Man As God: 'Frankenstein' Turns 200
Mary Shelley cautioned us of the dangers of extending science into realms where we have little control of the outcomes; may we all read her tale — and take in its lessons, says Marcelo Gleiser.
In the 19th century, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay Nature: "A man is a god in ruins."
Ever since people contemplated the existence of a divine dimension — and this belief must go back to the very early stages of Homo Sapiens or even earlier — with Neanderthals, a split occurred between the human condition and the eternal.
As humans, it is our curse and our blessing to be aware of our own mortality — and to suffer with the loss of our close ones — and, in a broader sense, with the predicament of others.
In 1818, Mary Shelley published the first edition of , a novel.
