The ever creative and thought-provoking Theodore Roszak uses the multiple perspectives of history, literary commentary, science, religion, psychology, and travel to present a feminist critique of male-dominated science. On a visit to Geneva to put the finishing touches on his novel The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein, the author ponders the many meanings of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. He finds in this Gothic tale signs of macho science where human arrogance and domination prevail.
Roszak presents a vitriolic attack on scientists who continue to emphasize separation in a world where everything in nature is characterized by organization, structure, and relationship. At one point, he notes: "In four centuries of taking wealth and comfort from the body of the Earth, modern science has not troubled to produce a single rite or ritual, not even a minor prayer, that asks pardon or gives thanks. But then what sense would it make to ask anything of a dead body?"
During a trip with his wife to Einsiedeln to see the Black Madonna, Roszak imagines a gender-free science that moves beyond the atomistic, male-dominated paradigm to emphasize feeling, compassion, and nurturance.