John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (; 5 November 18921 December 1964), nicknamed "Jack" or "JBS", was a British-Indian scientist who worked in
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
,
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
,
evolutionary biology
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life fo ...
, and
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
. With innovative use of statistics in biology, he was one of the founders of neo-Darwinism. He served in the Great War, and obtained the rank of captain. Despite his lack of an academic degree in the field, he taught biology at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, the
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
, and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. Renouncing his British citizenship, he became an Indian citizen in 1961 and worked at the
Indian Statistical Institute
Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a higher education and research institute which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament. It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta C ...
for the rest of his life.
Haldane's article on abiogenesis in 1929 introduced the " primordial soup theory", which became the foundation for the concept of the chemical origin of life. He established human
gene map
Gene maps help describe the spatial arrangement of genes on a chromosome. Genes are designated to a specific location on a chromosome known as the locus and can be used as molecular markers to find the distance between other genes on a chromosom ...
s for
haemophilia
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
and
colour blindness
Color blindness or color vision deficiency (CVD) is the decreased ability to see color or differences in color. It can impair tasks such as selecting ripe fruit, choosing clothing, and reading traffic lights. Color blindness may make some aca ...
on the
X chromosome
The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes (allosomes) in many organisms, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome), and is found in both males and females. It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and XO sex-d ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
. He correctly proposed that
sickle-cell disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red blo ...
confers some immunity to
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
. He was the first to suggest the central idea of
in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
Haldane's dilemma
Haldane's dilemma, also known as "the waiting time problem", is a limit on the speed of beneficial evolution, calculated by J. B. S. Haldane in 1957. Before the invention of DNA sequencing technologies, it was not known how much polymorphism D ...
, a limit on the speed of beneficial
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, an idea which is still debated today. He willed his body for medical studies, as he wanted to remain useful even in death. He is also remembered for his work in human biology, having coined "
clone
Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to:
Places
* Clones, County Fermanagh
* Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland
Biology
* Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
ectogenesis
Ectogenesis (from the Greek ''ἐκτός'', "outside," and ''genesis'') is the growth of an organism in an artificial environment outside the body in which it would normally be found, such as the growth of an embryo or fetus outside the mother's ...
". With his sister,
Naomi Mitchison
Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison (; 1 November 1897 – 11 January 1999) was a Scottish novelist and poet. Often called a doyenne of Scottish literature, she wrote over 90 books of historical and science fiction, travel writin ...
, Haldane was the first to demonstrate
genetic linkage
Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be separ ...
in
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
whilst laying the groundwork for
modern synthesis
Modern synthesis or modern evolutionary synthesis refers to several perspectives on evolutionary biology, namely:
* Modern synthesis (20th century), the term coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to denote the synthesis between Mendelian genetics and s ...
, and helped to create
population genetics
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...
.
Haldane was a professed
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
,
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
,
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and secular humanist whose political dissent led him to leave England in 1956 and live in India, becoming a naturalised Indian citizen in 1961.
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host.
He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...
credited him as "perhaps the most brilliant science populariser of his generation". Brazilian-British biologist and
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
Peter Medawar called Haldane "the cleverest man I ever knew". According to
Theodosius Dobzhansky
Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky (russian: Феодо́сий Григо́рьевич Добржа́нский; uk, Теодо́сій Григо́рович Добржа́нський; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a prominent ...
, "Haldane was always recognized as a singular case"; Ernst Mayr described him as a "polymath";
Michael J. D. White
Michael James Denham White FRS (London, 20 August 1910 – Canberra, 16 December 1983) was a zoologist and cytologist.
White grew up in Tuscany, Italy, where he was home-schooled, before beginning undergraduate studies at University College Lo ...
described him as "the most erudite biologist of his generation, and perhaps of the century";
James Watson
James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...
described him as "England's most clever and eccentric biologist" and
Sahotra Sarkar
Sahotra Sarkar (born 1962) is an Indian-American professor at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the philosophy of biology.
Education and career
Sarkar is originally from India where he lived in Darjeeling until 1975. He earned ...
described him as "probably the most prescient biologist of this
0th
0th or zeroth may refer to:
Mathematics, science and technology
* 0th or zeroth, an ordinal for the number zero
* 0th dimension, a topological space
* 0th element, of a data structure in computer science
* Zeroth (software), deep learning softwar ...
century." According to a Cambridge student, "he seemed to be the last man who might know all there was to be known."
Biography
Early life and education
Haldane was born in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1892. His father was
John Scott Haldane
John Scott Haldane (; 2 May 1860 – 14/15 March 1936) was a British physician and physiologist famous for intrepid self-experimentation which led to many important discoveries about the human body and the nature of gases. He also experimen ...
, a
physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...
, scientist, a
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
who was the grandson of evangelist
James Alexander Haldane
The Rev James Alexander Haldane aka Captain James Haldane (14 July 1768 – 8 February 1851) was a Scottish independent church leader following an earlier life as a sea captain.
Biography
The youngest son of Captain James Haldane of Airth ...
. His mother Louisa Kathleen Trotter, was a Conservative, and descended from Scottish ancestry. His only sibling, Naomi, became a writer and married Dick Mitchison, Baron Mitchison (thereby becoming Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison), who was his best friend at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
. His uncle was
Viscount Haldane
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
and his aunt the author Elizabeth Haldane. Descended from an aristocratic and secular family of the
Clan Haldane
Clan Haldane is a Lowland Scottish clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages ...
, he would later claim that his
Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...
could be traced back to
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...
.
Haldane grew up at 11 Crick Road, North Oxford. He learnt to read at the age of three, and at four, after injuring his forehead he asked the doctor of the bleeding, "Is this
oxyhaemoglobin
Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...
or
carboxyhaemoglobin
Carboxyhemoglobin (carboxyhaemoglobin BrE) (symbol COHb or HbCO) is a stable complex of carbon monoxide and hemoglobin (Hb) that forms in red blood cells upon contact with carbon monoxide. Carboxyhemoglobin is often mistaken for the compound form ...
