There’s something about spring and monsters. It was in the spring when John Utterson broke down a cellar door to discover the murderous Mr. Hyde; when Victor Frankenstein saw his own creation fleeting through the woods outside of Geneva; and when Jonathan Harker embarked on his journey to the castle of a certain Transylvanian nobleman. The thawing snows, it seems, have a habit of revealing follies long forgotten but unsettlingly preserved.
The Spring 2014 Nautilus Quarterly keeps tradition with opening stories about monsters mathematical, animal, and ecological. We are reminded that the objectivity and dispassion of science are sometimes joined by a more urgent and fearful element. And, as with many monster stories, our expectations are opposed. Just as Mary Shelley transforms Frankenstein from an abomination into a sensitive interpreter of Goethe and Milton, so are we surprised at the origins of some of science’s monsters—and at how outright useful they can be.
We have happy springtime stories to tell, too, both in the remainder of the Quarterly (did you know that wasting time is good for you?), and from our own New York offices. Thanks to you, our enthusiastic readers, the Nautilus Quarterly has earned personal subscribers in 46 countries, and is available for purchase in hundreds of bookstores across the United States and Canada. Plus, for a limited time, you can get a full year of the Quarterly delivered to your door for just $39 (plus additional shipping costs for international destinations). Shipping begins on April 25.
We therefore greet the season with open arms, for, as Mary Shelley wrote, “The winter has been dreadfully severe; but the spring promises well…”
