Charlie Thorne And The Last Equation

One of the most significant themes of the novel examines The Ethical Implications of Scientific Advancement. Through the characters, plot, and ideas presented, the novel asks a question: If scientists understand that humanity’s first instinct is to weaponize any new technology or advancement rather than use it to help the world, what is science’s moral obligation in formulating new ideas and technologies in the first place? The novel asks the question but does not explicitly answer it, instead expecting the characters, and by extension the readers, to wrestle with their own responses. In creating his Pandora equation, Einstein wrestles with this question, ultimately deciding that his work is too dangerous and cannot be entrusted to people, which is why he hides it and finally asks Ernst Klein to destroy it upon his death.

Einstein fears that just like Pandora in the Greek myth, his equation will unleash evils upon the world. However, he is also clearly driven by the pure drive to discover new science outside of ethical concerns and retains some hope for the future, which is why he cannot bring himself to destroy Pandora. Charlie, with similar fears, imagines herself as Prometheus, protecting Pandora from the grasping hands of powerful governments and other malicious entities like the Furies and