Makers of an Improbable Future: How Technocracy Connected the Politics and Science of J. S. B. Haldane, J. D. Bernal, and Julian Huxley

• In Event: Communicating Science: From Periodical to Popular Science Book

English Abstract

Between 1910-1950, a period of fierce political and ideological upheaval, world wars, and economic distress, three renowned biologists saw the decline of the British Empire as an opportunity. To implement new technoscience and create a scientific government that could change the world. J.B.S. Haldane, J. D. Bernal, and Julian Huxley used accessible modes of communication, such as science fiction and popular science articles, to present their vision of technocracy, a government by scientific experts. In this talk will see the unique turn that technocracy was given by biologists in Great Britain and the place they imagine for their colonial holdings. In an attempt to convince the general public these three scientists used an array of popular publications. In particular, each of these scientists devoted time and effort to writing science fiction. For example, Haldane’s “The Last Judgment”, reflected on the changes that directed evolution could have on the human population through the next millennia. Bernal’s “The World, the Flesh and the Devil” incorporated his knowledge of physics and biology to show how humanity could not only colonize the rest of the solar system but conquer the stars. Finally, Huxley’s “The Tissue-Culture King”, tells the story of an African society that becomes more advanced than the West thanks to a European biologist who has been granted unlimited funding to develop genetic engineering. This talk will examine their proposals, and the methods they used to try to convince the public that the optimal form of government is one ruled by scientists.

Author

• Luis Felipe Eguiarte Souza, University of Minnesota