This new strange question is sweeping the scienceblogs: “what kind of scientist is Batman?”
The answer is obvious.
He’s a fictional scientist. He’s a member of a long and distinguished lineage, from Tom Swift to Grissom of CSI, of imaginary scientists written by people who don’t know any science, and who imbue their characters with cross-disciplinary super powers and give everyone a false impression of just how easy and unambiguous scientific research is.
Not all fictional scientists have to be so cartoonishly omniscient, though. I recommend Allegra Goodman’s Intuition(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) as a good example of a dramatic story about the real kinds of issues scientists wrestle with: flaky data, publish-or-perish pressures, personality conflicts, ethics, subtle and transient effects, and a real world that simply does not understand what scientists do—because they think scientists are like Batman.
Whoa, that was way too serious an answer for such a light question. I must be tired and cranky.
In “Batman Begins” he doesn’t appear to be a scientist at all, just a billionaire that has access to the head of engineering for his company.
Well, I certainly do enjoy Batman movies and stuff, but admit to not being a Batman minutiae-monger extraordinairre. That said, isn’t he more of a very excellent, creative engineer, than an actual scientist, sensu stricto?
Uncle Don
Well, at least he’s unstereotypical in one sense: he’s the main character. Usually the fictional, unrealistic scientist is a secondary character the gutsy, leaderlike protagonist calls upon in those rare instances when the problem at hand requires intellect.
Batman is an everythingologist. ;)
P Z Myers wrote
I thought the old BBC series Doomwatch was a resonable stab – for a 1970’s TV show – at portraying some of the politics, ambiguity and uncertainty of science. Althoughj, to be fair, even here the lead characters had a tendency to be smug know-it-alls.
I don’t know much about Batman, but I’d agree he’s not a scientist, but a superb engineer or other technologist. After all, does he discover anything new about the world, or instead design artifacts?
The greatest of all scientists was Dr. Zarkov. He designed, built, and flew his own rocket ship, apparently in his back yard. He spent a lot of time hanging around van de Graaf generators and other sparking gadgets, which inspired his genius; as he said to Emperor Ming, “I have worked in great laboratories on earth, your majesty, but this (pause for effect) is a scientist’s paradise.” He immediately diagnosed the effect of the drug Lithium, which took away Dale Arden’s memory, several decades before it had been discovered on earth. (I think it was supposed to be Lethium, from the river Lethe, where our memories of previous lives are washed away in Greek myth.) He discovered a ray that could suspend the Hawk men’s city in the air without the use of the atom furnaces (where radium was chemically burned for some reason or other). And he was fluent in Martian Rock Man speech, which he identified with a tongue formerly spoken by the lost tribes of the Gobi desert (probably Tokharian). The series never explained where he was educated, but I’m sure his degree was a B.S.
Sometimes being an ‘everythingologist’ is part of the joke. There’s an old, old classic episode of Dr. Who in which the third doctor is asked, ‘Are you some kind of scientist?’ and he replies, ‘I’m EVERY kind of scientist!’
Those who complain that Batman is not a scientist have not clicked on the link PZ provided, where hard evidence (none other than the words of Homer J. Simpson!) is provided to the effect that he is.
He’s a fluvial geomorphologist.
Duh.
Come on, he’s the World’s Greatest Detective! He can investigate anything, whether it’s a virulent outbreak or a panic-inducing gas or whatever else he needs to do to advance the storyline. So “fictional” is actually a cool answer.
Cranky is fine, PZ, but consider that just about every profession balks at how it is portrayed on screen or in print. I don’t look for Batman to explain how to get funding to research evolutionary biology, just like I don’t look to TV to explain how military lawyers fly planes (JAG’s a two-fer for bad depictions!), lawyers meet their clients and resolve trials in the same day, or super secret agents save the US in 24-hour periods. Popular media distorts everything it depicts, because life doesn’t come in nice 30 , 60, 90 or 120 minute arcs.
Chiropterologist
btw, this question is much like an old “Tom, the dancing bug” cartoon, where a veterinarian is examining one of the characters — an animal of some sort — to determine what kind of animal he is. The vet’s judgment is that he’s no particular kind of animal at all, just a generic cartoon animal. The animal replies, “Aaargh,” which is further evidence that he’s a generic cartoon animal, because that’s exactly what a generic cartoon animal would say under the circumstances. (I should confess I only assumed the examiner was a vet; perhaps he was a generic cartoon scientist.)
Batman’s a scientist.
— Homer J. Simpson
That should settle it. :)
Batman’s no scientist.
Now Reed Richards, there’s a scientist. ;-)
I’ve always thought Batman’s superpower was that he was really really rich.
Actually the characters I always remember for shark jumping were Scully on XFiles and Carter on Stargate. They started off pretty good as an MD and an astrophysicist, then somewhere through the run of the show, they miraculously developed knowledge of all kinds of fields — electrical engineering for Scully, computer science and genetics for Carter.
