And if we must educate our poets and artists in science, we must educate our masters, labour and capital, in art.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
A time will however come (as I believe) when physiology will invade and destroy mathematical physics, as the latter has destroyed geometry.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the study of biology will eventually overtake and redefine the principles of physics, similar to how physics once transformed geometry.
John B. S. Haldane is expressing his belief that in the future, the field of physiology—focused on the functions of living organisms—will dominate and ultimately alter the foundations of mathematical physics. This reflects a historical trend where scientific fields evolve, leading to shifts in paradigms and understandings, where newer theories may replace or integrate older ones. Haldane is emphasizing the interconnectedness of scientific disciplines and the ongoing evolution of knowledge.
Themes
PhysiologyMathematical PhysicsScienceKnowledgeInterconnectedness
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a lecture about the evolution of scientific disciplines.
More from John B. S. Haldane
All quotes →An attempt to study the evolution of living organisms without reference to cytology would be as futile as an account of stellar evolution which ignored spectroscopy.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
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.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
My final word, before I'm done, Is "Cancer can be rather fun"- Provided one confronts the tumour with a sufficient sense of humour. I know that cancer often kills, But so do cars and sleeping pills; And it can hurt till one sweats, So can bad teeth and unpaid debts. A spot of laughter, I am sure, Often accelerates one's cure; So let us patients do our bit To help the surgeons make us fit.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
My practise as a scientist is atheistic. That is to say, when I set up an experiment I assume that no god, angel, or devil is going to interfere with its course; and this assumption has been justified by such success as I have achieved in my professional career. I should therefore be intellectually dishonest if I were not also atheistic in the affairs of the world. And I should be a coward if I did not state my theoretical views in public.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
It wasn't until I had performed by first autopsy that I realized that even the drabest human exteriors could contain the most beautiful viscera. After that, I would console myself for the plainness of my fellow bus-riders by dissecting them in my imagination.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
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