?" As a youth he was raised as an Anglican. From age eight he worked with his father in their home laboratory where he experienced his first self-experimentation, the method he would later be famous for. He and his father became their own "human guinea pigs", such as in their investigation on the effects of poison gases. In 1899 his family moved to "Cherwell", a late Victorian house at the outskirts of Oxford with its own private laboratory. At age 8, in 1901, his father brought him to the
Oxford University Junior Scientific Club
The Oxford University Scientific Society (OUSS) is a student scientific society at the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1882 as the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club. It is one of the oldest undergraduate science societies in the wo ...
to listen to a lecture on Mendelian genetics, which had been recently rediscovered. Although he found the lecture given by
Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire
Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire FRSE (14 February 1879 – 26 December 1915) was a short-lived but influential British zoologist and geneticist. He was the first person to lecture in Genetics in the UK. He caused a stir in the world of genetics ...
, Demonstrator of Zoology at
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
, "interesting but difficult," it influenced him permanently such that genetics became the field in which he made his most important scientific contributions.
His formal education began in 1897 at Oxford Preparatory School (now
Dragon School
("Reach for the Sun")
, established = 1877
, closed =
, type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Emma Goldsm ...
), where he gained a First Scholarship in 1904 to Eton. In 1905 he joined Eton, where he experienced severe abuse from senior students for allegedly being arrogant. The indifference of authority left him with a lasting hatred for the English education system. However, the ordeal did not stop him from becoming Captain of the school.
He participated for the first time in scientific research as a volunteer subject for his father in 1906. John was the first to study the effects of decompression (relief from high pressure) in humans. He investigated the physiological condition called "bends," such as when goats lift and bend their legs if discomforted, that is also experienced by deep-sea divers. In July 1906, on board '' HMS Spanker'' off the west coast of Scotland,
Rothesay
Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward rail ...
, young Haldane jumped into the Atlantic Ocean with the experimental diving suit. The study was published in a 101-paged article in '' The Journal of Hygiene'' in 1908; where Haldane was described as "Jack Haldane (age 13)" for whom it "was the first time ehad ever dived in a diving dress." The research became a foundation for a scientific theory called
Haldane's decompression model
Haldane's decompression model is a mathematical model for decompression to sea level atmospheric pressure of divers breathing compressed air at ambient pressure that was proposed in 1908 by the Scottish physiologist, John Scott Haldane (2 M ...
.
He studied mathematics and
classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
at
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
and obtained first-class honours in mathematical
moderations
Honour Moderations (or ''Mods'') are a set of examinations at the University of Oxford at the end of the first part of some degree courses (e.g., Greats or '' Literae Humaniores'').
Honour Moderations candidates have a class awarded (hence the ' ...
in 1912. He became engrossed in genetics and presented a paper on gene linkage in
vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () ( chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, ...
s in the summer of 1912. His first technical paper, a 30-page long article on haemoglobin function, was published that same year, as a co-author alongside his father. He presented the mathematical treatment of the study on 19 October in the ''Proceedings of the Physiological Society'' and was published in December 1913.
Haldane did not want his education to be confined to a specific subject. He took up Greats and graduated with first-class honours in 1914. While he had full intention of studying physiology, his plan was, as he described later, "somewhat overshadowed by other events" (referring to World War I). His only formal education in biology was an incomplete course in vertebrate anatomy.
Career
To support the war effort, Haldane volunteered for and joined the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, and was commissioned a temporary second lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) on 15 August 1914. He was assigned as the trench mortar officer, to lead his team for hand-bombing the enemy trenches, the experience of which he remarked "enjoyable." In his article in 1932 he described how "he enjoyed the opportunity of killing people and regarded this as a respectable relic of primitive man." He was promoted to temporary lieutenant on 18 February 1915 and to temporary captain on 18 October. While serving in France, he was wounded by an artillery fire for which he was sent back to Scotland. There he served as instructor of grenades for the Black Watch recruits. In 1916, he joined the war in Mesopotamia (Iraq) where an enemy bomb severely wounded him. He was relieved from war fronts and was sent to India and stayed there for the rest of the war. He returned to England in 1919 and relinquished his commission on 1 April 1920, retaining his rank of captain. For his ferocity and aggressiveness in battles, his commander
Douglas Haig
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionar ...
described him as the "bravest and dirtiest officer in my Army."
Between 1919 and 1922, he served as
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of New College, Oxford, where he taught and researched in physiology and genetics, despite his lack of formal education in the field. During his first year at Oxford, he published six papers dealing with physiology of respiration and genetics. He then moved to the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, where he accepted a newly created
readership
Readership may refer to:
* The group of readers of a particular publication or writer: their target audience
* The total number of readers of a particular publication (newspaper, magazine, book), as proxy-measured by web/app views or print circulat ...
in
Biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
, in 1923 and taught until 1932. During his nine years at Cambridge, he worked on
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
s and
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
, particularly the mathematical side of genetics. While working as a visiting professor at the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
in 1932, he was elected
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
.
Haldane worked part-time at the John Innes Horticultural Institution (later named John Innes Centre) at
Merton Park
Merton Park is a suburb in the London Borough of Merton. It is situated between Colliers Wood, Morden, South Wimbledon and Raynes Park. It is 11 miles (11.7 km) southwest of Charing Cross. The area is part of the historic parish of Merton i ...
in Surrey from 1927 to 1937. When Alfred Daniel Hall became the Director in 1926, one of his earliest tasks was to appoint as assistant director "a man of high quality in the study of genetics" who could become his successor. Recommended by
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
, the council appointed Haldane in March 1927, with the terms: "Mr Haldane to visit the Institution fortnightly for a day and a night during the Cambridge terms, to put in two months also at Easter and long vacations in two continuous blocks and to be free in the Christmas vacation." He was Officer in charge of Genetical Investigations. He became the
Fullerian Professor of Physiology The Fullerian Chairs at the Royal Institution in London, England, were established by John 'Mad Jack' Fuller.
Fullerian Professors of Physiology & Comparative Anatomy
* 1834–1837 Peter Mark Roget
* 1837–1838 Robert Edmond Grant
* 1841–1844 T ...
at the
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
from 1930 to 1932 and in 1933 he became full Professor of Genetics at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, where he spent most of his academic career. As Hall did not retire as early as expected – retiring in 1939, Haldane had to resign from the John Innes in 1936 to become the first Weldon Professor of Biometry at University College London. Haldane's service was recorded to have helped the John Innes as "the liveliest place for research in genetics in Britain." At the height of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he moved his team to the
Rothamsted Experimental Station
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Rothamsted Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at Harp ...
in Hertfordshire during 1941 to 1944 to escape bombings. Complying an invitation of Reginald Punnett, who founded the ''Journal of Genetics'' in 1910 with
William Bateson
William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscover ...
, he became the editor since 1933 until his death.
