So far, no one has commented on Mad Scientist Jewelry. One well-known, albeit unsuccessful, Mad Scientist was known to mutter repeatedly “With a ring like that, I could rule the world!” inre a semi-sentient ring with laser-resistant gem.
DocCathode is referencing the fan-made Gameline Genius: The Transgression for the tabletop RPG the New World of Darkness.
I think some time in the military (or Texas) is necessary as well.
You need to know how to work a gun. Too many mad scientists are tripped up when they concoct an elaborate device to slowly turn the protagonist into mashed potatoes & gravy. They really need to just shoot the interloper.
And here I thought he was simply referencing Mage: the Ascension, the RPG in the Old World of Darkness.
They aren’t Mad Engineers because they don’t want to get in trouble with the state licensing board (example) for practicing engineering without a license.
To the OP:
I think general engineering classes as a foundation: Statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, fluid mechanics, material science, and computer programming (along with the standard chemistry, physics, and math pre-requisites.)
Building from there, I think the mad scientist would take a more theoretical-science/engineering-research path based on interests (rather than standards-driven advanced engineering classes) but they would still need instruction in the following topics: organic-/bio-chemistry, non-newtonian mechanics, nuclear/quantum physics, optics/lasers, cryogenics, metallurgy, data communications/remote sensing/controls, geology, and psychology. They would probably need some instruction in finance as well, since research and development are too expensive to cover via petty theft (and they can’t start small or they’ll never achieve world domination, immortality, etc. in their lifetime). I was thinking they’d probably need some medical instruction, but then I decided that surgery for the mad scientist is more of a learn-by-doing topic.
Skip speaking/writing classes (how will they be misunderstood if they can communicate clearly?) and ethics (obviously). Humanities and social sciences (with the exception of psychology) can also be neglected, unless needed to build negative character (how many mad scientists “found themselves” after being humiliated by non-scientist peers/bullies/girls?).
To give the OPs question a serous answer, let us imagine what fields of study one would need to master to master in order to pull off a typical bonna fide Mad Scientist Scheme™, such as building a 50’ tall killer robot to wreak havoc on "The City ".
Let us further assume that in order to maintain the necessary level of secrecy to spring such a Mad Plan™ without being foiled by Cursed Do-Gooders™ first, that Dr. Mad™ needs to build this thing from scratch. Also, too many minions introduces the potential of security leaks, so we’ll limit the “good” Doctor to a single “Igor” level lab assistant to help take care of the mundane things like cooking meals and keeping the place clean so he can focus on “The Science!”
Mastery of structural engineering is obviously a must - if you’re going to build something that big, it needs to not collapse under its own weight.
Assuming there are no other giant killer robots already in production, he can’t exactly order the parts he needs from Sears. Besides, that would also breach security. Ergo, he needs to order raw materials, like ore and scrap metal, and make the parts himself; so Dr. Mad™ needs to be a metallurgist, too.
I’m assuming this thing is powered by electricity of some sort, so that means mastery of electrical engineering to set up all the wires and circuitry, right down to designing and building the circuit boards.
Is he going to use a standard computer operating system to make this thing be able to “think” and obey commands? If not, now he needs to be an ace computer programmer.
Since you cannot have a “killer” robot without them, we need weapons. For the sake of this example, we shall eschew the “cool” stuff like 1920’s style death rays and laser beams on its frikkin’ head. Ergo, we need modern munitions like rockets and mini-guns. So, he’s now a weaponsmith. Even if we let him buy this stuff “off the rack” in way that lets him avoid the attention of the ATF, he still needs to be a master of configuring computerized weapons systems if he wants to have a prayer of hitting what he’s aiming at.
Since “a really big extension cable” is an obvious weakness anybody could exploit, we need a self-contained power source. And since no self-respecting Mad Scientist™ worth the ™ would settle for anything less than atomic power, he is now both a nuclear scientist and a nuclear engineer.
So, we’re looking at at least 6 independent fields of study he needs to have total mastery over in order to even get started on this project, and I’m likely missing at least 4 more in this quick summary. My guess is that Dr. Mad™ already has one foot in the grave by the time he has enough know-how to even get started on this project.
Now all Dr. Mad™ needs is: a storage facility for all of his raw components, a factory with all the equipment and tools to make and assemble the parts, and enough privacy to avoid detection. Oh yeah… and a few billion dollars to afford it all.
Whoa! Wait a minute!
Are we talking short-tempered and pissed-off at the world “Mad” or psychologically unstable and possibly socio-pathological “Mad”?
I think the rest of the responders here are talking about the "I’m going to play God and [make the world tremble before me | destroy the biosphere | manufacture my own intelligent beings | etc.] lunatic genius rather than just the kick-the-dog-because-the-wife-ran-off-with-the-plumber kind of low-life researcher.
Well, for the make-my-own-intelligent-beings kind of guy, I’d say advanced degrees in biology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, medicine, and probably business.
Well, there’s a guy I’ve heard of in New England who is stacking up PhD’s in Mathematics, Bio-Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, and Physics. I don’t know if he’s done Medicine. He was originally trying to do something in bionic limbs, then got into muscle memory and the details of how different kinds of memory are generated or stored in the brain cells. Last I heard he was heading up some major MIT/Harvard/Yale think tank. As for eccentric, he also performed in a major choir in his spare time.