The problem really here, however, is that among your ensemble casts, “scientist” is one role. They all, in the end, become The Professor.
Don’t even get me started on CSI- the bane of every forensic scientist’s existence…
On the topic of media misrepresentations of professions, even the military is not immune. How many times have we seen films/TV programs with captains or majors as middle-aged, and generals/admirals in their late sixties? This is a pet peeve of my father, who retired as a ‘full bird’ colonel in his mid-forties after 22 years of service.
As an example, Colin Powell was a general during the CARTER Administration at the age of 42. When he retired in 1993 from the Chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking position in the armed forces, he was still only 56. A person might object that Colin Powell is exceptional, which is true, but it draws the wrong conclusion. Very few people are still in the service at ANY rank after the age of 50, and that includes high-ranking officers.
Scott
Don’t even get me started on CSI- the bane of every forensic scientist’s existence…
What, you mean you can’t just stick any old thing you find on the street into a GC and get meaningful results?
I agree that Batman is more an engineer than a scientist. He has to be. Box office sales would plummet if the next movie were titled “Batman Breeds 50 Generations of Drosophila.”
It is a mistake to think that “kind of scientist” refers to specialization. Chemist, biologist, physicist, etc. are all scientific professions — but there is no list of such professional labels that would span the entire set of all scientific endeavors.
Those who call him a renaissance man are pretty close to the mark. Would you try to categorize Leonardo as a physiologist, or a physicist, or a mathematician? The important distinction is that the renaissance mind was driven by curiosity about the world, and catholicity of interests. Batman is a monomaniac, his varied skills and broad knowledge were acquired, and are used, in the service of a single objective.
Batman is a scientific crimefighter. That is to say, he makes use of the scientific method in the solution, prevention, and punishment of crimes. His area of specialization — of which he may be the only practitioner — overlaps with forensic pathology, criminology, behavioral psychology, biochemistry, and a lot of other disciplines, but it is none of those.
The props and plot devices don’t matter. The fact that he doesn’t have to write grant proposals or put up with surly and ungrateful research assistants doesn’t matter. His lack of advanced degrees, and the fact that he lists no publications or patents on his CV don’t matter. The only requirement for qualifying as a scientist is correct and consistent application of the scientific method. Which Batman satisfies.
Plus which, he mixes stuff in test tubes and makes it foam and smoke and change colors — and if that isn’t science, then I don’t know what is.
One of my favorites is Professor Tournesol(aka Calculus–what a bad transformation)in the Tintin comics.
Rubbish. That’s Dangermouse. (secret agent, detective: same thing)
Bob
Now PZ, you’re just jealous because you didn’t think of putting on a costume every night and patrolling the streets of Minneapolis, looking for evildoers.
I can see it now: “Squidman, cruising down Kellogg Avenue in the powerful, jet-propelled Squidmobile, was about to call it a night, when he suddenly spotted his arch-nemesis–The IDiot, breaking into the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Instantly springing into action, the Aquatic Avenger activated the Squidmobile’s tentacles, which shot out and grabbed the IDiot, wrapping him neatly for delivery to the police.
Chuckling to himself at the ease of the capture, Squidman exited the Squidmobile, and sauntered up to the vanquished villian, preparing to deliver the traditional speech about the futility of crime, when the IDiot’s triumphant grin alerted him that something was wrong.
“Nice of you to fall into our trap, Squidman!” came a voice from behind him, a voice that chilled his soul. It was the voice of the IDiot’s most vicious minion–The Coulter–and she had the drop on him…” Excerpt from “Squidman and the Culture Warriors” DeepSea Comics
uri’s post is the definitive answer.
Anybody else remember the movie Desk Set? Spencer Tracy’s character has a Ph.D from MIT – in science. Nothing in particular, just science. At the ‘tute that line was always good for some audience feedback.
Plus which, he mixes stuff in test tubes and makes it foam and smoke and change colors — and if that isn’t science, then I don’t know what is.
Stimpy is a scientist.
Batman was a dual majaor. He holds PHDs in both Deusexmachinaology and Asskickingology. In the Justice League story line for Tower of Babel one of Batman’s villains by the name of Ra’s al Ghul used weapons developed by Batman to incapacitate the greatest heroes in the DC universe. These included:
Superman: Exposed to an artificial kryptonite that made his skin transparent and overloaded his powers.
The Flash: Shot with some sort of device which gave him super speed epileptic seizures.
Martian Manhunter: Infested by nanites which caused him to burst into flame when exposed to oxygen. (Fire is his one weakness… don’t ask…)
Green Lantern: A post-hypnotic susggestion that accessed the power of his ring to make him blind.
Wonder Woman: Shot with a virtual reality bullet that made her think she was in a never ending battle.
