Ray Hammond

The Modern Frankenstein

Published by the Blandford Press in 1986, The Modern Frankenstein was one element of Ray Hammond’s three-part exploration of Mary Shelly’s metaphor for modern science. The other components were his radio drama The Making of Frankenstein, which was broadcast in November 1986 by BBC Radio 4, and his screenplay for the television docu-drama, The True Story of Frankenstein, which was broadcast by BBC 1 in September 1986.

In her 1818 novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote one of the first horror-science-fiction stories of the modern age. Her alarm at the hubris of scientists and the resultant impact on the human condition has become ever more relevant as science begins to intervene in the creation of life itself.

Excerpt from The Modern Frankenstein:

"We have become used to the word 'computer' and, indeed, have almost becomes blasé about clever machines. But there is a clear indication that these humble machines are the early manifestations of a new life form, one which is about to make an evolutionary leap. When this occurs it will offer the human race (itself a species undergoing transformation) vast benefits.

The implication is that we will soon have to learn how to share this planet with a new type of higher intelligance; the thinking computer and its robot relation. It may seem an astonishing leap of imagination to suggest that our limited personal computers and programmable dishwashers are going to develop into a new species of life, but the information available from the Modern Frankensteins engaged in their race to develop the super-computer reveals that their aims are very similar to those of Victor Frankenstein. From the earliest days of computing, when Alan Turing, Donald Michie and the brilliant American mathematician John von Neuman met and discussed where their work was leading them, the speculation has always been about when thinking machines will assume independence: not if, but when."

The Modern Frankestein, Ray Hammond, 1986

What reviewers said about The Modern Frankenstein

A most unusual work of popular science, part biography, part literary criticism, part speculation and prediction The Bookseller

Order The Modern Frankenstein from Amazon.co.uk

Return to Ray Hammond’s home page