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Theabsent-minded professor is astock character of popular fiction, usually portrayed as a talentedscholar whose academic brilliance is accompanied by below-par functioning in other areas, leading toforgetfulness and mistakes. One explanation of this is that highly talented individuals often have unevenly distributed capabilities, being brilliant in their field of choice but below average on other measures of ability. Alternatively, they are considered to be so engrossed in their field of study that they forget their surroundings. Thephrase is also commonly used inEnglish to describe people who are so engrossed in their own world that they fail to keep track of their surroundings. It is a commonstereotype thatprofessors get so obsessed with their research that they pay little attention to anything else.
The archetype is sometimes mixed with that of themad scientist, often for comic effect, as in theJerry Lewis filmThe Nutty Professor or the Profesor Bacterio in theMortadelo y Filemón comics and movies. However, a distinction is usually made that absent-minded professors are forgetful and careless rather than maliciously causing harm.
The archetype is very old: theancient Greek biographerDiogenes Laërtius wrote that the philosopherThales walked at night with his eyes focused on the heavens and, as a result, fell down awell.[1] A similar story is recounted of the ancient Indian philosopher Akṣapāda Gautama, the author of theNyaya Sutras. As per the story, Gautama was always so engrossed in contemplation, that he would not even see things directly infront of him. Owing to this, Brahmā granted him with eyes (akṣa) on his feet (pāda), so that he could navigate himself, thus giving him the name Akṣapāda.
Thomas Aquinas,[2]Isaac Newton,[3]Adam Smith,André-Marie Ampère,Jacques Hadamard,Sewall Wright,Nikola Tesla,Norbert Wiener,Archimedes,Pierre Curie[4] andAlbert Einstein[3] were all scholars considered to be absent-minded – their attention absorbed by their academic studies.William Archibald Spooner, who gave his name to thespoonerism, was known for hisabsent-mindedness and eccentricity.
The fictional absent-minded professor is often a college professor of science or engineering; in thefantasy genre, a similar character may appear as awizard. Examples of this include the characterisation ofMerlin inThe Sword in the Stone (particularly inthe Disney adaptation) andAlbus Dumbledore in theHarry Potter series. "Doc"Emmett Brown fromBack to the Future is an example of an absent-minded scientist-inventor character. He is depicted as strange, eccentric, orinsane. Another example is the title character in the filmThe Absent-Minded Professor and its less successful film remakes, all based on the short story "A Situation of Gravity" bySamuel W. Taylor. Examples in television includeProfessor Farnsworth inFuturama,Professor Frink inThe Simpsons,Walter Bishop in theFox television seriesFringe, and Professor Von Schlemmer inAdventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Multo, one of the characters in the children's seriesThe Zula Patrol, is another example of an absent-minded professor.
Professor Kokintz inThe Mouse That Roared byLeonard Wibberley is an example from literature.Professor Branestawm, created in the 1930s byNorman Hunter, is an earlier example of the archetype, andJacques Paganel from theJules Verne's 1867 novelIn Search of the Castaways is probably the codifier of the archetype in the modern literature. Professor Caractacus Potts in the story ofChitty Chitty Bang Bang qualifies as an absent-minded inventor. Comic strip examples includeProfessor Calculus inThe Adventures of Tintin; Eli Eon inLittle Orphan Annie; the Professor in British comicRupert Bear; and Professor Edgewise, a minor recurring character inMarvel Family stories.Isaac Kleiner from theHalf-Life saga, Professor E. Gadd from theLuigi's Mansion series and Professor Harold MacDougal fromRed Dead Redemption are examples in video games.
