Marxism-Thaxis] J. B. S. Haldane Jim Farmelant farmelantj at juno.com Thu Dec 8 08:20:08 MST 2005
Previous message: [Marxism-Thaxis] The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences by JBS Haldane Next message: [Marxism-Thaxis] The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, 8 Dec 2005 10:04:54 -0500 "Charles Brown" <cbrown at michiganlegal.org> 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 _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
