On Thu, 8 Dec 2005 10:04:54 -0500 "Charles Brown" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > In dealing with the impact of materialist dialectics in science, > Haldane is > an important figure. He wrote and intro to _Dialectics of Nature_. > Haldane > is one of the major British theoretical biologists, co-founder of > population > genetics. I recall first hearing of Haldane in biological > anthropology > class, Haldane's Dilemma, and the mathematical solution Haldane > developed. > Can't remember the specifics and haven't be able to search engine. > Could > dialectical approach have helped Haldane in dealing with a dilemma ?
As Charles says, Haldane was one of the fathers of population genetics. He was also one of the architects of what is known as the neo-Darwinian synthesis in evolutionary biology, by which Darwinism and Mendelian genetics were brought together in order to provide a mathematical understanding of how natural selection works. That was one of the great scientific achievements of the 20th century. He anticipated the kin selection hypothesis that was developed by William Hamilton in order to explain altruism between genetically related organisms. And John Maynard Smith, who along with Hamilton, George Williams, and Richard Dawkins, was a developer of the gene-centered view of evolution was a student of Haldane. JBS Haldane was in his day a leading critic of scientific racism and of theories that attempted to explain social class in terms of genetic factors. Haldane did claim to find dialectics useful in his scientific research. He was one of the world's leading Mendelian geneticists, which made his membership in the CPGB increasingly untenable after WW II, when Lysenkoism became official dogma in the Soviet Union and CPs outside the Soviet Union came under pressure to embrace it as dogma too. This is certainly one reason why he left the Party. > > > Caudwell, Cornforth and Haldane are important in Marxism, science > and > materialist dialectics. > > > CB > > ^^^^^^^ > > > > J. B. S. Haldane > > > >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. > > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#column-one> , search > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#searchInput> > J.B.S. Haldane with his second wife Helen Spurway > > John Burdon Sanderson Haldane (November 5 , who normally used > "J.B.S." as a > first name, was a British geneticist and evolutionary biologist . > He was > one of the founders (along with Ronald Fisher > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Fisher> and Sewall Wright > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewall_Wright> ) of population > genetics > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_genetics> . > > > Contents > > [hide <javascript:toggleToc()> ] > > * 1 Biography > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#Biography> > * 2 References > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#References> > * 3 Publications > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#Publications> > * 4 External links > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JBS_Haldane#External_links> > > > > [edit > <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._B._S._Haldane&action=edit&s ect > ion=1> ] > > > Biography > > > Haldane was born in Edinburgh > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh> , the > son of the medical doctor John Scott Haldane > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott_Haldane> and his wife > Louisa > Kathleen Haldane, and descended from Scottish aristocrats (see > Haldane > family <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haldane_family> ). His younger > sister > Naomi Mitchison <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Mitchison> > would later > become a writer. Haldane was educated at Dragon School > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_School> , Eton College > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_College> (which he hated) and at > New > College <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_College%2C_Oxford> , > Oxford > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University> . > > During the First World War > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_World_War> , > Haldane served with the Black Watch > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch> in France > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France> and Iraq > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq> . He was initially Bombing > Officer for > the 3rd Battalion before becoming a Trench Mortar Officer in the > 1st. Whilst > in the army, he became a socialist > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism> > , writing "If I live to see an England in which socialism has made > the > occupation of a grocer as honourable as that of a soldier, I shall > die > happy". > > Between 1919 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1919> and 1922 > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1922> he was a fellow of New College, > then > moved to Cambridge University > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_University> until 1932 > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932> . He then moved to University > College, > London <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_College%2C_London> > where he > spent most of the remainder of his academic career. In the late > 1950s he > moved to India <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> . The move was > ostensibly a protest against the Suez War > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_War> , but in reality had been on > the > cards for some while. > > In 1924 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1924> Haldane met Charlotte > Burghes > (nee Franken) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Haldane> and > the two > later married. To do so Charlotte divorced her husband Jack Burghes > <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_Burghes&action=edit> > , > causing some controversy. > > In 1925 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925> , Briggs and Haldane > gave a > mathematically superior derivation of the 1913 > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913> Michaelis-Menten equation > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelis-Menten_kinetics> , still a > mainstay > of enzyme kinetics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme> in > biochemistry > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemistry> . The original authors > made the > assumption that enzyme (catalyst) and substrate (reactant) are in > quasi-equilibrium with their complex, which then dissociates to > yield > product and free enzyme. Briggs and Haldane arrived at an equation > of the > same algebraic form, but with a better interpretation of the > Michaelis > constant. Their derivation makes the more realistic assumption that > the > intermediate complex(es) are initially in a quasi-steady-state as > substrate > is consumed and product is formed. > > Haldane's famous book, The Causes of Evolution > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Causes_of_Evolution> (1932 > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932> ), was a major work of what came > to be > known as the "modern evolutionary synthesis > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_modern_synthesis> ", > reestablishing > natural selection <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection> > as the > premier mechanism of evolution > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution> by > explaining it in terms of the mathematical consequences of Mendelian > genetics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelian_genetics> . > > Haldane was a keen experimenter, willing to expose himself to danger > to > obtain data. One experiment involving elevated levels of oxygen > saturation > triggered a fit which resulted in him suffering crushed vertebrae. > In his > decompression chamber > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_chamber> > 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." > > He was also a great science populariser, and was perhaps the Isaac > Asimov > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov> , Stephen Jay Gould > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould> , or Richard > Dawkins > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins> of his day. His > essay, > 'Daedalus or Science and the Future > <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daedalus_or_Science_and_the_Fu tur > e&action=edit> ' (1923 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923> ), was > remarkable > in predicting many scientific advances but has been criticized for > presenting a too idealistic view of scientific progress. > > Haldane was himself a very idealistic man, and in his youth was a > devoted > Communist and author of many articles in The Daily Worker. Events in > the > Soviet Union, such as the rise of the anti-Mendelian agronomist > Trofim > Lysenko <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trofim_Lysenko> and the > crimes of > Stalin, caused him to break with the Communist Party later in life. > He > joined the Communist party in 1937 but left in 1950, shortly after > having > toyed with standing for Parliament as a Communist Party candidate. > > He is also known for an observation from his essay, On Being the > Right Size > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_the_Right_Size> , which Jane > Jacobs > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Jacobs> and others have since > referred > to as Haldane's principle. This is that sheer 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 take on complicated oxygen pumping and > distributing > systems to reach all the cells." The conceptual metaphor to animal > body > complexity has been of use in energy economics and secession > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession> ideas. > > Haldane was friends with the author Aldous Huxley > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley> , and was the basis for > the > biologist Shearwater in Huxley's novel Antic Hay > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antic_Hay> . Ideas from Haldane's > Daedalus, > such as ectogenesis (the development of fetuses in artificial > wombs), also > influenced Huxley's Brave New World > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World> . > > Haldane had many students, the most famous of whom, John Maynard > Smith > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Smith> , was perhaps also > the one > most like himself. > > > > > References > > > > _______________________________________________ > Marxism-Thaxis mailing list > [email protected] > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis > _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list [email protected] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
