This article is more than 15 years oldFictional mad scientists quizThis article is more than 15 years oldTest your knowledge of literature's mad scientists, as the world's biggest particle collider is started up in Geneva by a group of undoubtedly very sane physicists1.Why does Crake, in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, create a genetic pandemic that apparently kills off all human beings apart from his friend Jimmy?He is a power-hungry maniacTo replace human beings with his own genetically engineered race, the CrakersHe is madly in love with Jimmy and wants to annihilate any potential competitionIt’s a mistake – he was actually working on a virus to eliminate the common coldReveal2.How does James Bond defeat evil scientist Dr No in Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name?He disembowels him with a giant drillHe shows him the error of his waysHe throws him to the hungry crocodiles that No had intended to kill Bond withHe buries him alive in bird dung Reveal3.The plot of Don DeLilllo's White Noise hinges around the development of a drug intended to remove the fear of death. It is calledDylarZestacProzacFullabeneReveal4.Dr Hugo Grief is the apartheid-supporting, Hitler-admiring biochemist in Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series. How can he be identified?By the distinctive lightning bolt scar on his foreheadBy the swastika tattoo on his right handBy his grey tongue and beautifully manicured nails By his nervous eye twitchReveal5.What is the name of the upper class English gentleman who is marooned on The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells, where the eponymous doctor is attempting through vivisection to turn animals into humans?Glen CarlileEdward Prendick Michael “Monty” MontgomeryJerry SpringerReveal6."In the small hours one morning," the wife of an author wrote, "I was awakened by cries of horror from [my husband]. Thinking he had a nightmare I awakened him. He said angrily: 'Why did you awaken me? I was dreaming a fine bogey tale.'" Which story of a scientist eventually destroyed by his invention did the author go on to write?Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaFrank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Thomas Mann’s Doctor FaustusReveal7.“As for Rappaccini, it is said of him that he cares infinitely more for science than for mankind. His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some new experiment. He would sacrifice human life, his own among the rest, or whatever else was dearest to him, for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard-seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge.” Who is the author of the short story Rappaccini’s Daughter, about a scientist experimenting with poisonous plants?Charles Dickens AesopNathaniel Hawthorne Jhumpa LahiriReveal8.What is the subtitle of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in which Victor Frankenstein creates a monster from human parts? Frankenstein, Or A Monster LivesFrankenstein, Or The Modern Prometheus Frankenstein, Or A Man of Many PartsFrankenstein, Or New Uses for Old CorpsesReveal9.Why does Griffin, in HG Wells’ The Invisible Man, use his invisibility experiment to make himself invisible?He mistakes the potion for a glass of water and drinks it by accidentHe believes it will win him the Nobel prizeTo spy on his attractive colleagues in the showerHe is frightened of his neighbour’s wrath after he makes her cat invisible Reveal10.What experiment is headmistress Miss Emily conducting in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go?She is trying to turn her pupils into geniusesShe wants to turn lead into goldShe is attempting to prove that the cloned children in her school have souls She is searching for a sure-fire Booker prize-winning formulaReveal11."Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?” Who has Faustus summoned following his pact with the devil in Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus?Helen of Troy HomerThe Trojan horseAphroditeReveal12.Whose novel sees a determined scientist and his nephew enter an Icelandic volcano to discover a vast cavern inhabited by dinosaurs?HG WellsDan BrownJules Verne Michael CrichtonReveal13.The scientist Dr Egan in Clive Cussler’s Valhalla Rising has invented a frictionless oil as well as a teleportation device which is being sought by a ruthless oil company. What is the name of the hero who saves the day?Magnus FalconDirk Pitt Kurt AustinJames BondReveal14.In whose books do the loyal assistants the Igors, based on Frankenstein’s monster, have the following code: never question the master ("No, thur, that'th an artery"); never pass judgement ("What do you want a hundred virginth for?"); never grumble ("Where am I going to find a brain at thith time of night?")?Barbara CartlandRobert RankinTerry PratchettDick FrancisRevealExplore more on these topicsCultureCernquizzesShareReuse this content