Fake Scientists We (Maybe) Wish Were Real – in Pictures
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Dr. Alexander Thorkel
To real scientists we owe a wealth of respect, but let's not forget that the great fake scientists of fiction need love too. The mad scientist, for example, is one of the defining archetypes of 20th-century storytelling, revealing the past century's curiosity -- and anxiety -- about the secrets of genetics, atomic science and other potentially dangerous disciplines. Above, one of the most memorable mad scientists of the early Technicolor age, the near-sighted Dr. Alexander Thorkel (Albert Dekker), hunts a group of mineralogy consultants after shrinking them down to rat size in his laboratory in Dr. Cyclops (1940). Click ahead to see more of our favorite scientists, engineers and inventors of fiction.
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Q
Ever get yourself into a tight spot and suddenly think, "Man, if only I had a set of bagpipes that turned into a flamethrower"? The Welsh actor Desmond Llewelyn (1914-1999) owned the character of Maj. Boothroyd, better known as 'Q,' who appeared throughout the James Bond franchise to supply the titular hero with exploding briefcases, submarine cars and all manner of weird, delicious spy tech -- usually disguised as everyday appliances. This last element made Q's lab a particularly dangerous place for a stranger to answer a telephone or take a bite from a fruit platter.
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Dr. Caligari
Robert Wiene's disturbing German Expressionist masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) centers around the nefarious hypnotism experiments of a creepy carnival showman and asylum warden named Dr. Caligari, who manipulates an unconscious perpetual sleepwalker named Cesare to carry out murders on his behalf. Next, you'll see a heroic scientist with skepticism in her blood.
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Dana Scully
Chris Carter's series The X-Files found in its two protagonists, FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, a recurring tension between the evidential standards of science and our natural gravitation toward faith and belief. Between the two agents, Gillian Anderson's Scully was the scientist -- rational, skeptical, always seeking more evidence. Her firm addiction to the principle of Occam's razor -- the impulse to choose the simplest, most natural solution to any given mystery -- made her the perfect foil to Mulder's emotionally driven desire to believe. Next, you'll see one of the maddest mad scientists of the century.
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Dr. Septimus Pretorius
We all know Victor Frankenstein from the countless adaptations of Mary Shelley's brilliant Romantic horror novel, but it wasn't until James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein (1935) that we met Dr. Septimus Pretorius -- the man shown above, as played by Ernest Thesiger. Dr. Pretorius is Victor's crazier, creepier, more ridiculously evil mentor. The movie depicts him as most at home doing things like showing off his modest collection of unholy homunculi -- whom he keeps imprisoned in shrouded glass jars -- or enjoying a few drinks and a midnight snack inside a damp crypt.
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MacGyver
Yeah, MacGyver -- the guy so awesome his name became a verb. Look, some scientists are content toiling away in a lab, curing deadly diseases or solving the exquisite riddles of the atom. But some people need more. MacGyver's the kind of guy who will show you how to use science to conquer any obstacle you face. Trapped in an abandoned mine shaft with only a coffee mug, an old typewriter and a wilted flower? Hold on a second while I MacGyver up a drill bit and an SOS transponder for ya.
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The Professor (Gilligan's Island)
Speaking of the art of MacGyvering, one can't forget the bizarre, almost limitless technological improvisation of Professor Roy Hinkley on Gilligan's Island. After being shipwrecked on a desert island with Gilligan, the Skipper and a handful of other passengers, the Professor typically spent his days building gene-sequencing computers out of coconuts and communications satellites out of sticks and vine. In fact, as many have pointed out, it seemed like the only thing he couldn't do was repair the hole in the boat they arrived in. Next, see a psycho inventor for the ages.
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Rotwang
Dr. Caligari isn't the only twisted, science-driven villain of the German Expressionist movement. Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) brought us Rotwang: a brilliant man driven mad by the death of a woman he loved, working in the midst of a futuristic dystopia to create her robot clone. He's got the bad haircut, the wild eyes -- Rotwang shows us all how mad science is done. Click ahead to find out what a robopsychologist does.
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Dr. Susan Calvin
Isaac Asimov's recurring character Dr. Susan Calvin is one of the great problem solvers of science fiction. Portrayed here by Bridget Moynahan in the 2004 film version of I, Robot, Calvin is the world's foremost robopsychologist -- the detective they call in when artificial intelligence turns neurotic. Using her knowledge of robotics and her hyper-focused deductive skills, Dr. Calvin investigates and solves a wide variety of perplexing problems in the field, from mind-reading robot deceivers to the suspicion of secret robot politicians. Next, see the science of satire.
