J. B. S. Haldane

From Philosopedia

Haldane, J(ohn) B(urdon) S(anderson) (5 November 1892 - 1 December 1964)

Son of John Scott Haldane, a British scientist who founded the Journal of Hygiene and made important contributions to mine safety, Haldane is known for his work as a geneticist. With John S. Huxley, he wrote Animal Biology (1927). One of his ancestors, Robert Haldane (1764—1843), once said he would “rather have devils than missionaries,” and others in his family had believed in the Haldane tradition that the foundation of the state is seen as education, not administrators.

Haldane's philosophic outlook is found in Science and Life: Essays of a Rationalist (1968).

One of his more provocative books was Fact and Faith (1934), which shows his rationalistic outlook concerning religion.

Haldane held that science was a source of social good through its application by the social administration, and to the end, which was a decade after Stalin’s death, he took pride in being termed “a respectable Communist.” “Capitalism,” he had written in 1938,

• did not arise because capitalists stole the land or the workmen’s tools, but because it was more efficient than feudalism. It will perish because it is not merely less efficient than socialism, but actually self-destructive.

My practice as a scientist is atheistic,” he has written. “That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel, or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world. And I should be a coward if I did not state my theoretical views in public.”

A Marxist who had disagreements with the Communist Party toward the end of his career, Haldane spent the last few years of his life in India, where he became a citizen. Haldane was an honorary associate of the Rationalist Press Association (RPA).

Asked once what traits of God were evidenced by life on earth, Haldane thought of the 300,000-odd beetle species and facetiously remarked, “He must have had an inordinate fondness for beetles.”

Sir Arthur C. Clarke's Foreword to Haldane Essays

Following is the Foreword to Collection of Essays by J B S Haldane, Compiled by Dr Krishna Dronamraju:

J B S Haldane was perhaps the most brilliant science populariser of his generation. Starting in 1923 with Daedalus; or Science and the Future, he must have delighted and instructed millions of readers. Unlike his equally famous contemporaries, Jeans and Eddington, he covered a vast range of subjects. Biology, astronomy, physiology, military affairs, mathematics, theology, philosophy, literature, politics - he tackled them all. He also wrote a workmanlike novella, The Gold Makers, and a charming tale for children, My Friend Mr. Leakey.

Although some are naturally dated by the progress of science, most of Haldane’s scores of essays may still be read with great profit. They appeared in such varied places as Harper’s Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, The Strand Magazine, The Spectator, The Daily Express – and, of course, The Daily Worker.

Haldane wrote a series of articles for The Daily Worker from 1937 to 1949, at a time when he subscribed to the ideals of socialism and communism (which, in the real spirit of open-mindedness, he changed later). This was followed by regular contributions to Indian newspapers during the last few years of his life (1957 – 1964). Written in his usual lucid style, their breadth and depth of coverage indicate that he was truly a multi-disciplinary scientist - an effective bridge between the ‘two cultures’.

It’s a pity that these essays are not as widely known today as they ought to be. So I am very glad that one of Haldane’s former students and long-standing associates, Professor Krishna Dronamraju, is bringing out this collection. Krishna has previous edited or compiled a number of publications based on the work of his mentor. We can derive fresh insights from this collection of works by one of the greatest science communicators of our times.

I was first attracted to Haldane's writings by the element of extrapolation they contained. He obviously was sympathetic to science fiction and astronautics; indeed, this paragraph was contained in his very first book, Daedalus:

I should have liked, had time allowed, to have added my quota to the speculations which have been made with regard to inter-planetary communication. Whether this is possible I can form no conjecture; that it will be attempted, I have no doubt whatever.

It was through space flight that I made my first encounter with Haldane. In 1951, as Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, I invited him to give our organisation a paper on the biological aspects of space flight. Although it was arranged at very short notice, the lecture was a great success. He dealt with three problems: how humans would live in spaceships, how they would live on other planets, and what sort of life they might find there. At that time – some six years before the Space Age dawned - these were not subjects with which many reputable scientists cared to be associated.

Though it has naturally been superceded in many respects, Haldane’s 1951 paper still contains some interesting ideas. He must have been one of the first to point out the dangers of solar flares and to suggest that space voyages should be made during periods of minimum solar activity. And, with his tongue firmly in his cheek, he suggested that we should take seriously the hypothesis that life has a supernatural origin – from which he concluded that, as there are 400,000 species of beetles on this planet, but only 8,000 species of higher animal forms, “the Creator, if he exists, has a special preference for beetles, and so we might be more likely to meet them than any other type of animal on a planet that would support life.”

The second time our paths crossed was in November 1960, by which time both Haldane and I had settled down in the east (him in Bhubaneswar, eastern India, and myself in Colombo, Ceylon). The Ceylon Association for the Advancement of Science invited Haldane to address its annual meeting, and he arrived with Krishna Dronamraju and another colleague. Over the next few days, I had the stimulating experience of showing them around Colombo, and having them over at my house.

One evening after dinner, we screened the movie Beneath the Seas of Ceylon, which my diving partner Mike Wilson and I had recently made – the first time the Indian Ocean’s undersea wonders were captured on film. I can still remember how Haldane watched it with such delight, showing the sense of wonder that is the hallmark of the great scientist.

More details of this second encounter are found in my essay ‘Haldane and Space’, which I wrote at Krishna’s invitation for the excellent memorial volume he edited, Haldane and Modern Biology (Johns Hopkins Press, 1968). It is also included in my own collection of essays, Report on Planet Three and Other Speculations (Harper & Row, 1972).

Haldane and I never met again, but we sustained a correspondence. His letters, usually handwritten and often running into a thousand words, were so full of ideas as his agile mind jumped from one subject to another that they were both good fun and hard reading.

In 1962, shortly after I had won the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the popularisation of science, I received an invitation to stay with the Haldanes. It opened with this rather ambiguous compliment:

Personally I should also like to see you awarded a prize for theology, as you are one of the very few living persons who has written anything original about God. You have, in fact, written several mutually incompatible things.... if you had stuck to one theological hypothesis, you might be a serious public danger.

To my lasting regret, I was unable to accept Haldane’s hospitality due to an unexpected illness (polio) and other distractions. Shortly afterwards, Haldane himself succumbed to cancer – but not before he’d made fun of his illness in a witty poem called ‘Cancer is a fun thing’ (which is included in this collection). He certainly did not go gentle into that good night…

Two years later, Carl Sagan and Iosef Shklovski dedicated their pioneering book, Intelligent Life in the Universe (Holden-Day, 1966), as follows:

To the memory of John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, F.R.S., member of the National Academies of Science of the United States and of the Soviet Union, member of the Order of the Dolphins, and a local example of what this book is about.

You are about to sample the products of one of the finest intellects it was ever my privilege to know.

Sir Arthur C Clarke

Fellow, King’s College, London

Colombo, Sri Lanka

3 February 2007

(E-mail from Clarke to WAS, 3 February 2007)

{CE; FUK; RE; TYD}