In India
In 1956, Haldane left
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, and joined the
Indian Statistical Institute
Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a higher education and research institute which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament. It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta C ...
(ISI) in Calcutta (later renamed
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
), India, where he worked in the biometry unit. Haldane gave many reasons for moving to India. Officially he stated that he left the UK because of the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
, writing: "Finally, I am going to India because I consider that recent acts of the British Government have been violations of
international law
International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
." He believed that the warm
climate
Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...
would do him good, and that India shared his socialist dreams. In an article "A passage to India" which he wrote in ''The Rationalists Annual'' in 1958, he stated: "For one thing I prefer Indian food to American. Perhaps my main reason for going to India is that I consider that the opportunities for scientific research of the kind in which I am interested are better in India than in Britain, and that my teaching will be at least as useful there as here." The university had sacked his wife Helen for being
drunk and disorderly
Public intoxication, also known as "drunk and disorderly" and "drunk in public", is a summary offense in some countries rated to public cases or displays of drunkenness. Public intoxication laws vary widely by jurisdiction, but usually require an ...
and refusing to pay a fine, triggering Haldane's resignation. He declared he would no longer wear socks, "Sixty years in socks is enough." and always dressed in Indian attire.
Haldane was keenly interested in inexpensive research. Explaining in "A passage to India," he said, "Of course, if my work required
electron microscopes
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of accelerated electrons as a source of illumination. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times shorter than that of visible light photons, electron microscopes have a hi ...
, cyclotrons, and the like, I should not get them in India. But the sort of facilities which Darwin and
Bateson Bateson is an English language patronymic surname meaning ''"son of Batte"'', a medieval diminutive of Bartholomew. It is rare as a given name. People with the surname Bateson include:
* Edith Bateson (1867–1938), English artist
* Frank ...
used for their researches—such as gardens, gardeners, pigeon lofts, and pigeons—are more easily obtained in India than in England." He wrote to Julian Huxley about his observations on ''Vanellus malabaricus'', the yellow-wattled lapwing. He advocated the use of ''Vigna sinensis'' (
cowpea
The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few input ...
) as a model for studying
plant genetics
Plant genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity specifically in plants.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is generally considered a field of biology and botany, but intersects frequently with many other life sciences and is strongly ...
. He took an interest in the
pollination
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...
of ''
Lantana camara
''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...
''. He lamented that Indian universities forced those who took up biology to drop mathematics. He took an interest in the study of
floral symmetry
Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts.
Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spirall ...
. In January 1961 he befriended Canadian lepidopterist Gary Botting, the 1960 U.S. Science Fair winner in zoology (who had first visited the Haldanes along with Susan Brown, 1960 U.S. National Science Fair winner in botany), inviting him to share the results of his experiments hybridising ''
Antheraea
''Antheraea'' is a moth genus belonging to the family Saturniidae. The genus was erected by Jacob Hübner in 1819. Several species of this genus have caterpillars which produce wild silk of commercial importance. Commonly called "tussar silk", t ...
'' silk moths. He, his wife Helen Spurway and student Krishna Dronamraju were present at the Oberoi Grand Hotel in Kolkata when Brown reminded the Haldanes that she and Botting had a previously scheduled event that would prevent them from accepting an invitation to a banquet proposed by the Haldanes in their honour and had regretfully declined the honour. After the two students had left the hotel, Haldane went on his much-publicized hunger strike to protest what he regarded as a "U.S. insult." When the director of the ISI, P. C. Mahalanobis, confronted Haldane about both the hunger strike and the unbudgeted banquet, Haldane resigned from his post (in February 1961), and moved to a newly established biometry unit in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa (
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
).
Haldane took Indian citizenship; he was interested in
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and became a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
. In 1961, Haldane described India as "the closest approximation to the Free World." Jerzy Neyman objected that "India has its fair share of scoundrels and a tremendous amount of poor unthinking and disgustingly subservient individuals who are not attractive." Haldane retorted:
Perhaps one is freer to be a scoundrel in India than elsewhere. So one was in the U.S.A in the days of people like Jay Gould, when (in my opinion) there was more internal freedom in the U.S.A than there is today. The "disgusting subservience" of the others has its limits. The people of Calcutta riot, upset trams, and refuse to obey police regulations, in a manner which would have delighted Jefferson. I don't think their activities are very efficient, but that is not the question at issue.
When on 25 June 1962 he was described in print as a "
Citizen of the World
Global citizenship is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity". This does not mean that such a person denounces or waives ...
No doubt I am in some sense a citizen of the world. But I believe with Thomas Jefferson that one of the chief duties of a citizen is to be a nuisance to the government of his state. As there is no world state, I cannot do this. On the other hand, I can be, and am, a nuisance to the government of India, which has the merit of permitting a good deal of criticism, though it reacts to it rather slowly. I also happen to be proud of being a citizen of India, which is a lot more diverse than Europe, let alone the U.S.A, the U.S.S.R or China, and thus a better model for a possible world organisation. It may of course break up, but it is a wonderful experiment. So, I want to be labeled as a citizen of India.
Helen Spurway Helen Spurway (12 June 1915 – 15 February 1978) was a British biologist and the second wife of J. B. S. Haldane. She emigrated to India in 1957 along with him and conducted research in field biology with Krishna Dronamraju, Suresh Jayakar, and ot ...
. In 1924, Haldane met Charlotte Franken, who was a journalist for the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
'' and married to Jack Burghes. Following the publication of Haldane's ''Daedalus, or Science and the Future,'' she interviewed Haldane and they began a relationship. In order to marry Haldane, Franken filed a divorce suit, which resulted in controversy as Haldane was involved as co-respondent in the legal proceeding. Additionally, as
Sahotra Sarkar
Sahotra Sarkar (born 1962) is an Indian-American professor at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the philosophy of biology.
Education and career
Sarkar is originally from India where he lived in Darjeeling until 1975. He earned ...
reported: "For her to secure a divorce, Haldane overtly committed adultery with her." Haldane's conduct was described as "gross immorality," for which he was formally dismissed by Cambridge's Sex Viri (a six-member disciplinary committee) from the university in 1925. Cambridge professors, including
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...
,
Bertrand Russell
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
, and W. L. George, raised their defence for Haldane insisting that the university should not make such judgements, based solely on a professor's private life. The ouster was revoked in 1926. Haldane and Charlotte Franken were married in 1926. Following their separation in 1942, they divorced in 1945. Later that year he married
Helen Spurway Helen Spurway (12 June 1915 – 15 February 1978) was a British biologist and the second wife of J. B. S. Haldane. She emigrated to India in 1957 along with him and conducted research in field biology with Krishna Dronamraju, Suresh Jayakar, and ot ...
