February 07, 2023

Electricity, Galvanism & The Resurrection of Thomas Weems

53 minutes

In 1818 Mary Shelley published her infamous novel, “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. More than just a work of gothic fiction, it represented a host of fears and concerns that the public held after viewing experiments by the natural philosophers of the day. In the same year, in a lecture theatre in Glasgow, the dissection and supposed resurrection of an executed criminal took place. As electrodes were placed on the body, it jumped and danced, its fingers moved “nimbly, like those of a violin player,” all for the amazement of the excited audience members. It was the dawn of electricity and a period of wild experimentation in an age of divisive and dangerous theories.

SOURCES

Rhys Morus, Iwan (2011) Shocking Bodies: Life, Death & Electricity in Victorian England. The History Press, UK.

Oxford University & City Herald (1918) Country News. Oxford University & City Herald, Sat 15 May 1918. p4. Oxford, UK.

Oxford University & City Herald (1918) Shocking Murder. Oxford University & City Herald, Sat 15 May 1918. p4. Oxford, UK.

Cambridge Chronicle & Journal (1918) Execution of Weems. Cambridge Chronicle & Journal, Fri 13 Aug 1918. p3. Cambridge, UK.

Cambridge Chronicle & Journal (1918) Trial For Murder. Cambridge Chronicle & Journal, Fri 6 Aug 1918. p3. Cambridge, UK.

Haley, Christopher D., & Archer, Mary D. (2005) The 1702 Chair of Chemistry at Cambridge: Transformation and Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Mackenzie, Peter (1865) Reminiscences of Glasgow & The West of Scotland. John Tweed, Glasgow, UK.

Rhys Morus, Iwan (2009) Radicals, Romantics & Electrical Showmen: Placing Galvanism at the End of The English Enlightenment. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 63, No. 3, Thomas Beddoes, 1760-1808 (20 September 2009), pp. 263-275. Royal Society Publishing, UK.

Bostock, John (1818) An account of the history and present state of galvanism. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, London, UK

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By Ben Cutmore

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