Cadaver Riots

Bodysnatching Doctors in Early America Guest: Bess Lovejoy, author of “Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses”  The practice of graverobbing for medical cadavers in the 18th century led to public riots by angry mobs. But there was a real need for bodies to study. The uneasy progress made to regulate the use of cadavers and to also advance science.  The Science Behind the First Science-Fiction Novel Guest: Kathryn Harkup, chemist and author of “Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein" The years before Mary Shelley published "Frankenstein" saw huge leaps in our understanding of natural sciences, and many of the most popular experiments, lecturers, and science gossip made their way into Shelley’s famous novel. Kathryn Harkup, a chemist herself, talks about the science fact behind the science fiction.