From madman to crime fighter: the scientist in western culture

Until From Faust to Strangelove was published in 1994, the main body of evidence for the image of scientists in popular culture came from research into the way primary school children depicted "a scientist" ( old, male, with a great deal of hair like Einstein, and indications of being mad and dangerous). This research was a sequel to the pilot study carried out by Margaret Mead and , Rhoda Metraux in 1957 to assess how scientists were regarded among US high school students. Their responses, while positive about scientists at an official level, were "overwhelmingly negative" when the questions touched on a career in science or a scientist as a marriage partner.