Jean Rostand

Jean Edmond Cyrus Rostand (30 October 1894, Paris – 4 September 1977, Ville-d'Avray) was a French biologist and philosopher.

Jean Rostand
Born(1894-10-30)30 October 1894
Paris, France
Died4 September 1977(1977-09-04) (aged 82)
Ville-d'Avray, France
NationalityFrench
Known forMember of the Académie française
Parent(s)Edmond Rostand
Rosemonde Gérard
RelativesMaurice Rostand (brother)

Active as an experimental biologist, Rostand became famous for his work as a science writer, as well as a philosopher and an activist. His scientific work covered a variety of biological fields such as amphibian embryology, parthenogenesis and teratogeny, while his literary output extended into popular science, history of science and philosophy. His work in the area of cryogenics gave the idea of cryonics to Robert Ettinger.[1]

Rostand Island in Antarctica is named after him.

Biography

Rostand was born to playwright Edmond Rostand[2] and poet Rosemonde Gérard. He was the brother of novelist and playwright Maurice Rostand.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Rostand was elected to the Académie française in 1959.[2]

Rostand was active in several causes, in particular against nuclear proliferation and the death penalty. An agnostic, he demonstrated humanist convictions. He wrote several books on the question of eugenism and the responsibilities of mankind regarding its own fate and its place in nature.

He is famous for the following quotation: "Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a God." From Thoughts of a Biologist, 1938.

Works
  • Le retour des pauvres , 1919 - Return of the poor
  • La loi des riches, 1920 - The law of the rich
  • Pendant qu’on souffre encore, 1921 - While suffering endures
  • Ignace ou l'Écrivain , 1923 - Ignace or the writer
  • Deux angoisses : la mort, l’amour, 1924 - Two anguishes: love and death
  • De la vanité et de quelques autres sujets , 1925 - Of vanity and several other subjects
  • Les familiotes et autres essais de mystique bourgeoise, 1925 - The familiotes and other essayd of the bourgeois mystique
  • De l’amour des idées , 1926 - On the love of ideas
  • Le mariage, 1927 - Marriage
  • Valère ou l’Exaspéré , 1927 - Valère or The exasperated
  • Julien ou Une conscience, 1928 - Julien or A conscience
  • Les chromosomes, artisans de l’hérédité et du sexe, 1929 - Chromosomes, artesans of heredity and sex
  • De la mouche à l’Homme, 1930 - From fly to man
  • L’état présent du transformisme, 1931 - The current state of transformism
  • Journal d’un caractère, 1931 - Journal of a character
  • L’Évolution des espèces, 1932 - The evolution of species
  • Les problèmes de l’hérédité et du sexe, 1933 - The problems of heredity and sex
  • L’aventure humaine, 1933 - The human adventure
  • La vie des libellules, 1935 - The life of dragonflies
  • Insectes, 1936 - Insects
  • La nouvelle biologie, 1937 - The new biology
  • Biologie et médecine, 1938 - Biology and medicine
  • Hérédité et racisme, 1938 - Heredity and racism
  • Pensée d’un biologiste, 1938 - Thoughts from a biologist
  • La vie et ses problèmes, 1938 - Life and its problems
  • Science et génération, 1940 - Science and generation
  • Les idées nouvelles de la génétique, 1941 - New ideas in genetics
  • L’Homme, introduction à l’étude de la biologie humaine , 1941 - Man, introduction to the study of human biology
  • L’Homme, maître de la vie, 1941 - Man, master of life
  • Hommes de vérité 1942 - Men of truth
  • L’avenir de la biologie, 1943 - The future of biology
  • La genèse de la vie, histoire des idées sur la génération spontanée , 1943 - Genesis of life, a history of the ideas on spontaneous generation
  • La vie des vers à soie , 1944 - The life of silkworms
  • Esquisse d’une histoire de la biologie , 1945 - Sketch of a history of biology
  • L’avenir de la biologie, 1946 - The future of biology
  • Qu’est-ce qu’un enfant ?, 1946 - What is a child?
  • Charles Darwin , 1947
  • Nouvelles pensées d’un biologiste, 1947 - New thoughts from a biologist
  • L’hérédité humaine , 1948 - Human heredity
  • Hommes de vérité II , 1948 - Men of truth II
  • La biologie et l’avenir humain, 1949 - Biology and the human future
  • L’Homme devant la biologie, 1949 - Man facing biology
  • La parthénogenèse, reproduction virginale chez les animaux, 1949 - Parthenogenesis, virginal reproduction in animals
  • La parthénogenèse animale, 1949 - Animal parthenogenesis
  • La génétique des batraciens, 1951 - Batrachian genetics
  • Les grands courants de la biologie , 1951 - Great trends in biology
  • Les origines de la biologie expérimentale et l’abbé Spallanzani , 1951 - The origins of experimental biology and the abbott Spallanzani
  • L’hérédité humaine, 1952 - Human heredity
  • Pages d’un moraliste , 1952 - Pages by a moralist
  • Ce que nous apprennent les crapauds et les grenouilles, 1953 - What toads and frogs teach us
  • La vie, cette aventure, 1953 - Life, that adventure
  • Ce que je crois, 1953 - What I believe
  • Instruire sur l’Homme, 1953 - To instruct on Man
  • Notes d’un biologiste , 1954 - Notes from a biologist
  • Les crapauds et les grenouilles et quelques grands problèmes biologiques, 1955 - Toads, frogs and a few great problems in biology
  • Le problème biologique de l’individu, 1955 - The biological problem of the individual
  • L’Homme en l’an 2000 , 1956 - Man in the year 2000
  • Peut-on modifier l’Homme ?, 1956 - Can we modify Man?
  • L’atomisme en biologie, 1956- Atomism in biology
  • Bestiaire d’amour, 1958 - A bestiary of love
  • Aux sources de la biologie, 1958 - At the sources of biology
  • Anomalies des amphibiens anoures, 1958 - Anomalies of anurian amphibians
  • Science fausse et fausses sciences, 1958 - Erroneous science and false science
  • Les origines de la biologie expérimentale , 1959 - Origins of experimental biology
  • Carnet d’un biologiste , 1959 - Notepad of a biologist
  • Espoirs et inquiétudes de l’homme , 1959 - The hopes and worries of Man
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References
  1. Regis, Ed (1991). Great Mambo Chicken And The Transhuman Condition: Science Slightly Over The Edge. Westview Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-201-56751-2.
  2. "Jean ROSTAND". Académie française. Retrieved 23 October 2013.

Further reading
  • Marcel Migeo: Les Rostand, Paris, Stock, 1973. About Edmond, Rosemonde, Jean and Maurice Rostand.
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