There can be few books as well-known as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Adapted for stage, film and radio over 100 times, this chilling gothic tale is thought by some to be the very first science-fiction novel. Written in 1816, when Shelley was just 18, her story of a hideous monster of superhuman strength is indebted to contemporary scientific experiments and philosophical debates and is as thought-provoking as it is thrilling.