, his former PhD student.
Haldane once boasted about himself, saying, "I can read 11 languages and make public speeches in three; but am unmusical. I am a fairly competent public speaker." He had no children, but he and his father were important influences to his sister Naomi's children, of whom
Denis Mitchison
Denis Anthony Mitchison (6 September 1919 – 2 July 2018) was a British bacteriologist.
Early life, family and education
Mitchison was born in Oxford in 1919,Geoff WattsDenis Anthony Mitchison. Obituary.The Lancet, Volume 392, 10150, p 814, ...
Avrion Mitchison
(Nicholas) Avrion Mitchison (born 5 May 1928) is a British zoologist and immunologist.
Biography
Mitchison was born in 1928, the son of the Labour politician Dick Mitchison (Baron Mitchison of Carradale in the County of Argyll, who died 197 ...
became professors of biology at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, Edinburgh University, and University College London, respectively.
Inspired by his father, Haldane often used self-experimentation and would expose himself to danger to obtain data. To test the effects of acidification of the blood he drank dilute
hydrochloric acid
Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid
Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...
, enclosed himself in an airtight room containing 7% carbon dioxide, and found that it 'gives one a rather violent headache'. One experiment to study elevated levels of oxygen saturation triggered a fit which resulted in him suffering crushed
vertebrae
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...
. In his
decompression chamber
A diving chamber is a vessel for human occupation, which may have an entrance that can be sealed to hold an internal pressure significantly higher than ambient pressure, a pressurised gas system to control the internal pressure, and a supply of ...
experiments, he and his volunteers suffered perforated eardrums. But, as Haldane stated in ''What is Life,'' "the drum generally heals up; and if a hole remains in it, although one is somewhat deaf, one can blow tobacco smoke out of the ear in question, which is a social accomplishment."
Haldane made himself unpopular among his colleagues from the start of his academic career. In Cambridge, he annoyed most of the senior faculty due to his uninhibited behaviour, particularly at dinner. His partisan, Edgar Adrian (the 1932 Nobel laureate), had almost convinced the university to offer an appointment as Fellow of Trinity College, but that was ruined by an incident when Haldane arrived at the dining table, carrying a gallon jar of urine from his laboratory.
Later life and death
In the autumn of 1963, Haldane visited the US for a series of scientific conferences. At the
University of Wisconsin
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
,
Sewall Wright
Sewall Green Wright FRS(For) Honorary FRSE (December 21, 1889March 3, 1988) was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongsi ...
introduced him before his speech, noting many of Haldane's achievements, after which Haldane modestly remarked that the introduction would have been more accurate if all the references to "Haldane" were replaced with "Wright". In Florida, he met, for the first and only time, the Russian biochemist Alexander Oparin, who had developed the origin of life theory quite independent of his own in the 1920s. It was while there that he started feeling abdominal pains.
Haldane went to London for a diagnosis. He was found to have
colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...
, and had a surgery in February 1964. Around that time Philip Dally was making a BBC documentary about eminent living scientists, which included Sewall Wright and the double Nobel laureate
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...
. Dally's team approached Haldane at the hospital for the documentary profile, but instead of a filmed interview, Haldane gave them a self-obituary, the opening lines of which run:
I am going to begin with a boast. I believe that I am one of the riginally as "I am the most"most influential people living today, although I haven't got a scrap of power. Let me explain. In 1932 I was the first person to estimate the rate of mutation of a human gene.
He also wrote a comic poem while in the hospital, mocking his own incurable disease. It was read by his friends, who appreciated the consistent irreverence with which Haldane had lived his life. The poem first appeared in print on 21 February 1964 issue of the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'', and runs:
The poem ends:
He willed that his body be used for medical research and teaching at the
Rangaraya Medical College
Rangaraya Medical College is a Government Medical College in Andhra Pradesh. It was established in 1958 and is in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is affiliated to Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences.
History
Dr. Datla Satyanarayana Ra ...
,
Kakinada
Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...
.
His surgery in London was declared successful. But the symptoms reappeared after returning to India in June, and in August, the Indian doctors confirmed that his condition was terminal. Writing to John Maynard Smith on 7 September, he said, "I am not appreciably upset by the propect of dying fairly soon. But I am very angry
t the English doctor who performed the operation
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
"
He died on 1 December 1964 in
Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...
. On that day the BBC broadcast his self-obituary as "Professor J.B.S. Haldane, obituary."
Scientific contributions
Following his father's footsteps, Haldane's first publication was on the mechanism of gaseous exchange by haemoglobin in '' The Journal of Physiology'', and he subsequently worked on the chemical properties of blood as a pH buffer. He investigated several aspects of kidney functions and mechanism of excretion.
Genetic linkage
In 1904,
Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire
Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire FRSE (14 February 1879 – 26 December 1915) was a short-lived but influential British zoologist and geneticist. He was the first person to lecture in Genetics in the UK. He caused a stir in the world of genetics ...
published a paper on an experiment attempting to test Mendelian inheritance between Japanese waltzing and albino mice. When Haldane came across the paper, he noticed that Darbishire had overlooked the possibility of genetic linkage in the experiment. Having sought advice from Reginald Punnett, a professor of biology at the University of Cambridge, he was ready to write a paper but only after an independent experiment. With his sister Naomi and a friend Alexander Dalzell Sprunt, one year his senior, he started the experiment in 1908 using guinea pigs and
mice
A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
. By 1912, the report was ready. But the paper titled ''Reduplication in mice'' was published in the '' Journal of Genetics'' only in December 1915 that became the first demonstration of
genetic linkage
Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be separ ...
in
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s, showing that certain genetic traits tend to be inherited together (as was later discovered, because of their proximity on chromosomes). (Between 1912 and 1914, genetic linkage had been reported in the fruit fly '' Drosophilla,''
silk moth
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...
, and plants.)
As the paper was written during Haldane's service during World War I,
James F. Crow
James Franklin Crow (January 18, 1916 – January 4, 2012) was Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a prominent population geneticist whose career spanned from the modern synthesis to the genomic era.
