Postcolonial scientific masculinities: the correspondence of Arthur C Clarke and J B S Haldane

This paper examines postcolonial scientific masculinities in India and Ceylon/Sri LankaFootnote1 through a comparative analysis of the lives of Arthur C Clarke and J B S Haldane, two of Britain’s most influential science popularisers of the twentieth century, including the correspondence between them. It considers some well-understood tropes of imperial practise such as exploration, adventure and tropicality, alongside more nuanced topics including the vulnerability and mutability of the male body as scientific subject, the moral geographies of science across postcolonial space, and the queering of scientific masculinities. Initially, brief introductions to Clarke and Haldane are provided, including their lifepaths and some of their best-known works. Following a discussion of relevant literature, the paper explores their scientific identities in greater depth, drawing intertextually from archival, biographical and other published accounts. Subsequently, correspondence between the two writers that took place in the 1950s and 1960s are examined. The paper argues that postcolonial space enabled Clarke and Haldane to reconcile their scientific masculinities against hegemonic conceptions, in ways which can inform the geographies of masculinity in the present day.