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Dr. Strangelove
In Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), Peter Sellers plays the title character: a former Nazi scientist who advises the American president on weapons technology while trying to keep his strong-willed right arm from saluting Hitler of its own accord. In truth, after World War II, the United States did recruit many former Nazi scientists through a program known as Operation Paperclip, so the character Dr. Strangelove is not just a fictional oddity, but a joke on the ironic role these researchers played in Cold War America.
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Dr. Ian Malcolm
Dr. Ian Malcolm taught us what chaos theory is all about: a Tyrannosaurus rex eating a guy off of a toilet. Or, wait -- that's not right. Did it have something to do with butterflies? In any case, Jeff Goldblum's performance as the quirky mathematician of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park always steals the show. He's also the character to voice the central premise of both the book and the movie: "Life, uh … finds a way."
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Spock
We mostly think of Spock as the first officer of the starship Enterprise, serving as the clear-headed intellectual foil for William Shatner's loud, risk-taking hero, Captain Kirk. But Leonard Nimoy's cucumber-cool Vulcan was also the science officer of the Enterprise -- and what a science officer he was. He's the kind of guy you'd hate to see sitting down with the rival trivia team at the other end of the bar.
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Dr. Frank-N-Furter
What's to say here? Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry) is the ultimate sexual scientist. Heck of a singer, creative with his research -- but if you get invited to one of his house parties, you might do better to stay in that night and order a pizza.
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Faust
Above, the actors Marne Maitland and Peter Coke perform a scene from The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Faust is the ultimate proto-mad scientist of the 17th century: In a quest to obtain ultimate knowledge, Faust forsakes his soul in a deal with a demon named Mephistophilis. Next, see a scientist of the next generation.
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Dr. Beverly CrusherStar Trek is always full of great minds. In the Next Generation TV series, Gates McFadden played Dr. Beverly Crusher -- the chief medical officer of the new Enterprise. Like any great Starfleet doctor, Crusher is mighty handy with a medical tricorder, but she's also often the ship's voice of conscience. Check out one of Dr. Crusher's technically minded colleagues on the next page.
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Geordi La Forge
Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) is another awesome nerd from Star Trek: The Next Generation. La Forge's expertise, however, lies not with human biology or xenoimmunology, but with the technical workings of starships. He is one of the few characters to have served in both a technical capacity -- as the chief engineer of the Enterprise -- and as a command officer. To see another explorer of uncharted space, go on to the next page.
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Dr. David Bowman
Above is the American actor Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. A calm and resourceful scientist, Bowman must find a way to survive when something goes horribly, horribly wrong inside the programmed brain of HAL 9000 -- the computer that is supposed to keep him alive. Dr. Bowman also wins points for taking part in a journey that leads to one of the weirdest and most beautiful sci-fi film endings of all time.
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Major Tom
"Ground control to Major Tom…" Great Britain never had a moon mission like Apollo, but we're treated to that possibility in David Bowie's classic 1969 song "Space Oddity," which tells the story of Major Tom -- a fictional astronaut who is instructed to take his protein pills and put his helmet on. But who is Major Tom? All the Earthlings want to know more.
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Bruce Banner/The Hulk
No, you really wouldn't like him when he's mad. Bruce Banner is a brilliant physicist, but when he turns into The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno, above), can he still solve equations and conduct research on radioactive decay? Dr. Banner inherited his big green problem after receiving a heaping dose of gamma radiation -- but don't let this send you running after gamma exposure in your quest for better muscle tone. In real life, gamma rays do your body plenty more harm than good.
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The Astronomers (A Trip to the Moon)
In 1902, French brothers George and Gaston Méliès produced what is probably the first sci-fi movie ever made: A Trip to the Moon. The film's protagonists are a committee of brave (maybe even suicidal) astronomers who stage a trip to our natural satellite -- presumably for the purpose of research, but when they get there, they spend most of their time frolicking and making the moon's inhabitants explode. For another scientific ensemble of classic cinema, check out the next page.
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The Cast of This Island EarthThis Island Earth (1955) sets a standard for Hollywood sci-fi films that would continue to the present day: a cast of attractive scientist heroes, a healthy enthusiasm for research and technical progress, and a plot that's somewhat oblivious to fact. The Earth is surrounded by a "thermal barrier" that extends deep into space? Sure -- why not. Above, a suave Earth scientist (Rex Reason) and a white-haired alien scientist with a gratuitous forehead (Jeff Morrow) do the most important work of modern science: hand-to-hand combat with murderous brain-mutants.
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Bruce Wayne/Batman
It's kind of ridiculous: Bruce Wayne does everything, including advanced science, and everything he does, he does better than you. The Batman universe has traditionally been kind of fuzzy in its approach to science -- whatever needs doing, Batman luckily has on hand some kind of self-styled gadget that does it automatically, sparing audiences from moments of sudden, unexpected learning. But yes, he's still cool anyway. Next, see Bruce Wayne's scientific mentor.
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Lucius Fox
Bruce Wayne can certainly hold his own when it comes to science and technology, but when he's out of his league, he calls in his business manager and applied sciences guru, Lucius Fox. Morgan Freeman played Fox in the 2005 Christopher Nolan-helmed superhero reboot Batman Begins and its sequels. According to Batman Begins, he's the kind of scientist who will tell you exactly all the sorts of complex lab work he had to do in order to save your life, just because he "wanted you to know how hard it was."
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Dr. Ellie Arroway
If you decode Earth's first evidence of alien life, you are thereafter indemnified against any and all claims that you lack ultimate coolness. This is Jodie Foster as Ellie Arroway, the protagonist of Carl Sagan's Contact. Arroway is a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) researcher who monitors radio signals from the far reaches of space. When she discovers a signal that is a clear sign of intelligence, Dr. Arroway embarks on a mission of scientific and personal discovery that involves religious fanatics, alien communication machines and visions of lost loved ones. Next, see some Ph.D.s who are, well, probably really awful scientists, but we love them anyway.
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The Ghostbusters
From Ghostbusters (1984): "Doctor ... Venkman. The purpose of science is to serve mankind. You seem to regard science as some kind of dodge ... or hustle. Your theories are the worst kind of popular tripe, your methods are sloppy, and your conclusions are highly questionable! You are a poor scientist, Dr. Venkman!" So, yeah, we're not even sure if paranormal science is a real science, and even if it is, we're definitely not sure these guys are very good at it. But hey -- they're the Ghostbusters, and who else you gonna call?
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Bunsen and Beaker
Muppet scientist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his lab assistant Beaker ascend to the dais to deliver a lecture on quantum entanglement before the College of Natural Sciences faculty at the University of Cambridge. Or, wait, is this the one of them performing with Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem?
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Indiana Jones
Archaeologist Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones uses a bullwhip to fight Nazis, whereas most archaeologists use their bullwhips to … uh … clean ancient pottery shards? Our only real complaint about this character is that we rarely see Harrison Ford's professor-turned-action-hero doing the exciting parts of archaeology -- like extensive library research, or sifting through hundreds of sieves of sand and finding nothing -- and instead are stuck with tedious scenes of death-defying struggles over artifacts brimming with occult magic. Next, see a movie scientist who really should've made a better effort to control his lab conditions.
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Andre Delambre/Seth Brundle
What happens when your teleportation machine accidentally fuses your DNA with that of a common housefly? That depends on who your director is. If it's Kurt Neumann, you end up with a grotesque fly head and weird claw arm on your human body, while your human head ends up on a fly's body in a spider web. Bad enough, right? Fortunately for David Hedison, the actor portraying the ill-fated inventor Andre Delambre of the original The Fly (1958), a person named David Cronenberg was still just a teenager when this movie was made. So what happens when Mr. Cronenberg tells the story? We'll just say that the transformation is somewhat less … discrete.
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Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast
What is it about weirdly-colored comic book scientists with superhuman strength and one-word names? Hulk, Beast … Hank McCoy, a.k.a. "Beast," of the X-Men is not just a genius geneticist -- he's also a furry blue terror in the hearts of evil henchmen everywhere. Above, Nicholas Hoult plays Beast in X-Men: First Class (2011). Next, see one of the weirdest mad scientists ever dreamt up.
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Dr. Gogol
This is Peter Lorre in his incredibly strange and amazing role as Dr. Gogol, menacing the camera in a scene from Mad Love (1935). All you need to know about Dr. Gogol is summed up in this line: "I, a poor peasant, have conquered science! Why can't I conquer love?!"
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Dr. Jekyll
Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde told the story of a scientist torn apart, body and mind, by his experiments. Dr. Jekyll, along with Mary Shelley's Dr. Frankenstein, has for years served as one of the primary Faustian archetypes for scientists in modern fiction: A good person is inadvertently driven to evil through rampant ambition and unhealthy fascinations with dark knowledge.
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Doc Brown
Finally, no list of the great fake scientists would be complete without Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown, inventor of the flux capacitor, which is what … makes … time travel … possible. Great Scott!
Now that you've seen our Fake Scientists Pictures, check out our Big Myths of Everyday Science Pictures!
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