Some o ...
called it "the most important science article ever written in a front-line trench." Haldane himself recalled that he was the "only officer to complete a scientific paper from a forward position of the Black Watch." As was Haldane, Sprunt had joined 4th Battalion
Bedfordshire Regiment
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment was the final title of a Line infantry, line infantry regiment of the British Army that was originally formed in 1688. After centuries of service in many conflicts and wars, including both the World War ...
at the start of World War I, and was killed at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on 17 March 1915. It was upon this news that Haldane submitted the paper for publication, in which he remarked: "Owing to the war it has been necessary to publish prematurely, as unfortunately one of us (A. D. S.) has already been killed in France." He was also the first to demonstrate linkage in
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
s in 1921, and (with Julia Bell) in humans in 1937.
Enzyme kinetics
In 1925, with G.E. Briggs, Haldane derived a new interpretation of the
enzyme
Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...
Leonor Michaelis
Leonor Michaelis (16 January 1875 – 8 October 1949) was a German biochemist, physical chemist, and physician, known for his work with Maud Menten on enzyme kinetics in 1913, as well as for work on enzyme inhibition, pH and quinones.
E ...
and
Maud Menten
Maud Leonora Menten (March 20, 1879 – July 17, 1960) was a Canadian physician and chemist. As a bio-medical and medical researcher, she made significant contributions to enzyme kinetics and histochemistry and invented a procedure that rema ...
assumed that enzyme (catalyst) and substrate (reactant) are in fast equilibrium with their complex, which then dissociates to yield product and free enzyme. By contrast, at almost the same time, Donald Van Slyke and G. E. Cullen treated the binding step as an irreversible reaction. The Briggs–Haldane equation was of the same algebraic form as both of the earlier equations, but their derivation is based on the quasi- steady state approximation, which is the concentration of intermediate complex (or complexes) does not change. As a result, the microscopic meaning of the "Michaelis Constant" (''Km'') is different. Although commonly referring to it as Michaelis–Menten kinetics, most of the current models typically use the Briggs–Haldane derivation.
Haldane's principle
In his essay '' On Being the Right Size'' he outlines Haldane's principle, which states that the size very often defines what bodily equipment an animal must have: "Insects, being so small, do not have oxygen-carrying bloodstreams. What little oxygen their cells require can be absorbed by simple diffusion of air through their bodies. But being larger means an animal must have complicated oxygen pumping and distributing systems to reach all the cells."
Haldane's sieve
In 1927 Haldane pointed out that because selection mainly acts on heterozygotes, newly arisen dominant mutations are much more likely to be fixed than recessive ones, a mechanism now called '' Haldane's sieve''. This leads to the expectation that adaptation from new mutations in large outcrossing populations should primarily proceed via fixing non-recessive beneficial mutations.
Origin of life
Haldane introduced the modern concept of abiogenesis in an eight-page article titled ''The origin of life,'' in ''The'' ''Rationalist Annual'' in 1929, describing the primitive ocean as a "vast chemical laboratory" containing a mixture of inorganic compounds – like a "hot dilute soup" in which organic compounds could have formed. Under the solar energy the anoxic atmosphere containing
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
,
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
and water vapour gave rise to a variety of organic compounds, "living or half-living things". The first molecules reacted with one another to produce more complex compounds, and ultimately the cellular components. At some point a kind of "oily film" was produced that enclosed
self-replicating
Self-replication is any behavior of a dynamical system that yields construction of an identical or similar copy of itself. Biological cells, given suitable environments, reproduce by cell division. During cell division, DNA is replicated and ca ...
nucleic acids, thereby becoming the first cell.
J. D. Bernal
John Desmond Bernal (; 10 May 1901 – 15 September 1971) was an Irish scientist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography in molecular biology. He published extensively on the history of science. In addition, Bernal wrote popular boo ...
named the hypothesis ''biopoiesis'' or ''biopoesis'', the process of living matter spontaneously evolving from self-replicating but lifeless molecules. Haldane further hypothesised that viruses were the intermediate entities between the prebiotic soup and the first cells. He asserted that prebiotic life would have been "in the virus stage for many millions of years before a suitable assemblage of elementary units was brought together in the first cell." The idea was generally dismissed as "wild speculation".
Alexander Oparin had suggested a similar idea in Russian in 1924 (published in English in 1936). The hypothesis gained some empirical support in 1953 with the classic Miller–Urey experiment. Since then, the primordial soup theory (Oparin–Haldane hypothesis) has become the foundation in the study of abiogenesis. Although Oparin's theory became widely known only after the English version in 1936, Haldane accepted Oparin's originality and said, "I have very little doubt that Professor Oparin has the priority over me."
Malaria and sickle-cell anemia
Haldane was the first to realise the evolutionary link between genetic disorder and infection in humans. While estimating the rates of human mutation in different situations and diseases, he noted that mutations expressed in red blood cells, like
thalassemia
Thalassemias are inherited blood disorders characterized by decreased hemoglobin production. Symptoms depend on the type and can vary from none to severe. Often there is mild to severe anemia (low red blood cells or hemoglobin). Anemia can result ...
s, were prevalent only in
tropical regions
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred t ...
where deadly infection like malaria has been
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
. He further observed that these were favourable traits (heterozygous inheritance of
sickle cell trait
Sickle cell trait describes a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene (is heterozygous), but does not display the severe symptoms of sickle cell disease that occur in a person who has two copies of that alle ...
) for natural selection which protected individuals from receiving malarial infection. He introduced his hypothesis at the Eighth International Congress of Genetics held in 1948 at Stockholm on a topic "The Rate of Mutation of Human Genes". He proposed that genetic disorders in humans living in
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
-endemic regions provided a condition (
phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
) that makes them relatively immune to malarial infections. He formalised in a technical paper published in 1949 in which he made a prophetic statement: "The corpuscles of the anaemic heterozygotes are smaller than normal, and more resistant to hypotonic solutions. It is at least conceivable that they are also more resistant to attacks by the sporozoa which cause malaria." This became known as "Haldane's malaria hypothesis", or concisely, the "malaria hypothesis". This hypothesis was eventually confirmed by Anthony C. Allison in 1954 in the case of sickle-cell anemia.
Population genetics
Haldane was one of the three major figures to develop the mathematical theory of
population genetics
Population genetics is a subfield of genetics that deals with genetic differences within and between populations, and is a part of evolutionary biology. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and pop ...
Sewall Wright
Sewall Green Wright FRS(For) Honorary FRSE (December 21, 1889March 3, 1988) was an American geneticist known for his influential work on evolutionary theory and also for his work on path analysis. He was a founder of population genetics alongsi ...
