Frankenstein's Moon

[kennyc]

Frankenstein’s Moon: Astronomers Vindicate Account of Masterwork

ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2011) — Victor Frankenstein's infamous monster led a brief, tragic existence, blazing a trail of death and destruction that prompted mobs of angry villagers to take up torches and pitchforks against him on the silver screen. Never once during his rampage, however, did the monster question the honesty of his ultimate creator, author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

That bit of horror was left to the scholars.

Now, a team of astronomers from Texas State University-San Marcos has applied its unique brand of celestial sleuthing to a long-simmering controversy surrounding the events that inspired Shelley to write her legendary novel Frankenstein. Their results shed new light on the question of whether or not Shelley's account of the episode is merely a romantic fiction.
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Rest of article here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0927095614.htm

[Daithi]

I remember watching a show on the History or Scifi channel, and it had said that Mary Shelley had gone on a trip through Germany and had seen an old castle that had once been owned by the von Frankenstein family. There was also rumors that the castle was occupied an alchemist doing experiments with electricity and that this may have been the actual inspiration for the story.

The TV show also mention that the original von Frankenstein, who was a knight and not a doctor, had fought against Vlad the Impaler. I thought that was really cool -- Frankenstein vs. Dracula in real life.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by Daithi

I remember watching a show on the History or Scifi channel, and it had said that Mary Shelley had gone on a trip through Germany and had seen an old castle that had once been owned by the von Frankenstein family. There was also rumors that the castle was occupied an alchemist doing experiments with electricity and that this may have been the actual inspiration for the story.

The TV show also mention that the original von Frankenstein, who was a knight and not a doctor, had fought against Vlad the Impaler. I thought that was really cool -- Frankenstein vs. Dracula in real life.

Basically the stuff in this link?

[Daithi]

Yeah, that's pretty much it Dr. Phogg. I think it is cool when real life turns out to be stranger than fiction.

[ebusinesstutor]

Thanks for posting this. I am the President of our local astronomy club, so I posted a link to the original article on our club web site to let our members know how astronomy is helping to solve literary controversy.

[kennyc]

Excellent!