Julian Huxley - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Childhood

Huxley was born the June 22nd 1887 in the London house from his/her aunt, the novelist Mary Augusta Ward (1851-1920), while his/her father attended the celebrations of the jubilee of the Reine Victoria. It grows in the family home located in the Surrey where it shows an early interest for nature, helped in that by the lessons which his/her grandfather gives him. At the thirteen years age, Huxley enters to the Collège of Eton, where it continues to develop its taste for science, and that in the laboratories even of the school which his/her grandfather had incited to build several decades before. In Eton, it is interested in the Ornithologie and in 1905 it obtains a grant in Zoologie with the Balliol College of the Université of Oxford.

University life

In 1906, after a summer spent in Germany, Huxley settles in Oxford where it develops an private interest for the embryology and for the study of the Protozoaires. During the autumn of its last academic year, in 1908, his/her mother dies of a cancer. In 1909 it is graduate with mention and is seen offering a grant. It spends one year to the Station of marine biology of Naples where it is interested in the embryology and the development, by the research on the tunicates and the sea urchin S. In 1910, it takes down a post of teacher in Oxford but in 1912 he sees himself solicited by Edgar Odell Lovett (1871-1957) for the very new pulpit of biology of the university Rice, with Houston with the Texas. Huxley accepts this proposal and takes its station the following year.

Before settling at the Rice university, Huxley spends one year to Germany in order to prepare with its new function. Whereas he works in a laboratory a few months before the release of the First World War, Huxley hears on behalf of his/her colleagues a reflection in connection with a plane passing in the sky like what " that will not take much time before such planes pass above Angleterre" , which cements its idea of internationalism. During its stay in Germany, it is victim of a nervous breakdown and turns over to England where it remains some time in a convalescent home. At the same time his/her Trev brother, two years younger, is him also victim of depression and hangs himself.

Julian starts to attend, in 1916, Marie Juliette Baillot, born in 1896 in Auvernier, a village close to Neuchâtel (Suisse). They exchange a correspondence during the war and marry in 1919.

In September 1916, Huxley returns from Texas to take part in the effort of war, working in the intelligence services, initially with the Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) and then in Italy of north. After the war, he sees himself offering a station of teaching to the New College of Oxford which lost many teachers and of students during the war. Its first wire is born in 1920, Anthony Julian Huxley (1920-1993), which will become him also a biologist, follow-up of its second wire, three years more, Francis Huxley (1923-), which will become him botanist and anthropologist. In 1925, Huxley returns to the King' S College of London as professor of Zoologie, but in 1927 it leaves its functions of teaching and research to work full-time with H.G. Wells (1866-1946) and his/her son G.P. Wells (1901-1985) with the writing of The Science off Life ( the life science ) (to see below).

In 1935, Huxley is secretary of the Zoological Society of London, and passes the seven years majority following to manage this company, its zoological gardens, the Zoo of London and the park of wild animals of Whipsnade. It continues at the same time its research in zoology. In 1941, it is invited to the the United States for some sessions of course, and generates a controversy by declaring that the United States should join the Second world war a few weeks only before the attack of Pearl Harbor. Because of the entry in war of this country, its part-session of teaching is prolonged and Zoological Society makes use of it like pretexts to withdraw its post of secretary to him. Huxley seizes this opportunity to devote the major part of the remainder of its life to popularize science and to imply themselves in the policy.

In addition to its research in zoology, Huxley takes part in theoretical work on the Biologie of the evolution and belonged to the major actors of the modern synthesis of the evolution. The observation of the birds during its youth makes that Huxley is interested in the Ornithologie, and during all its life it helps with the creation of processes for the monitoring and the safeguarding of the birds. He also writes several articles on the avian ethology. Among his centers of interests, one also finds the Médecine and the Molecular biology. He was the friend and the mentor of the biologist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989).

Towards the end of its life, Huxley had a key function in the translation in English of work of the Jesuit and French scientist Pierre Teilhard of Chardin (1881-1955).