. He thus played an important role in the
modern evolutionary synthesis
Modern synthesis or modern evolutionary synthesis refers to several perspectives on evolutionary biology, namely:
* Modern synthesis (20th century), the term coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to denote the synthesis between Mendelian genetics and s ...
of the early 20th century. He re-established
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
as the central mechanism of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
by explaining it as a mathematical consequence of Mendelian inheritance. He wrote a series of ten papers,
A Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection ''A Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection'' is the title of a series of scientific papers by the British population geneticist J.B.S. Haldane, published between 1924 and 1934. Haldane outlines the first mathematical models for man ...
, deriving expressions for the direction and rate of change of
gene frequencies
Allele frequency, or gene frequency, is the relative frequency of an allele (variant of a gene) at a particular locus in a population, expressed as a fraction or percentage. Specifically, it is the fraction of all chromosomes in the population that ...
, and also analyzing the interaction of natural selection with
mutation
In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mi ...
and migration. The series consists of ten papers published between 1924 and 1934 in journals such as ''
Biological Reviews
The Cambridge Philosophical Society (CPS) is a scientific society at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1819. The name derives from the medieval use of the word philosophy to denote any research undertaken outside the fields of law ...
'' (part II), ''
Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society
''Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society'' is a mathematical journal published by Cambridge University Press for the Cambridge Philosophical Society. It aims to publish original research papers from a wide range of pure a ...
'' (parts I and from III to IX) and ''
Genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
'' (part X). He gave a set of lectures based on this series at the University of Wales in 1931, and were summarised in a book, ''
The Causes of Evolution
''The Causes of Evolution'' is a 1932 book on evolution by J.B.S. Haldane (1990 edition ), based on a series of January 1931 lectures entitled "A Re-examination of Darwinism". It was influential in the founding of population genetics and the mode ...
'' in 1932.
His first paper on the series in 1924 specifically treats the rate of natural selection in
peppered moth evolution
The evolution of the peppered moth is an evolutionary instance of directional colour change in the moth population as a consequence of air pollution during the Industrial Revolution. The frequency of dark-coloured moths increased at that time ...
. He predicted that environmental condition can favour the increase or decline of either the dominant (in this case the black or melanic forms) or the recessive (the grey or wild type) moths. For a sooty environment such as Manchester, where the phenomenon was discovered in 1848, he predicted that the dominant melanic moths will have fifty times more survival fitness than the typical grey ones. According to his estimate, assuming 1% dominant form in 1848 and about 99% in 1898, "48 generations are needed for the change or the dominant to appear.. After only 13 generations the dominants would be in a majority." Such mathematical prediction was considered improbable for natural selection in nature. But it was subsequently proven by an elaborate experiment (named
Kettlewell's experiment
Kettlewell's experiment was a biological experiment in the mid-1950s to study the evolutionary mechanism of industrial melanism in the peppered moth (''Biston betularia''). It was executed by Bernard Kettlewell, working as a research fellow in th ...
) performed by an Oxford zoologist
Bernard Kettlewell
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell (24 February 1907 – 11 May 1979) was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who performed research on the influence of industrial melanism on peppered moth (''Biston betularia'') coloration, sho ...
between 1953 and 1958, and further by a Cambridge geneticists
Michael Majerus
Michael Eugene Nicolas Majerus (13 February 1954 – 27 January 2009) was a British geneticist and professor of evolution at the University of Cambridge. He was also a teaching fellow at Clare College, Cambridge. He was an enthusiast in Darwin' ...
in his experiments conducted between 2001 and 2007.
His contributions to statistical human genetics included: the first methods using
maximum likelihood
In statistics, maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is a method of estimation theory, estimating the Statistical parameter, parameters of an assumed probability distribution, given some observed data. This is achieved by Mathematical optimization, ...
for the estimation of human
linkage map
Genetic linkage is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. Two genetic markers that are physically near to each other are unlikely to be separ ...
s; pioneering methods for estimating human mutation rates; the first estimates of mutation rate in humans (2 × 10−5 mutations per gene per generation for the X-linked
haemophilia
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
); and the first notion that there is a "cost of natural selection". He was the first to estimate the rate of human mutation in his 1932 book ''The Causes of Evolution.'' At the John Innes Horticultural Institution, he developed the complicated linkage theory for polyploids; and extended the idea of gene/enzyme relationships with the biochemical and genetic study of plant pigments.
Political views
Haldane became a
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
during the First World War, supported the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, and then became an open supporter of the
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...
in 1937. A pragmatic dialectical-materialist
Marxist
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
, he wrote many articles for the ''
Daily Worker
The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...
nationalization
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
of certain industries is an obvious possibility in the largest of states, I find it no easier to picture a completely socialized British Empire or United States than an elephant turning
somersaults
A somersault (also ''flip'', ''heli'', and in gymnastics ''salto'') is an acrobatic exercise in which a person's body rotates 360° around a horizontal axis with the feet passing over the head. A somersault can be performed forwards, backwards ...
or a hippopotamus jumping a hedge."
In 1938, Haldane proclaimed enthusiastically: "I think that Marxism is true." He joined the Communist Party in 1942. He was pressed to speak out about the rise of Lysenkoism and the persecution of geneticists in the Soviet Union as anti-Darwinist and the political suppression of genetics as incompatible with
dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science, history, and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist dialectics, as a materialist philosophy, emphasizes the importance of real-world con ...
. He shifted his polemic focus to the United Kingdom, criticizing the dependence of scientific research on financial patronage. In 1941, he wrote about the Soviet trial of his friend and fellow geneticist Nikolai Vavilov:
By the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Haldane had become an explicit critic of the regime. He left the party in 1950, shortly after considering standing for Parliament as a Communist Party candidate. He continued to admire
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
, describing him in 1962 as "a very great man who did a very good job". Haldane has been accused by authors including Peter Wright and
Chapman Pincher
Henry Chapman Pincher (29 March 1914 – 5 August 2014) was an English journalist, historian and novelist whose writing mainly focused on espionage and related matters, after some early books on scientific subjects.
Early life
Pincher was born ...
of having been a Soviet GRU spy codenamed ''Intelligentsia''.
Social and scientific views
Human cloning
Haldane was the first to have thought of the genetic basis for
human cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy (or clone) of a human. The term is generally used to refer to artificial human cloning, which is the reproduction of human cells and tissue. It does not refer to the natural concepti ...
