Maker
The Playful
S cientist
(And Where to Find One)
Call me crazy, but just don’t call me mad. By Saul Griffith

This month, I’ve been ranting to everyone I know happy to see another “freak” at the beach trying to about the term “mad scientist.” I don’t like it. I feel jerry-rig something safer or faster or bigger than the like it is used to trivialize logical, rational thought last thing they tried. It was great community. and to undermine scientific results and the won- Then the mad scientists of the early days were derful pursuits carefully adding to the sum total replaced with adrenaline junkies who consumed of human knowledge. the commercial gear and thought that anything

My friends tell me that I might be a little overboard
^{on this one, and that} “^{mad scientist}” ^{is a playful satire} or fictional stereotype. They then argue that rather “Seek out the weirdoes
than a campaign against the use of “mad scientist,” _{I should encourage its reclamation in the same way — the guys and gals}
the gay community has reclaimed “queer” as a _{positive term. who believe that}

“^{Playful scientist,}” ^{I say, would be a term well} worth reclaiming, but “mad” is a terrible adjective having fun is the goal ^{in an era where conservatives seem to be making} round in undermining such things as education and hacking stuff is ^{on the theory of evolution. I blame comic books.} No — wait a second — I blame great literature like the surefire route ^{Shelley’s Frankenstein or Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus.} Perhaps I should blame myself. I kitesurf. It’s a to nirvana.” fantastic sport, kind of like waterskiing behind a jumbo jet, as I’m wont to say. Pre-2001, it was the noncommercial was tantamount to heresy. The crew domain of cranks and lunatics who experimented of jokesters I surf with were vilified at the beach by with the immature equipment of a new sport. (There, people who arrived in shiny SUVs with brand-name you see! I just used the words “cranks and lunatics” stickers on everything they owned. “That won’t work.” — but really, I meant it affectionately.) Prior to the “That’s too dangerous.” I gave up on giving them my highly commercialized industry that kitesurfing is rant on why basic hydrodynamics showed that the today, anyone who did it had to build/modify/repair fins on their shiny boards they thought were giving the equipment. It was wonderful; you were always them lift were really just giving them drag. I stopped