Sex Lives of Scientists

Marie Curie often slept with a small jar of radium near her pillow. The continuous, yet very toxic, glow soothed her. Alan Turing began codebreaking as a teenager at boarding school. While many scientists claim that their work stands alone and bears no connection to their private lives, we cannot help but wonder about their personal journeys. What made them so great? What made their ideas so influential? And, what did they do when they were not "doing science"? In this seminar, we will read several recent graphic biographies of scientists and view films based on these books. We will examine the ways biographers, artists, and filmmakers work to craft stories about real people, and take a look at archival materials, historical footage, and the narratives that get told again and again about scientists. Students will write a research paper that explores and examines one of these retellings. Taking a cue from the scientists we study, who might also have been athletes, games players, musicians, spiritualists, lovers, and adventurers of all kinds-in addition to being great minds-students will have an opportunity to explore the way their own passions might inform their work as thinkers, writers, and speakers. The course fulfills the FYS requirement and HU general education requirement.