British geneticist who adopted Hinduism

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British geneticist who adopted Hinduism

By Manju Gupta

 

"He left Britain in 1907 and come to live in India, a country he

came to love during his several visits here. He was inspired by

Hindu philosophy, the Hindu way of life and the principle of non-

violence. The Gita impressed him. He even liked the dhoti and kurta

attire and used to wear them."

 

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, the world-renowned geneticist was

born on November 5, 1892 at Oxford to the wife of John Scott

Haldane, who was a well-known physiologist and philosopher. As two-

year old John Burdon once stood making curious faces at the mirror

when his mother asked him what he was upto. He replied, "Trying to

copy dogs, Mother." As we all know, dogs have snout noses, square

faces, drooping ears, close-knit eyes. This young boy was

experimenting upon himself to find out how best to look like the

dogs he had seen in the neighbourhood.

 

John Burdon began studying science as his father's assistant at the

age of eight and conducted horrifying experiments upon his body to

test how it would behave under different conditions. This quality of

experimenting upon himself was to remain with John Burdon, the

English-born Indian biologist, throughout his life. Sometimes, after

an experiment, J.B.S. as he was popularly known, would lie panting

in bed for weeks together. He would get so engrossed in his

experiments that when feeling pain or desire to vomit, he would

record his experiences on his tape recorder. This strange courage he

inherited from his father, in whose laboratory J.B.S. grew up. He

even accompanied his father on various dangerous scientific trips

into deep mines. He learnt various languages and on his own read

different subjects. He was brilliant in mathematics which enabled

him to win the Russell Prize at the age of 16.

 

He had his basic education in humanities and post-graduated from

Oxford University. Under his father's guidance, he first took up

research in physiology-the study of processes inside a living body

at Oxford. In 1922, he joined Cambridge University to take up

research in biochemistry and in 1925, J.B.S. became interested in

genetics-the study of genetics and variations and this subsequently

led him to his being elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1932. A

year later he joined the University College, London, as Professor of

Genetics, a position he held as long as he stayed in Britain.

 

Haldane was the first to use mathematics in genetics. Among his

significant contributions is an estimate of the rate of mutation of

a human gene. He wrote articles on popular science and gave

lectures. Some of his famous books are The Causes of Evolution, What

is Life and Science and Ethics. He also wrote, My Friend, Mr Leakey

for children.

 

Heredity and Politics is a classic of science popularisation and in

which he demolished with devastating effect a number of myths of the

race maniacs. It is often claimed that since the poor breed faster

than the rich, this differential birth rate will lead to

the `degeneration' of the population. Yet, this is not borne out by

the case cited by J.B.S. Haldane in his book, "For more than a

thousand years, the Mohammedans in West Asia have practised

polygamy, whilst the Christians and Jews have not. Of course, only

the richer Mohamme-dans could afford a harem. We should therefore

expect that the Mohammedans would on the whole be superior to the

Jews and Christians in intellectual qualities or at any rate in

those qualities that make for the acquisition of wealth. In

particular, a Turk should generally beat an Armenian or a Jew in a

business deal. This is notoriously not the case. And, because it is

not the case, it is to be presumed that there is some fallacy in the

arguments..."

 

J.B.S. was a hefty man with a short temper and a booming voice, but

at heart he was sentimental and sympethetic. It is said that the

training he received in fearlessness from his father made him

a `different' boy. During World War I, he became popular among his

troops as `Bombo'. It is said that he used to sneak into enemy lines

at night and return with valuable information. Once, when he heard

something nasty being talked about Britain in an enemy camp, he

dropped a bomb there in anger and returned under heavy fire.

 

He left Britain in 1907 and come to live in India, a country he came

to love during his several visits here. He was inspired by Hindu

philosophy, the Hindu way of life and the principle of non-violence.

The Gita impressed him. He even liked the dhoti and kurta attire and

used to wear them.

 

He came to India with a purpose. He knew the country had a variety

of animals and plants in large numbers. He wanted to develop

research in biology. He was at first appointed professor at the

India Statistical Institute, Calcutta and later he became Director,

Genetics and Biometry Laboratory in Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

 

At the age of 71, he died of cancer at Bhubaneswar. Even during his

illness he wrote a cheerful poem, Cancer's a Funny Thing, which is

considered one of the best poems on a scientific subject. In his

auto-obituary released at the time of his death, Haldane had

written, "I've been very much of a dabbler, and I'm not ashamed of

it. Sometimes I wonder idly what I might be remembered for

remembered years from now."

 

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