Author Description

The tale of a tormented creature created in a laboratory began in 1816 in the imagination of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Since its publication in 1818 "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" has spread around the globe through every possible medium and variation.. Yet in it's long history, Frankenstein's central premise - that science, not magic or God, can create a living being, and thus these creators must answer for their actions - is most relevant today as scientists approach creating synthetic life. In its popular and cultural weight and its expression of the ethical issues raised by the advance of science, physicist Sidney Perkowitz and film expert Eddy Von Mueller have brought together scholars and scientists, artists and directors to celebrate and examine Mary Shelley's creation and its legacy as the monster moves into his next century.