
PT 2: Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Birth of Sci-Fi
Updated: Feb 9, 2019

On this episode I'll be reading the short story "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
A scientist's deepest desire and motivation is to master nature in the same way that the artist represents nature.
In this episode we will explore the deeper motivations of Hawthorne's character creation: The Mad Scientist.
We will explore the nature of art and science, literature as an art form, science fiction as a genre, and how all of these ideas converge within Hawthorne's short story.
The four short stories we are covering are:
1) Dr. Heidegger's Experiment 2) The Birthmark 3) Rappaccini's Daughter 4) The Artist of the Beautiful
This is science fiction not as it is, but as it should be!