Re: [DL] Universities and Mad Science

["Derek D. Bass" <wangenstein@mad.scientist.com>]

Point of thought, just how obvious is a Mad Scientist?
Sure if he's riding around on a steam wagon, toting a
flamethrower he'll stick out in a crowd, but what if
he didn't have any gadgets with him?  How easy would
he be to spot and identify as a MS, as opposed to a
regular scientist or university professor?  I'm sure
there would be several universities that have Mads
working for them, but no one knows they are Mad
Scientists.  Why?  They keep their work secret (due to
prejudice), and since it's not something explainable,
it's not something they can or will try to teach.  Any
teacher at a university can really be a MS.

Need inspiration?  There are several Disney movies
based off of the idea of the eccentric professor who
still teaches classes and only a few people know of
his gizmos.

-Munch Wolf

__________________________________________________

You're right. I'm sure most MSs aren't riding madly through the center of
town, their flamethrowers blazing. (Fun visual, though.) I have a feeling
that the 'truth' is somewhere between the two opinions so far.

My point in asking is... hang on...

SPOILERS, so all Posse members, git!

Now then, my point in asking is, I'm writing a little adventure hook that
involves a scientist who (IRL) became famous for his equations and theories
just -after- the time of the Reckoning. In this piece, he becomes
discredited because every theory he puts forth can be disproven by one of
the new American (MS) machines. He ends up traveling to America to promote
his theories (which he -knows- should be right) but encounters a great deal
of resistance from the new intelligencia, who can prove him wrong with one
of their gizmos.

His frustration, depression and resentment of MS-types grow and grow, until
finally the Reckoners take notice. Soon after, MS-types (and other
academics/scientists who annoy him) start turning up dead when he's in town,
roasted to a crisp while nearby, an object is frozen beyond freezing. The
scientist? James Clerk Maxwell. The cause of the deaths? Maxwell's Demon. A
Manitou has become the embodiment of one of Maxwell's theories, a theory
that states (in essence) that it is statistically possible for heat to flow
from cold to hot. The Manitou is killing people by pulling the heat from a
nearby object, bringing its temperature down close to absolute zero. It uses
the surprisingly large amount of heat that results to kill its victim. If
there are two victims, it can pull the heat from one to use on the other,
killing both. Cute, huh?

I've still got a couple details to work out, but I wanted to confirm some of
my assumptions about academic opinion of Mad Science. I think I've done just
that. Thanks!

Derek "Keepin' the hot side hot and the cold side cold" D. Bass

_______________
______________________________________________
FREE Personalized Email at Mail.com
Sign up at http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup