The real Dr Frankenstein: Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein?

Ethereal Fire: Antecedents of Radiology and Radiotherapy

OBJECTIVE

The objective is to explore the events that led to the implementation of X-radiation for medical purposes within months of its discovery.

CONCLUSION

The century-long experience with electrotherapeutics and the concurrent adoption of ultraviolet light therapy, facilitated the swift inclusion of X-radiation into medical practice.

Mind, Brain, Body, and Soul: A Review of the Electrophysiological Undercurrents for Dr. Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is perhaps the most famous work of medical science fiction. She and her husband, the poet Percy Shelley, were aware of nascent neuroscience experimentation and the effects of electricity on neuromuscular function. Such experiments generated theories of voluntary, involuntary, and unconscious neuromuscular function; animal electricity; and the anima--the human vital principle. In Germany and Italy, investigators were performing bizarre electrical experiments on animals and humans to "reanimate" lifeless limbs and bodies. These demonstrations and theories find expression in Frankenstein and provide models for Dr. Frankenstein and his creation.