Mad scientists are often depicted as old men in white coats with ridiculously frizzy hair, but the reality is often much more insidious. The stories of these seven mad scientists will make you glad you’re alive today and not in the time when things like swallowing vomit and decapitating dogs were acceptable. Check out the full stories below!
Number Seven: Vladimir Demikhov. Known as the two-headed dog surgeon, Vladimir Demikhov really loved experimenting with dogs. He took the head of a puppy and decided it was a good idea to attach it to the neck of an adult german shepherd. Though the puppy’s head would lap at milk, it couldn’t actually swallow any. The new animal died due to tissue rejection, but Demikhov went on to perform 19 more two-headed dogs over the next 15 years.
Number Six: Stubbins Ffirth. In the 1800s, a doctor named Stubbins Ffirth was really determined to prove that yellow fever was not an infectious disease. To do this, he poured the vomit of infected patients into open wounds, and he even drank the vomit. Because yellow fever must be injected directly into the bloodstream, he didn’t contract yellow fever.
Number Five: Josef Mengele. One of the evilest humans who ever lived, Josef Mengele was a doctor who worked on patients in the Auschwitz Nazi camp. He was particularly interested in studying twins, and when he was done studying them, he would almost always dispose of them in the gas chamber – healthy or not.
Number Four: Giovanni Aldini. Giovanni Aldini loved to experiment on people who were already dead. Specifically, he liked to electrocute dead people into looking like they were alive. Once, Aldini placed conducting rods on a man’s rectum so that his legs would kick, and he put rods on his face so it contorted.
Number Three: Andrew Ure. Known as “The Scottish Butcher,” Andrew Ure was a renowned Scottish doctor, but he became notorious for four experiments he performed on one day in 1818. First, he removed part of the patient’s vertebra. Two rods connected to a battery were then placed inside incisions Ure had made in the patient’s neck and hip. He was attempting to bring this person back to life, and though the illusion proved worthy, he ultimately failed.
Number Two: Shiro Ishii. Known as Dr. Pure Evil, Ishii was a microbiologist and also a lieutenant general. Under his command, Ishii and his minions committed many acts of vivisection (surgeries on live people), amputation with reattachment in strange places, and he even used people as test subjects for various weapons.
Number One: Kevin Warwick. Finally, one of the craziest mad scientists if Kevin Warwick, who wants to be the first human cyborg. Warwick is a British scientist with a goal of becoming the first ever cyborg. He has made several impressive advancements, including the ability to electronically communicate with his wife without speech.