Or there was Isaac Asimov. Didn’t he have PhD’s in Physics, Chemistry, Astrophysics, Engineering, and Geology? His eccentricity was an obscure dabbling in science fiction writing. :rolleyes: He really shows his mettle, though, in Beginnings and Atom.
–G!
On the road to good intentions 
Blown to hell by our own inventions :eek::smack:
. – Tommy Shaw & James Young (Styx)
. Heavy Water
. Brave New World
And in just a few short paragraphs, Klytus has expertly explained why there aren’t any real life Mad Scientists. Bravo! 
Thanks
Nice to know all of those years spent playing superhero RPGs weren’t entirely wasted 
You are correct.
On another note-
You’re all lucky I’m a benevolent Mad Scientist as I now have a copy of Home Workshop Explosives by Steve Preissler.
Has there been a reprinting? In the copy I have, the Quintessence required to manufacture even the simplest home explosives are too prohibitive to make such devices practical.
This a book on Sleeper science, not Actualized Science. Anybody of reasonable intelligence can create the recipes within. Quintessence is only needed to give the explosives special qualities. It takes work to make the explosions harmless and dragon shaped, but it is very much worth it.
Snerk!
Actually, this is not correct. One can order metals in whatever alloy one wishes in bulk from suppliers. You don’t need to smelt your own ores to make the alloys, you just have to understand the difference between Aluminum 6061 and 7075 (plus the various t codes) and know when their appropriate applications. Know when to pick steel, carbon vs stainless, know when to pick titanium over aluminum. These things are materials and design questions to be sure, but designers get that info from handbooks on the material properties.
But one important element that cannot be neglected from the structural standpoint is failure analysis methods. Being a materials and failure specialist is required to understand how to ensure your designs aren’t susceptible to fatigue, etc. Plus, you want to know something about vibration and how to protect from resonance, and modal analysis.
So we have
- mechanical engineering (structures, mechanics, dynamics, controls, fluids)
- electrical engineering
- chemistry (general and organic)
- nuclear engineering
- biology, genetics, microbiology
- various physics specialties (theoretical and applied - nuclear, laser, plasma)
- psychology would be useful for understanding how to control people, but not necessarily required
- computer science and programming
- materials (properties, failure modes, design selection, manufacturing techniques for the really exotic materials you wish to create)
It might also help to develop hobbies/skills, like RC planes and cars, machining and welding, and maybe medical skills (precision scalpel work, sutures, etc).
Pardon my error: either I suffered from a paradox-induced false-memory event, or had seen a copy of an Actualized “translation” of the same title. Regardless, as a member of the Hermetic Tradition, the explosions I seek are not for show, but for thwarting the agents, members, and/or minions of the Technocratic Union when subtlety must be eschewed, and yet remain subtle enough to remain with the boundaries of the coincidental.
When killing is absolutely necessary, I sometimes use a Servosymbol TransHypnotic pattern that causes the subject’s heart to stop beating. For those who have lack a beating heart, I have a needle gun that injects a D’onn* virus. This virus is part computer program, part germ, and part non corporeal intelligence. As the Greyfaces are slow to change (Indeed I feel this along with lack of imagination, is their greatest weakness) it can be years before the Men In Black or HITMarks adapt.
- I got the idea from Earth-Final Conflict. I had to have some Colleagues help as biology and computer code are not my area of expertise.
And Dr Thaddeus Bodog Sivanna.
I think a degree in Applied Physics would be a start.
[Evil!Skald]
You are confused as to some of the disciplines here. Zombie Creation is not science; it’s magic. Making Smoking Hot Chicks Fall In Love With You isn’t science or magic; it’s mojo.
Mind Control can go either way. It always backfires anyway, though. Best avoided.
[/Evil!Skald]
Mad Scientist alert!
Tesla is the archetype, I think. daVinci worked in a wide array of fields, but he hardly ever built anything - his work was mostly theoretical. Of course, that makes him more scientist than engineer, and as noted above its engineering that is the key to the trope. Nobody cares about your studies of thermodynamics until you use them to freeze Washington.
Lowell Wood might count. Engineering background? Check. Wacky ideas? He invented the anti-mosquito laser.
Type “Can Dr. Evil Save The World?” into your favorite search engine, and see for yourself. I think he’s about as close to the Mad Scientist/Superscience Inventor as reality is likely to produce.
To the OP’s question: physics is always the starting point, because so much of everything else is really just physics. Decades ago when I was in high school, they offered classes in physics and chemistry, but if you wanted to take Honors level classes, they combined physics and chemistry into one two-year course, because there is so much crossover there.
You miss the point. He didn’t say to have to blow up cities to be a Mad Scientist, he said you have to be capable of blowing up cities to be a Mad Scientist.
And I think his point holds water: a Mad Scientist should be capable of creating, if he or she should so desire, something that could wipe out a city and is small enough to fit in a van.
And I’m not sure Fuller was a Mad Scientist, or even Mad Engnieer. Mad Designer?