Aquaman: Exposed to a variant of The Scarecrow’s fear toxin which made him hydrophobic.
Plastic Man: Frozen and shattered… ok so this one was very uncreative.
Batman has also found cures for the various plant toxins used by Poison Ivy, smilex gas employed by The Joker, fear toxins used by The Scarecrow, cures for flawed synthetic metagenes (JLA #26), etc…
Dr. Zarkov is an ameteur. Let’s see him build a sentient sattelite that can hide out of phase in orbit above the earth to spy on every known metahuman or find a cure for an alchemically derived toxin that turns people into animal-human hybrids.
Batman has advanced knowledge of physiology, psychology, chemistry, physics, biology, pathology, immunology, all forms of engineering… you know… I could just go on forever. But suffice to say Batman knows almost everything and can get in contact with someone who has expertise in the few areas that he doesn’t. But now that I think about it, Batman’s greatest skill appears to be flawlessly embezzling billions from Wayne Enterprises to fund his crime fighting or possibly lying to the IRS and not getting caught. ;p
I know a few people whose grasp of several fields, while not reaching the level of ‘specialist’, is amazing – and even more is their ability to integrate what they know among them. I suppose someone waaaay out on the end of that curve might be sort of Batmanesque. He also consults real scientists when he needs specialist knowledge. For example, if he needed to know more than the average well-informed-psycho’s knowledge of evolutionary biology, he’d drop in on P.Z. late at night.
BAtman is a dectective. He is a forensics specialist, a computer programmer, and an amateur chemist.
The REAL question is what kind of a scientist is:
1) Henry Pym (a robotologist? biologist?)
2) Tony Stark (electrical engineer?)
3) Hank McCoy (Geneticist and biologist?)
4) Peter Parker (Chemist?)
5) Bruce Banner (radiation-ologist?)
6) Reed Richards (?)
and of course…..
7) Doctor Who
As a former comicbook collector the truth is that Bruce Wayne was a criminologist with a strong background in forensic science, mainly chemistry, and a generalist in other fields that would give him the ability to study the scene of a crime or deduce from clues what the criminal mastermind was up to and from where he was launching his schemes.
His gadgets and tech were provided to him by associates who knew his secret and were close to him and his father enough to trust with each other’s lives like family.
MYOB’
.
oops…meant “Detective”
Yes, Batman is a criminologist. His most significant discovery is that criminals are afraid of scary animals, or men dressed up as same.
Not all fictional scientists have to be so cartoonishly omniscient, though.
Take Sherlock Holmes, for example. When introduced in A Study In Scarlet, Watson listed Holmes’ limitations:
Knowledge of Literature.–Nil.
Knowledge of Philosophy.–Nil.
Knowledge of Astronomy.–Nil.
Knowledge of Politics.–Feeble.
Knowledge of Botany.–Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
Knowledge of Geology.–Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks, has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
Knowledge of Chemistry.–Profound.
Knowledge of Anatomy.–Accurate, but unsystematic.
Knowledge of Sensational Literature.–Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
Plays the violin well.
The question is, can Batman play the violin?
“The question is, can Batman play the violin?”
I don’t know…batman has always struck me as more of a bajo man, really.
Posted by: kebernet | June 22, 2006 02:04 PM
They all, in the end, become The Professor.
Batman, shmatman. Now The Professor was a scientist. I mean, anyone who can make a phone out of a coconut has my vote!
Batmatician.
Eh, it’s not as though scientists are the only profession poorly portrayed in the visual media. They rarely even get cops, lawyers, doctors, priests, etc right, despite them being so much more popular than scientists as characters. Heck, they even misrepresent themselves on screen.
BTW, why no love for Prof. Frink here?
At least scientists get portrayed. When was the last time you saw a philosopher?
I haven’t read Intuition, but Carl Djerassi’s “Cantor’s Dilemma” is a great little novel by a scientist about scientists, with all of the elements of academic life that would give credibility to a scientist character.
I think it is possible to seperate science from the academic establishment in U.S. colleges, e.g. a billionaire scientist wouldn’t face “publish or perish” pressure….
You think scientists have it bad! The movie “The Technical Writer” portrayed tech writers as just like programmers, only not as well adjusted.
Was the Grey Lensman a scientist?
I’ll put in another plug for “Cantor’s Dilemma”. It’s a page-turner in which the whole plot turns on very realistically described research- no attempt, or need, to jazz it up with extraneous “plot elements”.
Ha! You think you forensic scientists have it bad?
Thus far in my life I’ve been a soldier, a geologist, and a firefighter.
“Volcano”[1]. “Backdraft”[2]. Any war movie.
1. aka world’s first geological comedy
2. aka “No, we’ll wait for the people who actually look like they know what they’re doing to come rescue us, thanks.”
“The question is, can Batman play the violin?”
http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20050610.html
This answers the question.