10 Times Well-Loved Scientists Were Total Jerks

In 1892, everyone's favourite Oedipus, Sigmund Freud was approached by a young woman by the name of Emma Eckstein for the treatment of a stomach ailment what she described as "mild depression" due to menstruation. Freud promptly diagnosed her with hysteria and excessive masturbation (big surprise) - a habit that was considered damaging to a woman's mental health.

Not one to want to be predictable however, Freud also diagnosed a case of "nasal reflex neurosis", a condition that his friend Wilhelm Fliess was popularising at the time. The cure for this ailment, the pair decided, was the cauterisation of the nasal passage - that would surely relieve her symptoms. What followed was an experimental procedure during which Eckstein was anaesthetised with cocaine before the inside of her nose was burned and cauterised.

The surgery was an unmitigated disaster, with Eckstein suffering pain, infection and bleeding long afterwards. She was also left permanently disfigured as Fliess, who had performed the surgery, had forgotten to remove a large amount of surgical gauze from inside her nose.

It is unclear as to whether Eckstein was strictly a medical patient of Freud or, like so many others, he took a particular amorous interest in her as well. It wasn't unheard of for Freud to use his position as a psychologist to get his leg over from time to time.