Characters Who Are Both Scientists and Magicians
- Thread starter Cicada 5
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Lots of people from 40k. The God-Emperor of Mankind and a number of primarchs. Warpsmiths and to an extent tech-priests.
EDIT: Oh, and Peter Grant from the Rivers of London series. He's a magician and tries to work things out scientifically. Also, Isaac Newton, who was also a scientist and magician IRL...only the magic didn't work out.
EDIT: Oh, and Peter Grant from the Rivers of London series. He's a magician and tries to work things out scientifically. Also, Isaac Newton, who was also a scientist and magician IRL...only the magic didn't work out.
Wizards in the Dresden Files treat magic like a science - It has rules and laws, and wizards theorize and test it just like a scientist would. They even make distinctions between wizards, which are the scientists of the magic world, and warlocks and witches and cultist, who are more akin to the end user of a piece of equipment they don't really understand the principles of.
Motoharu Tsuchimikado from A Certain Magical Index series. Of course, by being that, he can't really use either side's power otherwise his body starts to kill him. There are other characters in the series I'm sure, but he's the only active one that I know of at the moment.
Dr Orpheus technically counts I suppose? He's basically an expy of Dr Strange, but he leans much more heavily on the wizard angle than the Dr part. He does have a PhD though...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6leisjxacQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6leisjxacQ
There's a weird kind of similar distinction in Katherine Kurtz' Deryni series. It takes place in 2 time periods. An earlier time where the magical Deryni race was in control and their psychic magic really was treated like a science. But then the humans rebelled and drove the Deryni into hiding and secrecy. The other series takes place after that in a time where its treated more like magic and many Deryni don't know what they are and their powers are unknown and barely tested. But a science and magic character from the series... Camber, the main character of the first series in the older timeline, and his son-in-law Rhys Thuryn who is a Healer, which really is like an M.D. who also has healing magic.
Nearly all of the Disciples (both of Aldur and Torak) used their agelessness to further their academic studies. For example, at one point Aldur sends Belgarath out into the world, interrupting his century-long study into how mountains were formed.Thaluikhain said:
Is that generally not the case of fictional wizards, especially unnaturally long lived ones?Grouchy Imp said:
I'd add WHFB Necrarch vampires, and elvish wizards and human gold or celestial wizards to the list then.
EDIT: That is, they are certainly academics, but I'm not sure I'd say they were scientists.
To be fair, most wizards/sorcerers in fiction do fill the role of scientists in their chosen world. They are the thinkers, the philosophers, the academics who seek to understand the fundamental forces of whichever world they inhabit. Actually thinking about it I'm struggling to think of mages who don't pursue academic careers.Thaluikhain said:
As for the difference between academic and scientist, I think really that's just a matter of setting. Most fiction featuring magic tend to be set in (for want of a better term) medieval timelines where the level of technology doesn't really allow for the precision of the scientific method.
Thats because Ponder studied long and hard to become a qualified wizard, thank you very much. He didn't go through all those exams to be called a magicianLaughing Man said:
There is a mighty strong sense of it in the Dealing With Dragons series with one character going into rather consistent and fascinating explanations of magic and its mechanics within the universe though unfortunately he is frequently cut off.