In the name of science, obsessed scientists often carry out experiments that could cost them their lives, however, this does not stop them.
Some take this risk deliberately, while others are unaware of the danger.
Next, we offer you to get acquainted with seven experiments that ended in a very tragic way.
Karl P. Schmidt
Science: Herpetology
Lived: 1890-1957
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The caretaker of Lincoln Park Zoo, a large Chicago zoo, suddenly discovered a new pet in his possession - a small snake. To avoid the risk, a professional herpetologist, Dr. Karl Schmidt, was sent to identify her. Unfortunately, the snake turned out to be an African boomslang, and quite dexterous. The doctor took a bite while trying to classify the snake, but did not despair. Schmidt knew for sure that he would not be able to receive the vaccine on time and spent the last few days of his life documenting the processes taking place in his body.
Karl Scheele
Science: Chemistry
Lived: 1742-1786
The first unspoken rule of chemistry is not to taste what comes out of your retort. But Karl Scheele, apparently, has not yet mastered this wisdom. However, he lived in the days when oxygen was called "burning air", so it is forgivable. Scheele managed to discover a number of elements in the periodic table (barium, tungsten and the already mentioned oxygen), until the habit of trying materials on his tongue drove him to his grave.
Maria Curie
Science: physics and chemistry
Lived: 1867-1934
Any list of deadly experiments would be incomplete without Marie Curie. A Nobel laureate and brilliant scientist, Maria had the bad habit of taking her current job home. Why bad? Because most of the time this extraordinary woman spent studying radioactive materials. Maria carried ore samples right in her pockets and without the slightest shadow of a doubt set about adjusting the switched on X-ray machine. Her documents and property are still considered unsafe due to radiation.
Harutyun Krikor Daglyan Jr
Science: chemistry
Lived: 1921-1945
Working with active substances definitely requires some precautions. Unfortunately, the chemist Harutyun Krikor Daglyan forgot about this, having managed to drop a brick of tungsten carbide directly onto the reactor. Sounds like bad news, right? Daglyan, realizing that only a few minutes were left before the explosion, dismantled the reactor wall manually and eliminated the problem. In the process, he received a lethal dose of radiation, but saved thousands of lives.
Louis Slotin
Science: physics and chemistry
Lived: 1910-1946
After the accident provoked by Daglyan, the plutonium core remained in the same place. The Los Alamos Laboratory conducted many dangerous experiments - and the gun fired a second time. Physicist Louis Slotin decided to use a screwdriver where the use of special laboratory separators is prescribed. The metal reacted with the core, causing a powerful radiation release. Slotin died ten days later, and the plutonium sphere (which by that time had received the nickname "demon ball") was destroyed in an experimental nuclear explosion on one of the islands of the Bikini Atoll.
Anatoly Bugorsky
Science: physics
Lived: 1942-
And finally, a scientific disaster that did not end with the death of the experimenter. While working on the U-70 synchrophasotron, Anatoly Bugorskiy fell under a high-energy proton beam. Half of the unlucky scientist's face immediately swelled. Doctors expected Bugorsky's imminent death from radiation poisoning. He survived, however, with only hearing loss, facial paralysis and persistent seizures. The story ends on a good note: by dispassionately documenting his condition, Anatoly Bugorsky was able to obtain his Ph. D.
Alexander Bogdanov
Science: medicine
Lived: 1873-1928
Alexander Bogdanov's interests ranged from politics to philosophy and science, but it was experiments with blood transfusions that caused the scientist's death. Believing that the blood of other people is capable of rejuvenating his body, Bogdanov began the procedure in early 1924. Naturally, such a brilliant experiment did not require any additional control at all. As a result, the admirer of medieval alchemists poured plasma infected with tuberculosis and malaria into himself, from which he died.