The real Dr Frankenstein
QUESTION Was Dr Frankenstein based on a real scientist?
IN AUTHOR Mary Shelley’s 1831 preface to her novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, she said she had been inspired by a nightmare she had on a holiday in Geneva, where she had spent the evenings with friends terrifying each other with chilling stories.
However, it’s hard to believe she was not influenced subconsciously by an earlier trip to Germany near Frankenstein Castle, the home of 18th-century scientist Johann Conrad Dippel, who, according to local legend, was a grave-robber who had created a man-eating monster who lived in the castle dungeon.
Frankenstein was published anonymously in London on New Year’s Day 1818, when Mary was just 21. It tells the story of scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque creature. The monster was later brought to a mass audience by Boris Karloff’s 1931 film portrayal.
In 1816, Mary and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley had travelled through mountainous southern Germany near the town of Darmstadt.
Nearby was Frankenstein Castle, once the home of theologian and scientist Johann Conrad Dippel (1673-1734). Built in the 13th century, its name is rather prosaic: a combination of the Franks, a Germanic tribe, and stein, German for the word stone.
Dippel was born in Castle Frankenstein and lived there off and on throughout his life. He studied theology, philosophy and alchemy at the University of Giessen, obtaining a master’s degree in theology in 1693. He wrote several theological tracts under the name Christianus Democritus.
He was headstrong and led an adventurous life, often getting into trouble for his forthright theological opinions and inability to manage money. He was at one time imprisoned for heresy.
He is best remembered for his controversial science experiments in which he mixed animal bones and hides to create a solution he called Dippel’s oil, which he claimed was an elixir that could extend the lifespan of anyone who consumed it.
According to some sources, this oil was used in 1706 by the paintmaker Diesbach to make the dye Prussian Blue, which is still used today. While Dippel reportedly claimed to have found a way to live to 135, he fell far short of the mark, dying at 61. Jonathan Quentin.
QUESTION What is the farthest you can drive in a straight line without crossing a major body of water?
TO find the longest straight line journey in the world is difficult mathematically because of the sheer number of possible paths. The solution to this problem was only answered conclusively earlier this year when Rohan Chabukswar, a physicist at United Technologies Research Centre in Cork, and Kushal Mukherjee, an engineer at IBM Research India in New Delhi, developed an algorithm.
Their straight-line path stretches from Quanzhou in eastern China through Mongolia, Russia and Europe, ending near Sagres, Portugal – a distance of 11,241km going through 15 countries.
The Earth is roughly spherical, so drawing a line on a 2-D map of the world would distort it into a curve. The reverse is also true: any straight line on a flat map is actually a curved path. The pair also calculated the longest straight-line sea journey: 32,042km from Pakistan to the north-east coast of Kamchatka in Russia.
Catherine Hoyle, Richmond, Surrey.
QUESTION What is the theme tune of The Late Late Show?
THE song that’ s still used as the introductory theme tune for The Late Late Show is To Whom It Concerns.
It was first performed by an English singer, Chris Andrews, in 1965 and did reasonably well in the UK charts. As for The Late Late Show, its first outing was on July 6, 1962, when the starting time was 11.20pm.
The host was a young presenter called Gay Byrne, who went on to occupy the hot seat for a total of 37 years. The show had started out as an eight-week summer filler, for which the weekly budget was a mere £90!
But The Late Late Show didn’t use To Whom It Concerns for a number of years, not until 1971 in fact. The famous owl came into the picture at the same time.
In 1976, the programme was transmitted in colour for the first time. Throughout his tenure, Gay Byrne continued to use To Whom It Concerns as its theme tune.
After Byrne retired from the show in 1999, Pat Kenny took over for a decade-long stint. He decided to start with a clean sweep and one item that was binned was the long-standing theme tune.
A new theme tune was written but still featured elements of the distintinctive drum roll from To Whom It Concerns.
When Kenny stepped down from the programme in 2009, Ryan Tubridy took over and nine years later, he remains the presenter.
With his arrival, a new set was designed and title sequence created to introduce the show, including a new format for the owl.
A revised arrangement of To Whom It Concerns was written for The Late Late Show resident band and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and this new arrangement is still being used. As for Chris Andrews, the singer/songwriter who first popularised To Whom It Concerns, he had a whole string of songwriting credits and also did quite well in the charts in the 1960s.
The song To Whom It Concerns was quite popular in the UK when it was first released and it also enjoyed a certain popularity in Germany.
Andrews, whose year of birth is uncertain, sometimes given as 1942 but also listed as 1938, is still working as a singer/songwriter, mostly in mainland Europe, but also in the UK. He lives in Germany and Spain with his second wife, Alexandra, who is also his manager.
Among the singers and bands who have done cover versions of To Whom It Concerns is Dickie Rock and his showband.
As for To Whom It Concerns, still being used to introduce The Late Late Show 47 years after it was first used, the tune has been Chris Andrews’ longest lasting hit.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Irish Daily Mail, Embassy House, Herbert Park Lane, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. You can also fax them to 0044 1952 510906 or you can email them to charles.legge@dailymail.ie. A selection will be published but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.