Galter Health Sciences Library is excited to announce that the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) traveling exhibition, Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature/Penetrando en los Secretos de la Naturaleza is now on display in both English and Spanish in the library atrium until November 15. 

In 1816, Mary Shelley conceived a story about a scientist who creates a creature that can think and feel but is monstrous to the eye. Shelley’s story served as a metaphor for apprehensions about scientific advancement that continue to resonate today. The traveling exhibition and companion website explore the power of the novel Frankenstein to expose hidden fears of science and technology as human efforts to penetrate the secrets of nature continue.

The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website. Guest curated by historian and educator Susan E. Lederer, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison). For questions and additional information, please contact Galter’s Special Collections Department: ghsl-specialcollections@northwestern.edu 

The NLM Traveling Exhibition includes a companion website with the following resources and supplemental materials:

• Digital Gallery
• Exhibition Collection
• University Education Resources & Modules

In addition to the traveling exhibit, Galter team members have curated two companion exhibits, now on display in the Eckenhoff Reading Room. Visitors will journey from fiction to fact through the intersections of science and imagination and will be left to ponder what the next 200 years of discovery may hold. All exhibits are presented in both English and Spanish. 

• Reviving the Body: Science, Frankenstein, and the "Spark of Life"
• Reviviendo el cuerpo: la ciencia, Frankenstein y la chispa vital

Why does the 19th century novel Frankenstein continue to resonate within the medical sciences? As part of the NLM traveling exhibition, Galter Library is co-sponsoring a panel discussion with the Medical Humanities & Bioethics Program to examine the novel and its themes through a medical ethics lens. Register to attend the hybrid panel by following this link: REGISTRATION

• Title: What Can Stop the Determined Heart and Resolved Will of Man?:  Innovation, Ethics, and Medicine in Frankenstein - Panel Presentation
• When: Thursday, November 7, 2024 from 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM CT
• Where: Robert H Lurie Medical Research Center,  1st Floor Baldwin Auditorium, 303 E. Superior & Virtual (please register to receive the zoom link)
• Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students
• Lunch is provided on a first come first serve basis.