, and the eventual artificial breeding of superior individuals. For this he introduced the terms "clone" and "cloning", modifying the earlier "clon" which had been used in agriculture since the early 20th century (from Greek ''klōn'', twig). He introduced the term in his speech on "Biological Possibilities for the Human Species of the Next Ten Thousand Years" at the ''
Ciba Foundation
The Novartis Foundation (formerly known as the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development) is a non-profit organization and part of the corporate responsibility portfolio of Novartis in Basel, Switzerland. The foundation conducts projects to ...
Symposium on Man and his Future'' in 1963. He said:
Ectogenesis and in vitro fertilisation
His essay ''
Daedalus; or, Science and the Future
''Daedalus; or, Science and the Future'' is a book by the British scientist J. B. S. Haldane, published in England in 1924. It was the text of a lecture read to the Heretics Society (an intellectual club at the University of Cambridge) on 4 Febru ...
'' (1924) posited the concept of
in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
, which he called
ectogenesis
Ectogenesis (from the Greek ''ἐκτός'', "outside," and ''genesis'') is the growth of an organism in an artificial environment outside the body in which it would normally be found, such as the growth of an embryo or fetus outside the mother's ...
. He envisioned ectogenesis as a tool for creating better individuals (eugenics). Haldane's work was an influence on Huxley's '' Brave New World'' (1932) and was also admired by Gerald Heard. Various essays on science were collected and published in a volume titled ''Possible Worlds'' in 1927. His book, ''A.R.P. (Air Raid Precautions)'' (1938) combined his physiological research into the effects of stress upon the human body with his experience of air raids during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
to provide a scientific account of the likely effects of the air raids that Britain was to endure during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
I. A. Richards
Ivor Armstrong Richards CH (26 February 1893 – 7 September 1979), known as I. A. Richards, was an English educator, literary critic, poet, and rhetorician. His work contributed to the foundations of the New Criticism, a formalist movement ...
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
of
scientism
Scientism is the opinion that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality.
While the term was defined originally to mean "methods and attitudes typical of or attributed to natural scientis ...
. Haldane criticised Lewis and his
Ransom Trilogy
''The Space Trilogy'' or ''Cosmic Trilogy'' is a series of science fiction novels by C. S. Lewis. The trilogy consists of '' Out of the Silent Planet'' (1938), '' Perelandra'' (1943), and ''That Hideous Strength'' (1945). A philologist named ...
for the "complete mischaracterisation of science, and his disparagement of the human race". Haldane wrote a book for children titled ''My Friend Mr Leakey'' (1937), containing the stories "A Meal With a Magician", "A Day in the Life of a Magician", "Mr Leakey's Party", "Rats", "The Snake with the Golden Teeth", and "My Magic Collar Stud"; later editions featured illustrations by
Quentin Blake
Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...
. He also wrote an essay criticising Lewis's arguments for the existence of God, entitled "More Anti-Lewisite", a reference to the
poison gas
Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perman ...
In 1923, in a talk given in Cambridge titled "Science and the Future", Haldane, foreseeing the exhaustion of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
for power generation in Britain, proposed a network of
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
In his ''An Autobiography in Brief'', published shortly before his death in India, Haldane named four close associates as showing promise to become illustrious scientists: T. A. Davis, Dronamraju Krishna Rao,
Suresh Jayakar
Suresh Dinakar Jayakar (21 September 1937, Bombay – 21 January 1988) was an Indian biologist who pioneered in the use of quantitative approaches in genetics and biology.
He studied mathematical statistics, physics and mathematics at the Unive ...
and S. K. Roy.
Awards and honours
Haldane was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1932. The
French Government
The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...
Darwin Medal
The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology".
In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...
from the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...
in 1961. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Science, an Honorary Fellowship at New College, Oxford, and the Kimber Award of the US National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
's prestigious
Darwin–Wallace Medal
The Darwin–Wallace Medal is a medal awarded by the Linnean Society of London for "major advances in evolutionary biology". Historically, the medals have been awarded every 50 years, beginning in 1908. That year marked 50 years after the joint p ...
in 1958.
Legacy
The Haldane Lecture at the John Innes Centre, where Haldane worked from 1927 to 1937 is named in his honour. The JBS Haldane Lecture of The Genetics Society is also named in his honour.
Haldane was parodied as an obsessive self-experimenter, described as "the biologist too absorbed in his experiments to notice his friends bedding his wife" by his friend Aldous Huxley in the novel ''
Antic Hay
''Antic Hay'' is a comic novel by Aldous Huxley, published in 1923. The story takes place in London, and depicts the aimless or self-absorbed cultural elite in the sad and turbulent times following the end of World War I.
The book follows the ...
'' (1923).
Quotations
* He is famous for the (possibly
apocryphal
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
) response that he gave when some theologians asked him what could be inferred about the mind of the Creator from the works of His Creation: "An inordinate fondness for beetles." or sometimes, "....stars and beetles."
* "My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we ''can'' suppose." Emphasis in the original.
* "It seems to me immensely unlikely that mind is a mere by-product of matter. For if my mental processes are determined wholly by the motions of atoms in my brain I have no reason to suppose that my beliefs are true. They may be sound chemically, but that does not make them sound logically. And hence I have no reason for supposing my brain to be composed of atoms."
* "
Teleology
Teleology (from and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology" In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Appleton ...
is like a mistress to a biologist: he cannot live without her but he's unwilling to be seen with her in public."
* "I had gastritis for about fifteen years until I read
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
and other writers, who showed me what was wrong with our society and how to cure it. Since then I have needed no magnesia."
* "I suppose the process of acceptance will pass through the usual four stages: (i) This is worthless nonsense; (ii) This is an interesting, but perverse, point of view; (iii) This is true, but quite unimportant; (iv) I always said so."
* "Three hundred and ten species in all of India, representing two hundred and thirty-eight genera, sixty-two families, nineteen different orders. All of them on the
Ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
. And this is only India, and only the ''birds''."
* "The stupidity of the ''
mynah
The myna (; also spelled mynah) is a bird of the starling family (Sturnidae). This is a group of passerine birds which are native to southern Asia, especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Several species have been introduced to areas like ...
'' shows that in birds, as in men, linguistic and practical abilities are not very highly correlated. A student who can repeat a page of a text book may get first class honours, but may be incapable of doing research."
* When asked whether he would lay down his life for his brother, Haldane, presaging
Hamilton's rule
Kin selection is the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an organism's relatives, even when at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin altruism can look like altruistic behaviour whose evolution ...
