Huxley, Julian

British biologist, known for his work on transhumanism and its potential for human enhancement.
He challenged the scientific concept of race, replacing it with the term “ethnic group”. In 1946, he
was the first director of UNESCO (where it is asserted that the human race is unique, the species
homo sapiens); he also founded the WWF. After studying in England, Germany and Italy, he was
asked to teach biology at Rice University (Houston/Texas) from 1913 onwards. In 1916, a
convinced internationalist, he returned to Europe to take part in the war effort. In 1925, he
became Professor of Zoology at King’s College London, but resigned in 1927 to devote himself
and H.G.Wells to writing The Science of Life full-time. In 1941, he was invited to teach in the U.S.,
but caused a controversy by declaring (before the attack on Pearl Harbor) that the U.S. should
join the War. He took part in the modern synthesis of evolution. He translated works by Pierre de
Teilhard de Chardin. In 1963, for example, in Evolution, a modern synthesis, he wrote: “The
human condition is so different from the biological condition that it is perhaps best to abandon the attempt to apply concepts such as natural selection to the affairs of modern humanity”. He was a member of the advisory committee that presided over the creation of the IHEU [International Humanist and Ethical Union] in 1952.