J. B. S. Haldane/Addendum

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This addendum is a continuation of the article J. B. S. Haldane.

Quotes by J.B.S. Haldane

Beetles

  • "When a reporter asked the famous biologist J.B.S. Haldane what his biological studies had taught him about God, Haldane replied, ´The creator, if he exists, must have an inordinate fondness for beetles,´ since there are more species of beetle than any other group of living creatures." [1]
  • He [J.B.S. Haldane] 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 ofhigher 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.'[2]

References

  1. Blakeslee S, Blakeslee M. (2007) The body has a mind of its own: how body maps in your brain help you do (almost) everything better. Random House: New York. ISBN 9781400064694 (pbk)
    • Publisher's Description: Your body has a mind of its own. You know it’s true. You can sense it, even though it may be hard to articulate. You know that your body is more than a vehicle for your brain to cruise around in, but how deeply are mind and body truly interwoven?....Answers can be found in the emerging science of body maps. Just as road maps represent interconnections across the landscape, your many body maps represent all aspects of your bodily self. Your self doesn’t begin and end with your physical body but extends into the space around you. When you drive a car, your personal body space grows to envelop it. When you play a video game, your body maps automatically track and emulate the actions of your character onscreen. If your body maps fall out of sync, you may have an out-of-body experience or see auras around other people....The Body Has a Mind of Its Own explains how you can tap into the power of body maps to do almost anything better: play tennis, strum a guitar, ride a horse, dance a waltz, empathize with a friend, raise children, cope with stress. Filled with illustrations, wonderful anecdotes, and even parlor tricks that you can use to reconfigure your body sense, The Body Has a Mind of Its Own will change the way you think about what it takes to have a conscious mind inside a feeling body.
    • Note re Haldane quote:  "From the epigraph to the book, signature: V.S. Ramachandran.
  2. Dronamraju KR. (2009) "What I Require From Life: Writings on Science and Life from J. B. S. Haldane ". Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923770-8.
    • Publisher's Description: J. B. S. Haldane (1892-64) was one of the great scientists--and great science writers--of the 20th century. A polymath who was a central figure in the development of modern evolutionary biology, he was also a highly skilled essayist and an extraordinary character--brilliant, witty, idealistic, funny, and pugnacious....What I Require From Life brings together Haldane's popular science essays, more than sixty articles that reflect not only his masterful ability to communicate scientific understanding, but also his deep commitment to socialism. Readers will find essays on an exhilarating range of topics--"Is There Life on the Planets?" "Is Man a Machine?" "Why are You Left-handed?" "Overcrowding at the Zoo," "How Bees Communicate," "The Common Cold."....Edited with an introduction by Haldane's last graduate pupil, Krishna Dronamraju, this collection of thought-provoking and beautifully-written pieces also comes with a Preface written by the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who calls Haldane "perhaps the most brilliant science popularizer of his generation."
    • About the Editor: Krishna Dronamraju is President of the Foundation for Genetic Research in Houston. He was an Advisor to the White House and served on the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Prof. Dronamraju is a Visiting Professor of the University of Paris, the Albert Schweitzer International University of Geneva, and an Honorary Research Fellow of University College, London.