journalist, Turney offers a penetrating history that sheds light on contemporary anxieties of the biotechnological age.' Dorothy Nelkin, New York University ' ...a large and compelling subject, of surpassing interest at the present time and likely to remain so for many years to come. ' James Secord, University of Cambridge Winner of the British Medical Association Book Prize, 1999. Jon Turney, formerly science editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement, is now senior lecturer in science communication in the department of science and technology studies at University College London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #575870 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

Lewis Wolpert, The Times
"This is an important book - elegantly written - as it helps us to understand public attitudes to biological research."

Andrew Barrow, The Spectator
"With great glee and considerable perspicacity, the author embraces films like Jurassic Park, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and other evidence of the durability of the negative stereotype of the Man of Science ... a painstakingly thorough book.".

Paul Rabinow, University of California at Berkeley
"With lucidity and serenity, Turney retells the Frankenstein story as a history of apocalyptic anxieties and preposterous prognostications."

Customer Reviews

not bad; but certainly not great, either.
This was an interesting book. It tried to give you the entire history of frankenstein. This means how it afects you in every way since it was written. A nice idea, but not well written. It is long and a little boring. It is also repetitive. It reads more like a phone book, than a non-fiction literary work. I was not pleased at all. In fact, I would not purchase anything else by this author(Mr. Jon Turney) ever again. I thought he could have been a lot more interesting and exciting, if he had really tried.

interesting and more than necessary
given current concerns about cloning, human genome project etc, this book seeks to argue that in using frankenstein to form a critique of science and modern biotechnology, the real warning Shelley wants to profer has been misread. This is because, Turney argues, current understanding of Frankenstein is based on late twentieth century ideas of the novel borne through film and other entertainment media. This has altered what Frank. means. Shelley did not only warn of the scientist as overreacher and being unprepeared to meet the consequences of his actions, but how society as a whole was conditioned to reject that which was visually repugnant. Turney is more than correct to question contemporary usage of Frankenstein, and his book traces the history of how the novel has been used as a weapon by those wishing to criticise established science. Of course we must always question what is held to be steadfast, but we must not use outmoded methods to form this criticism. Indeed, if we are to mobilise Frank. then we at least owe Shelley the credit of mobilising the entirety of her warning. I'm with Turney on this one (and yes he could write more flowingly), but his thesis is commendable, of necessity and thoroughly researched.

Science, fiction, and all that is in between, revisited
This book is well resarched, well written and a must for anyone interested in looking behind the mechanism by which society disarms those most strange fellows who create hypotheses, devise experiments to test them and watch with dismay how their contemporaries choose to ignore their real work in favour of more exciting versions of it. Science and fiction are not necessarily foes and "Frankenstein's Footsteps" makes this case with an avalanche of data. This is not philosophy of science, but a very enjoyable call to put our myths to a better use.