The Biologist as Public Intellectual: Julian Huxley

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Stephen Cross: "The Biologist as Public Intellectual: Julian Huxley" The "Public Intellectual" has had a vivid history in science. In the 17th century, scientists such as Robert Hooke or Robert Boyle would stage public exhibitions of the experiments they conducted. In the 19th century, Thomas Huxley, Julian's grandfather, engaged in famous debates about the validity of evolution with Bishop "Soapy" Wilberforce. Margaret Mead took it upon herself to popularize anthropology and, in the process, took on issues of peace and war. Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein, taking advantage of their public stature, jointly authored a public appeal for world peace. In the 1980's, Carl Sagan was ubiquitous on TV speaking of the wonders of "billions and billions' of stars. Stephen Jay Gould appears on TV, gives public lectures to packed halls, and writes a popular essay series for Natural History magazine. While many of these scientists are mistrusted if not outright ridiculed by their peers -- e.g. Mead and Sagan -- much of this hostility can be laid to envy and a real misunderstanding of the role these scientists play in transmitting an enthusiasm for science to the general public. How one achieves the role of "public intellectual" and what its implications are for the scientist are the subject of this study by Dr. Cross. Julian Huxley (1887-1975) was a major figure in 20th century life sciences. He made important contributions to a number of fields, including embryology, ethology and evolutionary theory. He was a principal architect of the evolutionary synthesis in the 1930's and 1940's--the neo-Darwinian unification of the theory of natural selection with new conceptions in genetics and population theory. Beyond "pure" science, though, Huxley was also a gifted and prolific popularizer. He collaborated with H.G. Wells on The Science of Life and later became director of the London Zoo. He regularly appeared on the BBC radio program, the "Brains Trust" and became the first director gener al of UNESCO in 1946, thus assuming an international stage for his endeavors. In effect, Huxley transformed himself from a researcher into a public intellectual--a position from which he strove to disseminate the scientific creed that he termed "evolutionary humanism." He provides an outstanding demonstration of how scientists have considered their fields to be intimately involved with questions of morals and social purposes. He makes visible what might be termed the affective level of scientific culture--the level of deeply nurtured optimism in the redemptive, culture-creating power of science. Huxley's life provides historical perspective on the debates about the relation of the scientist to the public sphere, and about modernism as a distinctive cultural formation in this century.