Highlights

• The dust plume created by The Mount Tambora eruption in Indonesia in 1815, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history, led to a global climate-cooling event in 1816, later known as ‘the Year Without a Summer.’
• Central Europe was especially impacted, becoming much colder, rainier, and stormier than normal, resulting in extreme thunderstorms and flooding in the region.
• The work of many artists in Europe was influenced by these climate-related events: The early 19th century writers Lord Byron, John Polidori, Percy Shelley, and Mary Shelley all happened to be together in Switzerland at the same time, and all were inspired by the extreme weather events to write their most famous work, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
• Frankenstein would eventually be recognized as the first science fiction novel ever written, as it dealt with the perils of scientists overreaching their knowledge and harnessing the power of technology, without an understanding of the ethical consequences of their…