THE extraordinary but true story of one of Somerset’s most remarkable and most misunderstood scientists will be told one evening in Nether Stowey next week.

Local historian Brian Wright will talk about Andrew Crosse, a pioneering experimenter, an eccentric landowner, a poet, and a passionate advocate of science.

Crosse’s experiments in his Quantock Hills laboratory are said to have inspired Mary Shelley to write her book ‘Frankenstein’.

His life was filled with ground-breaking discoveries, personal tragedy, controversy, and unexpected moments of humour.

In the 1830s, Crosse found himself at the centre of an international sensation when reports claimed he had accidentally created living creatures during one of his electrical experiments.

The story spread rapidly across Britain, Europe, and America, bringing him unwanted fame and causing him great personal distress.

Mr Wright will be separating the myth from the reality during his talk in the village’s Thomas Poole Library at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, September 9.

He will reveal the fascinating life of a Somerset innovator whose remarkable story continues to captivate audiences nearly two centuries later.

Mr Wright said it would be a ‘captivating talk combining science, history, mystery, and the surprising truth behind one of Somerset’s greatest scientific legends’.

Crosse was born and died in Fyne Court, in Broomfield, on the other side of the Quantock Hills from Nether Stowey, and is buried in the village’s St Mary and All Saints’ Churchyard.

The ‘Frankenstein’ story was born out of an accident when Crosse dropped some solution onto volcanic rock and tiny creatures like mites appeared a fortnight later.

Tickets for Mr Wright’s talk, titled ‘Andrew Crosse and the mite that shocked the world’ are £4 for members of the library charity and £5 for non-members and can be booked online or by emailing to [email protected] or calling 07734 968940.