John Baker (biologist)
| John Randal Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 October 1900 Woodbridge, Suffolk |
| Died | 8 June 1984 (aged 83) |
| Citizenship |
 British |
| Fields | Biology, physical anthropology |
| Institutions | University of Oxford |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Thesis | Sex studies on mammals (1927) |
| Doctoral students | Jock Marshall |
John Randal Baker FRS[1] (23 October 1900 – 8 June 1984) was a biologist, zoologist, and professor at the University of Oxford (where he was the Emeritus Reader in Cytology) in the mid-twentieth century. He is best remembered for his 1974 book, Race, which classifies human races in the same way in which animal subspecies are classified. John Baker received his PhD at the University of Oxford in 1927.
Family
His papers in the Bodleian Library include papers relating to the Indian Mutiny, Ashanti Campaign, Egyptian Campaign of 1882, and other military campaigns of General Sir Archibald Alison, 2nd Baronet, who was J R Baker's maternal grandfather. [2]
Work
In Race, Baker explores, among other things, the nature of civilization, giving 23 criteria by which civilizations may be identified. He explores the relationship between the biological traits and the cultures of five civilizations. Based on these criteria, Baker declared that Mesoamerican societies such as the Aztecs and Maya were not civilizations, and that no indigenous civilizations ever arose in Africa. These claims and the scientific evidence presented were comprehensively challenged in a review by O.A. Ladimeji -"Science, Racism and Social Darwinism" . Baker rejected the methodological relativism that has characterized anthropology since the days of Franz Boas, instead going back to earlier ideas of hereditarianism and cultural evolution.
Together with Michael Polanyi, Baker founded the Society for Freedom in Science in 1940. In March, 1958 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[3]
Bibliography
- Sex in man and animals ... with a preface by Julian S. Huxley, 1926
- Man and animals in the New Hebrides, 1929
- Cytological technique, 1933
- Biology in everyday life, 1934
- Chemical control of conception, with a chapter by H. M. Carleton, 1935
- Scientific life, 1942
- Science and the planned state, 1945
- Discovery of the uses of colouring agents in biological micro-technique, 1945
- Path of science, by C. E. Kenneth Mees ... with the cooperation of John R. Baker ... 1946
- Principles of biological microtechnique; a study of fixation and dyeing, 1958
- Cytological technique; the principles underlying routine methods, 1960
- Cell structure and its interpretation; essays presented to John Randal Baker, F.R.S. Edited by S. M. McGee-Russell and K. F. A. Ross, 1968
- Race, 1974
- "Science, Racism and Social Darwinism: A Review of Race by John R Baker"; by O.A. Ladimeji - Race & Class 1974
- Evolution : the modern synthesis by Julian Huxley ; with a new introd. edited by John R. Baker, 1974
- Freedom of science, 1975
- Julian Huxley, scientist and world citizen, 1887 to 1975 : a biographical memoir, with a bibliography compiled by Jens-Peter Green, 1978
- Biology of parasitic protozoa, 1982
- Cell theory : a restatement, history, and critique, 1988
See also
References
- ↑ Willmer, E. N.; Brunet, P. C. J. (1985). "John Randal Baker. 23 October 1900-8 June 1984". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 31: 32. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1985.0002.
- ↑ Details of papers held in Bodleian
- ↑ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 8 December 2010.