Resonant Constellation

I recently stumbled across a list entitled “The Top 10 Mad Scientists.” Being a general fan of science and a wanting to rule the world myself some day, I decided to check it out to see if they actually got it right. Here’s the link: Top 10 Mad Scientists

They didn’t.
In fact they failed miserably.

Let’s look over their rather faulty list:
#10: Johann Konrad Dippel:
Lived in Frankenstien’s Castle, obsessed with elixirs of immortality. More of a mad Alchemist. Still, people say he experimented on human cadavers, so he’s got some cred there.

#9: Wernher von Braun:
Father of modern rocketry, designed Hitler’s V2s and the American Saturn V (the rocket that took us to the moon). Not all that mad, just very smart and obsessed with large explosions.

#8: Robert Oppenheimer:
“I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” Pretty good mad scientist quote. Still, while Oppie may have been the head of the Manhattan project, he was rather reserved about it and later regretted his involvement. Admirable morals, but not a mad scientist.

#7: Freeman Dyson:
Came up with Dyson spheres, believes that extraterrestrials may exist. Not mad science, just good ideas.

#6: Richard P. Feynman:
One of my scientific role models, Feynman was an incredibly brilliant man with a knack for finding adventure. Still, his science wasn’t really mad (unless you count his studies in women and ants…). Awesome guy, though.

#5: Jack Parsons:
Invented rocket fuel, founded JPL, had no formal science education. Blew himself up in a lab accident. Getting closer to a mad scientist.

#4: James Lovelock
Never heard of him. One of the hallmarks of a successful mad scientist is that the whole world knows who they are (or were). Apparently, though, he’s an modern environmental scientist who predicts a “gloomy” future. Not mad science, just realistic.

#3: Nikolai Tesla:
Another one of my personal heroes, Tesla is probably the only real mad scientist on this list. He built a friggin’ death ray. End of story. Tesla is the #1 mad scientist in my opinion.

#2: Leonardo da Vinci:
Very creative, very intelligent man. The definition of a “renaissance man” in that he was skilled at pretty much everything he set his mind to. Designed an airplane, experimented with physics, painted. None of this is all that mad.

#1: Albert Einstein:
*Sigh*
Einstein was the most brilliant person since Newton. He quite literally revolutionized all of science in a single year (1905). A truly brilliant theorist, but he simply wasn’t mad, even if he had crazy hair.

I hope you can see why I am peeved. Not only did they pick non-mad scientists, they passed up several other actual mad scientists. For example: Newton, Archimedes, Edison (he really was crazy…like total whacko nut job crazy), Kepler (he wanted to ride demons to the moon), Harry Harlow (a real sick puppy, trust me), Sidney Gottlieb (catchphrase: “Let’s Poison Everyone”), Giovanni Aldini (really wanted to be Dr. Frankenstein), Illya Ivanovich Ivanov (direct quote from an article about him: “Ivanov was also an insane old kook, ordered by Stalin to create a super race of slave ape-man hybrids who would serve the Communistic Russia in taking over the free world.” Yeah.), Josef Mengele (not even going there), Jose Delgado (mind control, for reals), Sergei Bryukhonenko (ZOMBIE DOGS) . Look, I could go on for freaking ever with more real mad scientists, my point is that they chose…poorly. Somebody should tell the general public that “Smart does not equal Crazy.”