UNESCO

In the years 1930, Huxley visits the Kenya and other countries of East Africa in order to observe the efforts of safeguarding, including the creation of national parks, which proceed in the few zones remaining uninhabited because of the Paludisme. Later, it is requested by the English government in order to study the possible sites in the countries of the the Commonwealth in West Africa for the creation of universities. During these various voyages Huxley develops an interest for education and safeguarding throughout the world, and implies themselves in the creation of UNESCO (United Nations for education, science and the culture). Besides he will become about it the first managing director in 1946.

The preoccupations of internationalism and a safeguarding of Huxley also led it to create the World Wildlife Fund (Funds world for the wild life).

Humanism

A less known fact is than Huxley, Humaniste of its state, chaired the congress which saw the foundation of IHEU (International Humanist and Ethical Union) and that it took part in the advisory committee for the foundation of First Humanist Society of New York in with dimensions of John Dewey, Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann.

Eugenism

As much of biologists in first half of the twentieth century, Huxley was a partisan of the Eugénisme like process of improvement of the company. He wrote two books carrying of criticisms on the genetics practiced in the Soviet Union (which he visited twice), where the Lysenkoisme prevailed, doctrines pseudo-scientist which advanced that the acquired characteristics could be inherited. The lysenkoism was dangerous because it proscribed the artificial Sélection harvests based on the principles darwiniens, which led finally to the Famine. Huxley feared that a similar process of genetic stagnation does not intervene in the human population, without the assistance of the eugenism which the lysenkoists rejected.

Whereas Huxley saw in the eugenism a means of removing the undesirable alternatives of human genetic inheritance as a whole, he believed in the equality of the races and firmly criticized the two extremism eugenists which emerged during the Thirties as well as the generally accepted idea as what the working class was genetically lower (Kevles 1985).

Huxley was adverse with the use of the Race like scientific concept, and in answer to the rise of the Fascisme he wrote We Europeans (Us European). This book, on which he collaborated with the Ethnologue Alfred Cort Haddon (1855-1940), the Sociologue Sir Alexander Carr-Saunders (1886-1966) and Charles Singer (1876-1960), suggested among other things that the term of “race” could be replaced by ethnicity.

Following the second world war, he played a part in the declaration of UNESCO The Race Question (the question of the race), which supported that " A race, from a biological point of view, could be rather defined like a whole of populations constituting the species Homo sapiens " and " Now, that can say the scientist in connection with the human groups which can be currently recognized? The human races were classified in a different way by several anthropologists, but today the majority of the anthropologists agree on only one classification in three large branches distinct for the great majority from the current mankind: the branch mongoloïde, the branch négroïde, and connect it caucasienne."

The declaration of UNESCO also helped to destroy the idea as what the people Juif represented a distinct race when this one defined that " the catholics, Protestants, Moslems and Jews are not races… ".

In the years of post-war period, following the terrifying results resulting from the abuse eugenism, Huxley (1957) invents the " term; transhumanisme " to describe the point of view according to which the man could improve thanks to science and technology, with the possible assistance of the eugenism, but especially thanks to the improvement of the living conditions.

Public life and popularization of science

Huxley discovers the lucrative aspect of the popularization of science after having published several articles in various newspapers. At the end of the years 1920, it is initiated with the writing of books when is requested it to collaborate on two projects, on the one hand a handbook of animal biology with his colleague of Oxford J.B.S. Haldane, and on the other hand a whole of nine volumes of popularization in biology, The Science off Life (the life science) with H.G. Wells. One owes him off of other notable publications such as Essays has Biologist (A tentative a biologist) and Evolution: The Modern Synthesis (Evolution: the modern synthesis).

In 1934, Huxley collaborates with the Naturaliste Ronald Mathias Lockley (1903-2000) in order to create for Alexander Korda (1893-1956) the first documentary one of natural history in the world, The Private Life off the Gannet (private life of the Gannet ). For this film, which was made with the assistance of Royal Navy around the island of Grassholm on the coast of the Pembrokeshire, Huxley and Lockley received the Oscar the better documentary one.

