INTERVIEWER: What has the study of biology taught you about the Creator, Dr. Haldane?
HALDANE: I’m not sure, but He seems to be inordinately fond of beetles.

J.B.S. Haldane (1892-1964) English geneticist [John Burden Sanderson Haldane]
(Attributed)

Variations are given in a variety of sources. A direct, citeable quote on the theme can be found in J.B.S. Haldane, What is Life? (1949):
The Creator would appear as endowed with a passion for stars, on the one hand, and for beetles on the other, for the simple reason that there are nearly 300,000 species of beetle known, and perhaps more, as compared with somewhat less than 9,000 species of birds and a little over 10,000 species of mammals. Beetles are actually more numerous than the species of any other insect order. That kind of thing is characteristic of nature.

 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 2-Mar-12
Link to this post | No comments
More quotes by Haldane, J.B.S.

Thoughts? Comments? Corrections? Feedback?