A passion for science: Frankenstein episode 1

71,574 views ・ 2024-09-28

BBC Learning English


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Frankenstein. Episode one. Scientist Viktor Frankenstein is rescued in the Arctic.  
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Hello. I'm Viktor Frankenstein. I'm a scientist from Switzerland. You might ask how I arrived  
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here, in the Arctic Circle. Yes, it's far from home. I came this far upon the ice. But it's  
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very cold and I almost died. I was rescued by an explorer's boat. Captain Walton is a kind man  
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but he's... he's ready to do anything to push the limits of science. He's a fool! And so are you if  
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you try to fight Nature! Pardon me... I'm sick. It's freezing here. But I had to come and find  
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the monster I've created! Did I ever think I would feel this way about a Creature I gave life to?   
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No, I did not! Never! I created life and all my Creature has ever caused is death!  
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How did I give life to the Creature? My love of science started early. I remember one morning when  
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I was on holiday in France with my father...
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Look, dad! Look! 
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Reading a book? That's good my boy. It's been raining for hours. Staying indoors isn't good  
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for a thirteen year old but it's lucky - you  found an interesting book here at the hotel. 
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Yes. I'm not bored any more. Actually, I've never read anything so good. This book is fantastic! 
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What's it about? Let me see... Cornelius Agrippa! Oh, my dear Viktor,  
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don't waste your time with this book. It's full of foolish ideas. Find another one. 
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I had in my hands a book by an alchemist who lived in the 1500s. My father didn't explain  
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to me that Agrippa's ideas were old and had no place in modern science. So I went on to  
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read books by other alchemists. I thought about the power of magic all the time. 
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I wanted to find the elixir of life! Could I  ever end diseases and control death?
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These were my thoughts when I went to the University of Ingolstadt, in Germany. But when I arrived there  
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I didn't expect my professors to laugh at me.
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Have you really wasted your time studying these  
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foolish ideas, young Frankenstein? Good God!
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But Professor Krempe... I... 
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Has nobody ever told you these ideas are old and silly? 
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Well, no... It's never been explained to me why. I... I... 
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All is not lost, my dear sir. You must start again and study real science! 
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I didn't like Professor Krempe at all! And modern science wasn't as exciting to me as the science of  
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the old alchemists. Those men wanted to discover things about power and how to live forever.  
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Perhaps their ideas didn't work - but they were fantastic! I was disappointed... but not for long.  
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What got me excited again was one particular class. Professor Waldman didn't laugh at the  
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old alchemists I loved so much. I felt he understood me. Later, I paid  
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him a visit. He opened my eyes to other  subjects. I remember his words well... 
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If your wish is to become a real man of science, you must study everything,  
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including chemistry and mathematics.
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I built my own laboratory in the room at  
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the top of my house. And I studied hard. At the end of two years I even made some discoveries in  
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chemistry. The other professors at the university were pleased. My father wrote me letters. He sent  
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news about my young brothers and my childhood love, Elizabeth, but... I didn't give them much  
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thought. I started to study anatomy and all I could think about was creating life!
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And I succeeded - unfortunately! And I'll tell you about how I gave life to the Creature next time.
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