J. B. S. Haldane
- As commonly done, we will omit the spaces between the initials when we refer to J. B. S. Haldane in this article.
Referred to by most as J. B. S. Haldane (or J.B.S. Haldane), the initials stand for John Burdon Sanderson ('Burdon Sanderson' from his maternal line), born in Oxford, England, in 1892, his father an honored (respiratory) physiologist, John Scott Haldane (J. S. Haldane),[1] with whom J.B.S. worked as an assistant during childhood.[2] Educated and teaching at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the University of London, in 1932 J.B.S. Haldane published The Causes of Evolution, a founding document in the modern evolutionary synthesis of population genetics, reflecting the interest he pursued at university in biology, genetics and applying mathematics to questions in biology and genetics.[2]
This article will give a summary of J.B.S. Haldane's life and thinking, his contributions to science and to the popularization of science, his impact on his times, and his vision of the future. One science historian, Mark B. Adams, sets the task:
J.B.S. Haldane (1892-1964) is one of the most fascinating, perplexing and troublesome figures in the history of science. That he was a major biologist of his time goes without saying, but attempts at further scientific classification are futile: there is hardly a field of modern biology in whose history he does not deserve at least some mention. And, beyond biology proper, Haldane had yet other personae that at times seemed no less central to his career. Any attempt to come to terms with his life and work must face the dual challenge of his extraordinary multiformity and his utter singularity. [3]
Childhood
As a child J.B.S. Haldane learned much of his father's 'trade', human physiology, essentially as an non-indentured apprentice. By age fourteen years, having started at age 8 years, he had apparently learned about gases and human respiratory physiology, learned mathematical applications for interpreting experimental data, and from discussions with his father, learned about presenting research results for publication, and developing lecture courses.[4] (For more on J.B.S. Haldane's father's life and scientific work, see[5])
References
Citations and notes
- ↑ Editors. (1936) The Late Professor J. S. Haldane, C.H., M.D., F.R.S. Can Med Assoc J. August; 35(2): 197–198.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bookrags Collection of Sources of Biographical Information on J. B. S. Haldane
- ↑ Adams MB. (2000) Last Judgment: The Visionary Biology of J. B. S. Haldane. J Hist Biol. 33:457-491
- ↑ Haldane JBS. (1966) An autobiography in brief. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine Summer. (The editors noted: "Professor Haldane died December 1, 1964. This article is reprinted with the kind permission
of the illustrated Weekly of India, Bombay.")
- From J.B.S. Haldane's autobiography:
- "At the age of eight or so I was allowed to take down numbers which I called out when reading the burette of a gas-analysis apparatus and later to calculate from these numbers the amounts of various gases in a sample. After this I was promoted to making up simple mixtures for his use and, still later, to cleaning apparatus. Before I was fourteen, he had taken me down a number of mines, and I had spent some time under water both in a submarine and in a diving dress. He had also used me as the subject in many experiments. In fact I spent a good deal of my holidays from school in learning my father's trade…After I was twelve, he discussed with me all his research before publication, and sometimes tried out a lecture course on me before delivering it to students."
- ↑ Editors. (1936) The Late Professor J. S. Haldane, C.H., M.D., F.R.S. Can Med Assoc J. August; 35(2): 197–198.