J.B.S.+Haldane

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Born November 5th 1892, John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, (JBS Haldane) grew up to become a geneticist and evolutionist, along with contributing to the fields of chemistry, biology and mathematics. One of his huge contributions to science was helping create the modern, Synthetic Theory of Evolution. When Haldane was little, he assisted his father who was also a physicist. He was often his dad’s guinea pig when it came to experimenting. As a result, this mentality stayed with him. When he was older, he would often conduct experiments on himself. One test he conducted on himself was to drink a large amount of hydrochloric acid, in order to observe the effects it had on his muscles. Over the course of Haldane’s life he was able to accomplish great things. For instance he was able to learn Latin, Greek, French and German, all while still a student. He is most remembered as helping define and understand population genetics. Due to his advanced understanding of math, he was able to calculate natural selection both in nature and between humans. Ha was able to take this knowledge and connect it to the effects that close inbreeding have. This was a big advancement for this time period. As well as being a geneticist he was also a soldier during World War 1. During his time in the war he found that he liked killing the enemies. He mainly worked with bombs and sabotaging. Due to his behavior, his commander referred to him as, "The bravest and dirtiest officer." Over his lifetime Haldane wrote numerous books, both fiction and non-fiction. Some of which are, ‘Daedalus’, ‘Possible Worlds’, ’Enzymes’, ‘On Being the Right Size and Other Essays’. However, these are just a handful of the books he wrote, as he wrote many more and also contributed to other books.



In the1930’s, Haldane along with other geneticists predicted that within the next 40 years, i//n vitro// or ‘in glass,’ fertilizations would be possible. This was the idea of growing a baby in a test tube. Haldane thought this to be possible without having sex. He became strongly against eugenics. This was the process of ‘sterilizing’ people, vasectomy for men and salpingectomy for women. He referred to the supporters of eugenics as, “ferocious enemies of human liberty." Unfortunately in 1964 Haldane was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. Sadly, later that year he passed away. Even under the circumstances he was in, he didn’t stop writing. He wrote a poem just before he passed away that was mocking his illness.

“Cancer's a Funny Thing:

I wish I had the voice of Homer

To sing of rectal carcinoma,

Which kills a lot more chaps, in fact,

Than were bumped off when Troy was sacked…”

__Citations-__


 * J. B. S. Haldane - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from []


 * mid-1930s, t., & Hermann, l. g. (n.d.). Unofficial SJG Archive - People - J. B. S. Haldane (1892-1964). //The Unofficial Stephen Jay Gould Archive//. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from []


 * J. B. S. Haldane - New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.). //Info:Main Page - New World Encyclopedia//. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from []


 * Evolutionary Transitions: J B S Haldane: The Life of a Scientific Beast. (n.d.). //Evolutionary Transitions//. Retrieved January 18, 2013, from http://evolutionarytransitions.blogspot.com/2011/11/j-b-s-haldane-life-of-scientific-beast.