J. B. S. Haldane quotes - page 2

J. B. S. Haldane was a British scientist and polymath, renowned for his work in genetics and evolutionary biology. His pioneering research contributed significantly to the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory. He also became known for his popular science writing and his outspoken political views. Here are 49 of his quotes:

Evolution must have involved the simultaneous change in many genes, which doubtless accounts for its slowness. Here matters would have been easier if heritable variations really formed a continuum, as Darwin apparently thought, i.e. if there were no limit to the possible smallness of a variation. But this is clearly not the case when we are considering meristic characters. ...the atomic nature of Mendelian inheritance suggests very strongly that even where variation is apparently continuous this appearance is deceptive. (J. B. S. Haldane)
If human evolution is to continue along the same lines as in the past, it will probably involve a still greater prolongation of childhood and retardation of maturity. Some of the characters distinguishing adult man will be lost. It was not an embryologist or palaeontologist who said, "Except ye . . . become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
If one could conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of creation it would appear that God has an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Science is as yet in its infancy, and we can foretell little of the future save that the thing that has not been is the thing that shall be; that no beliefs, no values, no institutions are safe. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
I have come to the conclusion that my subjective account of my motivation is largely mythical on almost all occasions. I don't know why I do things. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
So many new ideas are at first strange and horrible, though ultimately valuable that a very heavy responsibility rests upon those who would prevent their dissemination. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Our ancestors were mostly rather rare creatures. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
If much of the investigation here summarised has only proved the obvious, the obvious is worth proving when this can be done. And if the relative importance of selection and mutation is obvious, it has certainly not always been recognised as such. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Another possible mode of making rapid evolutionary jumps is by hybridisation. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Where natural selection slackens, new forms may arise which would not survive under more rigid competition. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
We have now to ask whether God made the tapeworm. And it is questionable whether an affirmative answer fits in either with what we know about the process of evolution or what many of us believe about the moral perfection of God. (J. B. S. Haldane)
If two animals have a common ancestor, their parasites are likely to be descended from those of the ancestor. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
The wise man regulates his conduct by the theories both of religion and science. But he regards these theories not as statements of ultimate fact but as art-forms. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
I have never yet met a healthy person who worried very much about his health, or a really good person who worried much about his own soul. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
To the biologist the problem of socialism appears largely as a problem of size. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
While I do not suggest that humanity will ever be able to dispense with its martyrs, I cannot avoid the suspicion that with a little more thought and a little less belief their number may be substantially reduced. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
In fact, words are well adapted for description and the arousing of emotion, but for many kinds of precise thought other symbols are much better. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
I think, however, that so long as our present economic and national systems continue, scientific research has little to fear. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
The extreme socialists desire to run every nation as a single business concern. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Until politics are a branch of science, we shall do well to regard political and social reforms as experiments rather than short-cuts to the millennium. (J. B. S. Haldane)
Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.....I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
These huge reservoirs of liquified gasses will enable wind energy to be stored, so that it can be expended for industry, transportation, heating and lighting, as desired. The initial costs will be very considerable, but the running expenses less than those of our present system. Among its more obvious advantages will be the fact that energy will be as cheap in one part of the country as another, so that industry will be greatly decentralized; and that no smoke or ash will be produced. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane
Unaided common sense may indicate an equilibrium, but rarely, if ever, tells us whether it is stable. If much of the investigation here summarised has only proved the obvious, the obvious is worth proving when this can be done. And if the relative importance of selection and mutation is obvious, it has certainly not always been recognised as such. View quote
J. B. S. Haldane

J. B. S. Haldane

Occupation: British Scientist
Born: November 5, 1892
Died: December 1, 1964
Quotes count: 49
Wikipedia: J. B. S. Haldane

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