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One of the great things about life in 2011 is the technology of television. When I was a kid if you had a Cub Scout meeting when the Flintstones was on, you missed the Flintstones. Of course, those days are long gone. If you miss a show now, you can watch it later at your leisure on a DVD or via Hulu or iTunes or Amazon or various other ways that violate numerous international copyright laws.
Taking advantage of these new opportunities, I have recently started watching two science-heavy programs of relatively recent vintage: Dexter and Breaking Bad. Readers who don’t know the shows may be driven to try them by what follows. Readers who are up-to-date on the programs should not send me any spoiler information!
Dexter is the story of scientist Vincent Masuka, the lead forensics expert for the Miami Metro Police Department. (The character called Dexter is a lesser forensics worker, who concentrates on blood spatter.) Masuka, who gets little respect from the police he helps, is a generalist well versed in all major forensic techniques.
The series—I’m up to the early episodes of season three—depicts him pursuing his normal job activities but also advancing the entire field of forensics as the sole author of a journal article for the Forensics Quarterly. His paper is of such quality that it is accepted and fast-tracked for publication. I can think of no other TV scientist who achieves such a feat.
When the paper is published, Masuka passes out copies to the rest of the police station staff, who ignore it. Masuka even finds a copy in the trash, clearly dumped there by one of his unappreciative colleagues. But the journal article leads to an invite for Masuka to give the keynote address at a forensics conference. He gets tickets for all the cops and other co-workers, but not even his subordinate Dexter is willing to go.
Now, this is going to be some talk. I’ve gone to many science conference lectures, including one by a sitting president of these United States, and none of them ever required a ticket. Masuka even offers people a free doughnut along with a ticket, but the legendary cop-doughnut affiliation holds no sway. His paper and keynote address will be forgotten.
The disrespect with which Masuka is treated is demonstrated in a meta way by the production of the series itself. Because Masuka actually gets just far less screen time than does Dexter, who, spoiler alert, is also a psychopathic serial killer! The producers thus brilliantly illustrate the scientist, in the person of Masuka, as a modern-day Sisyphus, working tirelessly to advance civilization amid an environment of violence and chaos. Bravo.
I have seen only the first three episodes of Breaking Bad, the adventures of a high school chemistry teacher named Walter White. But the series has already featured a wonderful lesson about treating chemicals with respect.
White tells an immature associate to purchase a specific kind of plastic bin, the only kind that will hold hydrofluoric acid safely. White’s young charge disregards his instructions and simply pours two large containers of hydrofluoric acid into a bathtub. (The tub holds the remains of a methamphetamine dealer whom White killed. He and the kid are trying to dissolve the body, but never mind that.) The acid eats up most of the contents of the tub, as well as the tub and the floor. When the remains of everything hit one level down, what’s left of the acid begins eating away at that floor, too. I would like to see a forensics master like Vince Masuka try to make sense of that scene!
Hydrofluoric acid is in fact incredibly corrosive and dangerous. When I took chemistry in college, we students could pour the hydrochloric or even sulfuric acid with impunity. But we were not even allowed to touch the containers of hydrofluoric. On the rare occasions that we needed it, the lab instructor would don protective gear and pour out a few precious milliliters for us to use under a fume hood.
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7 Comments
Add CommentAs a huge fan of both series, this article came as a very pleasant surprise. As far as the cool-yet-respectable treatment of science goes, Breaking Bad is definitely the more consistent show (and the better-made, although you'll be in for some excellent television in Season 4 of Dexter). Even as a relatively science-illiterate guy, I still can't help but feel that Dexter sometimes falls into the CSI trap of making the forensic tools available to be state-of-the-art (which I doubt is the norm for most investigation teams). With Breaking Bad, even the grimy labs of meth-heads have a fascinating aspect to them--the possibilities for error are self-evident, and therefore keep the audience perceptive of the scientific prowess necessary for good product.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisKeep up with both shows--with Breaking Bad, the story literally never lets up, and in its three seasons (which I caught up to just two weeks ago) the show has yet to make a quality dip.
Steve - if you like science on TV, then I cannot recommend any stronger the Fringe series. Again, not to spoil the series for anyone who hasn't watched it, I will just say that almost any 'fringe' theory of science is covered - from parallel/multi universes; to teleportation, to strange diseases that even Dr House has not come across; and so forth. Not to be missed by any sci-fi or real-sci fan.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm a chemist, and I love Breaking Bad because it is perhaps the only TV show I've ever seen where the chemistry feels realistic. I wouldn't recommend Fringe to someone looking for science on TV, because it is based on pseudoscience. That show can be fun if you look at it as the fantasy that it is, but if you think it has anything to do with science, then it has done a major disservice to the cause of science education.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe one other show that I love as a scientist is Big Bang Theory. It is a comedy and clearly exaggerates a bit, but their depiction of science nerds rings true. I say that being one myself, of course.
But masuka is a total creep... that's why nobody went to his talk.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs as social scientist I must admit my lack of knowledge regarding chemistry and forensic's. However, I do follow both shows and it's great to see careers in science playing a role in popular televisions shows.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs for the Fringe series it is fantasy; but lets not forget how much imagnaion, curiosity and open minded thinking has lead to research and discovery through applying the scientific method to formerly random thought.
Something has really been bothering me about this article. You talk about hydrofluoric acid as if it is a stronger acid than hydrochloric or sulfuric. HF is a MUCH weaker acid that hydrochloric or sulfuric, which I believe was the reason why Walter used it. Am I correct?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnyway, I do love Breaking Bad, although I didn't make it passed the middle of season 3. I tried to get into Dexter but it didn't really thrill me.
Fringe is a pretty cool sci-fi-drama that I think any sci-fi nerd can appreciate. It sometimes gets a little unbelievable though (even for it's own standards).
erice,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHF is classified as a weak acid because it has a low dissociation constant, but it is outstandingly corrosive. For example, it etches glass, which hydrochloric and sulfuric acids don't.
In fact, because HF dissociates so weakly, and because HF is lipid soluble, even minute amounts can soak into living (or dead) tissues very easily. That's one of the reasons why chemists have to be so careful when working with it: even dilute vapors of HF can poisoned and burn them.