, supposedly replied "two brothers or eight cousins".
Publications
* ''
Daedalus; or, Science and the Future
''Daedalus; or, Science and the Future'' is a book by the British scientist J. B. S. Haldane, published in England in 1924. It was the text of a lecture read to the Heretics Society (an intellectual club at the University of Cambridge) on 4 Febru ...
'' (1924), E.P. Dutton and Company, Inc., a paper read to the Heretics, Cambridge, on 4 February 1923
** second edition (1928), London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co.
** see also ''Haldane's'' Daedalus ''Revisited'' (1995), ed. with an introd. by Krishna R. Dronamraju, Foreword by Joshua Lederberg; with essays by M. F. Perutz, Freeman Dyson, Yaron Ezrahi, Ernst Mayr, Elof Axel Carlson, D. J. Weatherall, N. A. Mitchison and the editor. Oxford University Press.
*
A Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection ''A Mathematical Theory of Natural and Artificial Selection'' is the title of a series of scientific papers by the British population geneticist J.B.S. Haldane, published between 1924 and 1934. Haldane outlines the first mathematical models for man ...
, a series of papers beginning in 1924
* (With G.E. Briggs)
''Callinicus: A Defence of Chemical Warfare'' (1925), E. P. Dutton
''Possible Worlds and Other Essays'' (1927), Chatto & Windus; 2001 reprint, Transaction Publishers: (includes " On Being the Right Size" and On Being One's Own Rabbit )
*The Last Judgment, an essay sequel to ''Daedalus'' (1927)''.''
''Possible Worlds and other Essays'' (1927), London: Chatto and Windus.
* ''On Being the Right Size'' (1929)
"The origin of life" in the ''Rationalist Annual'' (1929)
* ''Animal Biology'' (1929) Oxford: Clarendon
''The Sciences and Philosophy'' (1929) NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company. By John Scott Haldane, JBS Haldane's father.
* ''Enzymes'' (1930), MIT Press 1965 edition with new preface by the author written just prior to his death:
*
''The Inequality of Man, and Other Essays'' (1932)
London: Longmans, Green, 1932.
* ''Science and Human Life'' (1933), Harper and Brothers, Ayer Co. reprint:
* ''Science and the Supernatural: Correspondence with Arnold Lunn'' (1935), Sheed & Ward, Inc,
* ''Fact and Faith'' (1934), Watts Thinker's Library
* ''Human Biology and Politics'' (1934)
* "A Contribution to the Theory of Price Fluctuations", ''The Review of Economic Studies'', 1:3, 186–195 (1934).
''My Friend Mr Leakey'' (1937), Jane Nissen Books reprint (2004):
* "A Dialectical Account of Evolution" in ''Science & Society'' Volume I (1937)
*
* (with Julia Bell)
* (with C.A.B. Smith)
* ''Air Raid Precautions (A.R.P.)'' (1938), Victor Gollancz
''Heredity and Politics'' (1938), Allen and Unwin.
* "Reply to A.P. Lerner's Is Professor Haldane's Account of Evolution Dialectical?" in ''Science & Society'' volume 2 (1938)
''The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences'' (1939), Random House, Ayer Co. reprint:
* Preface to Engels' ''Dialectics of Nature'' (1939)
* ''Science and Everyday Life'' (1940), Macmillan, 1941 Penguin, Ayer Co. 1975 reprint:
* "Lysenko and Genetics" in ''Science & Society'' volume 4 (1940)
* "Why I am a Materialist" in ''Rationalist Annual'' (1940)
* "The Laws of Nature" in ''Rationalist Annual'' (1940)
* ''Science in Peace and War'' (1941), Lawrence & Wishart Ltd
''New Paths in Genetics'' (1941), George Allen & Unwin
''Heredity & Politics'' (1943), George Allen & Unwin
* ''Why Professional Workers should be Communists'' (1945), London: Communist Party (of Great Britain) In this four page pamphlet, Haldane contends that Communism should appeal to professionals because Marxism is based on the scientific method and Communists hold scientists as important; Haldane subsequently disavowed this position.
* ''Adventures of a Biologist'' (1947)
* ''Science Advances'' (1947), Macmillan
''What is Life?'' (1947), Boni and Gaer, 1949 edition: Lindsay Drummond
* ''Everything Has a History'' (1951), Allen & Unwin—Includes "Auld Hornie, F.R.S."; C.S. Lewis's "Reply to Professor Haldane" is available in "On Stories and Other Essays on Literature," ed. Walter Hooper (1982), .
* "The Origins of Life", ''New Biology'', 16, 12–27 (1954). Suggests that an alternative biochemistry could be based on liquid ammonia.
* ''The Biochemistry of Genetics'' (1954)
*
*
*
* "Cancer's a Funny Thing", in ''New Statesman'', 21 February 1964.
See also
* ''
Experiments in the Revival of Organisms
''Experiments in the Revival of Organisms'' (russian: О́пыты по оживле́нию органи́зма) is a 1940 motion picture, directed by David Yashin, that documents Soviet research into the resuscitation of clinically dead orga ...
'', a 1940 Soviet film featuring Haldane in the introduction.
*
List of independent discoveries
Historians and sociologists have remarked upon the occurrence, in science, of "multiple independent discovery". Robert K. Merton defined such "multiples" as instances in which similar discoveries are made by scientists working independently of eac ...
(" primordial soup" theory of the evolution of life from carbon-based molecules, )
*
Precambrian rabbit
"Precambrian rabbits" or "fossil rabbits in the Precambrian" are reported to have been among responses given by the biologist J. B. S. Haldane when asked what evidence could destroy his confidence in the theory of evolution and the field of study ...
*
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
This is a timeline of the history of hydrogen technology.
Timeline
16th century
* c. 1520 – First recorded observation of hydrogen by Paracelsus through dissolution of metals (iron, zinc, and tin) in sulfuric acid.
17th century
* 1625 – Fi ...
References
Citations
Further reading
* Clark, Ronald (1968). ''JBS: The Life and Work of J.B.S. Haldane''. Coward-McCann.
*
*
* Foreword by Naomi Mitchison.
*
*
*
*
Subramanian
Subramaniam, Subrahmanyam, Subramanyam or Subramanian ( ta, சுப்பிரமணியம்; te, సుబ్రహ్మణ్యం) is a South Indian male given name. Due to the South Indian tradition of using patronymic surnames it m ...