William Bateson, Black Slavery, Eugenics and Speciation: The Relative Roles of Politics and Science

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Roy Forsdyke
Keyword(s):  
Politics And Science ◽  
William Bateson

scholarly journals The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R Forsdyke
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
General Public ◽  
Isolated Population ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Politics And Science ◽  
William Bateson ◽  
Biological Character ◽  
And Training

William Bateson’s background and training suggest sympathy with the black emancipation movement. Yet the movement’s success is attributed more to battles between political figures, than between scientists with contending views on the biology of racial differences. Perhaps, in the long term, Bateson’s contributions to slavery andeugenic issues will be seen as no less important than those of politicians. Mendel’sdiscovery of what we now know as “genes” languished until seized upon by Bateson in 1900. For six exhausting years he struggled to win scientific acceptance of these biological character-determining units. Later, he pressed the Mendelian message home to the general public, opposing simplistic applications of Mendelian principles to human affairs, and arguing that minor genic differences that distinguished races – e.g. skin colour – can seldom initiate new species. Indeed, the spark that initiates a divergence into two species can be non-genic. We are one reproductively isolated population, the human species.

scholarly journals The relative roles of politics and science: William Bateson, black slavery, eugenics and speciation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R Forsdyke
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
General Public ◽  
Isolated Population ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Politics And Science ◽  
William Bateson ◽  
Biological Character ◽  
And Training

William Bateson’s background and training suggest sympathy with the black emancipation movement. Yet the movement’s success is attributed more to battles between political figures, than between scientists with contending views on the biology of racial differences. Perhaps, in the long term, Bateson’s contributions to slavery andeugenic issues will be seen as no less important than those of politicians. Mendel’sdiscovery of what we now know as “genes” languished until seized upon by Bateson in 1900. For six exhausting years he struggled to win scientific acceptance of these biological character-determining units. Later, he pressed the Mendelian message home to the general public, opposing simplistic applications of Mendelian principles to human affairs, and arguing that minor genic differences that distinguished races – e.g. skin colour – can seldom initiate new species. Indeed, the spark that initiates a divergence into two species can be non-genic. We are one reproductively isolated population, the human species.

On the History, Politics and Science of Invasion Ecology

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
NINAD AVINASH MUNGI ◽  
QAMAR QURESHI
Keyword(s):  
Invasion Ecology ◽  
Politics And Science

ФИЛОСОФИЯ НАУЧНОЙ ДИПЛОМАТИИ

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
N. V. Litvak
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Historical Experience ◽  
Politics And Science ◽  
Scientific Project ◽  
War And Conflict ◽  
Scientific Diplomacy ◽  
Foreign Ministry ◽  
The Military

The article considers the scientific diplomacy — a relatively new phenomenon in international practice — as a type of diplomacy which took shape quite recently, in the 21st century, with the advent of both the term itself, and the corresponding concepts, and the Foreign Ministry units of some countries. However, it is necessary to clarify the terminology and essence of this practice, which has a much more long history. At the present time, there is a reassessment of this historical experience, as well as another attempt to put science in the civil service in one more — diplomatic aspect, as it has already happened with the military, educational and some other areas. At the same time, the scientific community itself in this process has the opportunity to play not only the role of an object or a passive performer. The demand for science is clearly manifested in periods of war and conflict, which in various forms do not stop today. This causes the urgency of the problem. At the same time, the conscious activity of politicians and scientists is combined with objective, independently developing, incl. latently, unobviously, by the processes of political struggle and scientific knowledge, which leads to complex combinations of interrelations between politics and science. The study of such events and processes allows us to draw some conclusions regarding relations between science and diplomacy, to determine the trend of consistent “scientification” of diplomacy, like of any other sphere of society, the transition from diplomacy-mail (communication) through diplomacy-art to diplomacy-science, formulate a hypothesis that diplomacy in general is a scientific project.

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