Goethe’s “Faust”: a dangerous pact with the Devil.

Goethe’s Faust has been my companion since high school, where it was compulsory reading. My copy also goes back to my school days; it is a small, yellow Reclam volume, worn, well thumbed, and with annotations – not just on the text – by my two older brothers. However, what matters is content, rather than appearances. For me, “my Faust” is less about particular passages than about emotions.

My drive and energy are summed up well in the lines, “That I may detect the inmost force / Which binds the world, and guides its course”. I want to understand things, and I can identify with Faust and his aspirations. On the path to knowledge, there are sideshows, lucky breaks and obstacles that do not necessarily have anything to do with your abilities. To put your own ideas into practice in science, you have to be successful. First, you need very good grades, so that you can study with the best, and then you need excellent publications. These earn you funding and a good reputation, which many researchers equate with happiness in life. This is the kind of dilemma in which Faust, too, finds himself: “Iˇve studied now Philosophy / And Jurisprudence, Medicine,— / And even, alas! Theology,— / From end to end, with labor keen; / And here, poor fool! with all my lore / I stand, no wiser than before.” He wants a great deal, but cannot get ahead; he seeks happiness in life, so he makes a pact with the Devil. The pact with the Devil that, fortunately, only a very small number of researchers make is to betray science by, for instance, falsifying data, so that they can get published more easily and more quickly. The magic potion that restores their youth, in this case, is publications in prestigious journals. This makes it more tempting for young, ambitious researchers to allow themselves to be led astray and to work in an unethical way. However, it always comes to light at some point!

For me, Faust is a constant reminder of the need to uphold scientific integrity and never to go off track — especially at times when my experiments have not always worked, but today as well. I encourage young scientists to work ethically and try to set an example of integrity. That is part of happiness in life for me – without making a pact with the Devil.