 | |
| Author | Samanth Subramanian |
|---|---|
| Language | Indian English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster |
Publication date | 2019 |
| Publication place | India |
A Dominant Character: The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J. B. S. Haldane is a biography of J. B. S. Haldane, British-Indian geneticist, communist and writer; written by Samanth Subramanian and published by Simon and Schuster in 2019. [1]
A Dominant Character is a biography of J. B. S. Haldane who was a British-Indian geneticist, scientist, innovator, author, writer and communist philosopher. [1] The book was published on 10 December 2019 by Simon & Schuster UK and has 384 pages. [1]
J.B.S. Haldane was a scientist who was born in Britain yet was spiritually inclined towards India. He saw action in the two World Wars, was engaged in the most radical politics of his day, conducted scientific research, and wrote with flair and conviction. The book describes his intellect, vision of society, philosophy, and scientific progress. [2] In the latter part, the book mentions his journey to India and within India, from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. [3]
Jacob Koshy, in The Hindu , wrote that the work is an "exquisite literary expedition" into J.B.S.’ boyhood, his family history, his schooling. [3] Koshy wrote that many facts of Haldane's life are well documented in the book and concluded that Subramanian gave compelling context. [3]
Shobhit Mahajan wrote that the book is a "comprehensive account" of Haldane's life in a review for Outlook magazine . [2] He noted that the biography grapples well with a great life and found the book well-researched, with extensive use of Haldane's diaries and private letters. [2] He praised the author's "lucid writing" and described the book as a "page-turner" with brilliant asides. [2] He further wrote that the book does a decent job of explaining complicated scientific work in simpler terms, but points out that the author leaves out some details of the work done by Haldane. [2]
Vineetha Mokkil, writing for The Hindu Businessline , praised the work and called it a "major contribution in modern intellectual history as well as an insightful and moving biography". [4] She wrote that the author did a "fine job" in bringing Haldane to life. [4]
In a review for The Wire, T. N. Avinash also wrote that author did "admirable job" describing Haldane's life and how political scenarios formed his worldview. [5] However, he criticised the omission of some of the scientific responses to Haldane's work, such as Ernst Mayr’s critique of ‘beanbag genetics’. [5] R. Prasannan, writing for The Week Magazine , called the work an "honest biography", but noted that there are few details about Bhubaneswar, a city where Haldane settled in later life. He also lamented the lack of an index. [6]
Firstpost listed it in the Books of Week on 11 January 2020. [7]
The book has been selected as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2020 by The New York Times. [8]
John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, nicknamed "Jack" or "JBS", was a British-born scientist who later moved to India and acquired Indian citizenship. He worked in the fields of physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and mathematics. With innovative use of statistics in biology, he was one of the founders of neo-Darwinism. Despite his lack of an academic degree in the field, he taught biology at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Institution, and University College London. Renouncing his British citizenship, he became an Indian citizen in 1961 and worked at the Indian Statistical Institute until his death in 1964.
Cyril Dean Darlington was an English biologist, cytologist, geneticist, and eugenicist. He discovered the mechanics of chromosomal crossover, its role in inheritance, and thus its importance to evolution. He was the Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford from 1953 to 1971.
François Gautier is a journalist and Hindutva activist based in India who served as the South Asian correspondent for multiple reputed French-language dailies. He advocates for an Indigenous Aryan narrative.
Charlotte Haldane was a British feminist writer. Her second husband was the biologist J.B.S. Haldane.
Subramanian Swamy is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu nationalist views. Swamy was a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. Between 1994 and 1996, Swamy was Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade under former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. Swamy was a long-time member of the Janata Party, serving as its president until 2013 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has written on foreign affairs of India dealing largely with China, Pakistan and Israel. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha on 26 April 2016 for a six-year term, ending on 24 April 2022.
Ramachandra "Ram" Guha is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history. He is an important authority on the history of modern India.The American Historical Association (AHA) has conferred its Honorary Foreign Member prize for the year 2019 on Ramchandra Guha. He is the third Indian historian to be recognised by the association.
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The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography was established in 2003 in memory of Elizabeth Longford (1906-2002), the British author, biographer and historian. The £5,000 prize is awarded annually for a historical biography published in the preceding year.
Helen Spurway was a British-Indian biologist and the second wife of J. B. S. Haldane. She emigrated to India in 1957 along with him, both taking up Indian citizenship in 1961, and conducted research in field biology with Krishna Dronamraju, Suresh Jayakar, and others. She is sometimes known as Helen Spurway-Haldane.
Dronamraju Krishna Rao was an Indian-born geneticist and president of the Foundation for Genetic Research in Houston, Texas. He was born in Pithapuram, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. One focus of his work has been the research of his mentor J. B. S. Haldane. As an author, his name is usually rendered Krishna R. Dronamraju. He died in Houston at age 83.
Mridula Susan Koshy is an Indian writer and free library movement activist. She lives in New Delhi with her three children.
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Charles Chamberlain Hurst (1870–1947) was an English geneticist.
Pushpa Mittra Bhargava was an Indian scientist, writer, and administrator. He founded the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, a federally funded research institute, in Hyderabad. He was outspoken and highly influential in the development of scientific temper in India, and argued that scientific rationalism needed to be cultivated as a civic duty.
Samanth Subramanian is an Indian writer and journalist based in London. He studied journalism at Penn State University and international relations at Columbia University. In 2018–19, he was a Leon Levy Fellow at the City University of New York. He is also a regular contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Guardian and WIRED.
Rose Scott-Moncrieff (1903-1991), was an English biochemist, credited with founding the science of biochemical genetics.
Divya Dwivedi is an Indian philosopher and author. She is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Her work includes a focus on philosophy of literature, aesthetics, philosophy of psychoanalysis, narratology, revolutionary theory, critical philosophy of caste and race, and the political thought of Gandhi. She is the co-author of Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics and Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics.
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