Later, it increases its popularity by the means of televisual and radiophonic appearances. In 1939, BBC requires of him to be the recurring guest of an emission of general culture, The Brains Trust (the group of expert), during which him and other guests discuss in connection with questions put by the listeners. This emission was installation to maintain the moral one during the war, in order to prevent that the latter does not occult the debates and the exchanges of ideas. He is also the regular guest of the one of the first emissions of questions and answers, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? (Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?), in 1955.

In its test The Crowded World (the over-populated world), published in Evolutionary Humanism (evolutionary humanism) in 1964, Huxley criticizes openly the attitudes Communiste and Catholique of birth control, control of the populations and overpopulation. By basing on various rates of compared Interests, Huxley predicts a probable world population of 6 billion individuals in the year 2000. The UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund (Fund of the United Nations for the populations) identifies the day of the 6 billion the October 12th 1999.

Huxley maintained the close links with the movements rationalist and humanistic English and he was besides honorary member of the rationalist association of press of 1927 until his death. Also, he became the first president of British humanistic association during his creation in 1963, AJ Ayer succeeding to him in 1965. He was also implied in the humanistic and ethical international union. Many books of Huxley treat humanism.

His wife, Juliette Huxley (1896-1994), makes appear in 1963 the account of their voyages in Africa, Wild Lives off Africa . She will publish her autobiography in 1986 off under the title of Leaves the Tulip Tree .

Reward and distinction

1956 : Medal Darwin.
1958 : medal of money Darwin-Wallace

Work

Essays off has Biologist (A tentative a biologist), 1923
Animal Biology (Animal Biology) with J.B.S. Haldane, 1927
Religion Without Revelation (Religion without revelation), 1927 re-examined in 1957
The Tissue-Culture King (the king of the fabric culture), science fiction, 1927
The Science off Life (the life science) with H.G & G.P. Wells, 1931
Scientific Research and Social Needs (social Scientific research and needs), 1934
Thomas Huxley' S Diary off the Voyage off H.M.S. Rattlesnake (the newspaper of Thomas Huxley during the voyage on board the H.M.S. Rattlesnake), 1935
We Europeans (Us European) with A.C. Haddon, 1936
The present standing off the theory off sexual selection. (the current statute of the theory of the sexual selection) In G.R. of Beer (ED.), Evolution: Essays one aspects off evolutionary biology (Evolution: tests on the aspects of evolutionary biology) (pp. 11-42). Oxford: Clarendon Near, 1938
The Living room Thoughts off Darwin (alive thoughts of Darwin), 1939
The New Systematics (the systematic news), 1940
Evolution: the Modern Synthesis (Evolution: the modern synthesis), 1942
Evolutionary Ethics (Ethical evolutionists), 1943
VAT: Adventure in Planning (VAT: venture in planning), 1944
Touchstone for Ethics (Standard of ethics), 1947
Man in the Modern World (the man in the modern world), 1947 eBook
Heredity, East and West (Heredity, Is and Western), 1949
Evolution in Action (evolution in the action), 1953
Biological Aspects off Cancer (biological Aspects of cancer), 1957
Towards has New Humanism (Towards a new humanism), 1957
New Bottles for New Wine (New bottles for new wine), 1958
The Coming New Religion off Humanism (the emergence of the new humanistic religion), 1962
The Humanist Frame (the humanistic framework), 1962 then Essays off has Humanist (A tentative humanistic), 1964 then Evolutionary Humanism (evolutionary Humanism)
Ancient From year Land (Of an ancient ground), 1966
The Courtship Habits off the Great Grebe (court of the crested Grèbe), 1968

Memories (Memories) in 2 volumes, 1970 and 1974

External bonds

{in} summarized Biography.

Tests

{in} '' Transhumanism '' (Transhumanisme) in New Bottles for New Wine (New bottles for new wine) London: Chatto & Windus, 1957.
{in} '' The New Divination '' (new divination) in Essays off has Humanist (A tentative humanistic) London: Chatto & Windus, 1964.

References

Huxley, J., 1957. Transhumanism (Transhumanisme). See bond above.
Huxley, J., 1970. Memories (Memories). George Allen & Unwin, London.
Kevles, D.J., 1985. In The Name Off Eugenics (In the name of the eugenism). Press the University of California.

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