Australian entomologist (1940?2017)
Bernard d'Abrera
(28 August 1940 ? 13 January 2017) was an Australian
entomological
taxonomist
and
philosopher of science
, particularly noted for his books on true butterflies (
Papilionoidea
) and larger moths of the world (
Saturniidae
and
Sphingidae
). Referred to as one of the world's best-known
lepidopterists
by
The Daily Telegraph
,
[1]
his work since 1982 was openly critical of
evolution
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Bernard d'Abrera was a graduate of the
University of New South Wales
in
Sydney
, Australia. While at the university in 1964 he with a group of other students kidnapped an alligator from
Taronga Zoo
as a
Foundation Day
prank. Using 80 biology students as a shield, the group captured the animal in a bag and walked out through the turnstiles. The animal was returned after payment of a £100 ransom, which went towards establishing the first aboriginal scholarship of the University of New South Wales.
[2]
He received his
Bachelor of Arts
in 1965, with a double major in History & Philosophy of Science and History. He has a diploma in Education (Melbourne T.C., 1972).
D'Abrera spent over forty years photographing museum specimens of butterflies and moths, as well as identifying and cataloguing specimens around the world.
[3]
He has also visited the
Macleay Museum
[4]
in
Sydney
.
He contributed his butterfly and moth photographs to other books not authored by him.
[3]
[5]
The
D'Abrera's tiger
,
Parantica dabrerai
, an Indonesian butterfly species is named for him, as is
Gnathothlibus dabrera
, a species of Indonesian moth.
[6]
In 1978, d'Abrera helped uncover a smuggling ring on
Papua New Guinea
estimated to have earned at least $200,000 annually through the rare butterfly black market.
[7]
In 1982, d'Abrera and his wife Lucilla founded Hill House Publishers, a publishing house based in
Melbourne
and
London
, to publish among other things, his own work. In 1987, Hill House began a project to produce antiquarian facsimiles of the works of Victorian ornithologist
John Gould
, based on the Natural History Museum's collection.
[8]
Hill House also publishes authentic facsimiles of documents, prints, and antiquarian maps, including an atlas of the
Dutch Indies
for the Royal Dutch Geographical Society (KNAG ? Gemilang, Landsmeer, 1990).
[9]
In a 2002 review of the book
The Last Sorcerer: Echoes of the Rainforest
,
Townsend Letter
quoted from d'Abrera's 1984 book
Butterflies of South America,
writing: "The greatest number and diversity of insect and plant species occur in the Neotropics, a vast amount of which is still being discovered and described. Paradoxically, an almost equal amount of unknown creatures is being destroyed even before their discovery, because of the violent and ruthless destruction by civilized man of the complex miracles that make up the Neotropical ecosystem. History alone will pour out its wrathful judgement on these disgraceful goings-on, because contemporary man is too besotted with economic trivia to comprehend the consequences of his avaricious deeds. ? Bernard D'Abrera Butterflies of South America (1984)."
[10]
Evolution
[
edit
]
D'Abrera is listed as a signatory on the petition known as "
A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism
", a
campaign
begun in 2001 by the
Discovery Institute
. D'Abrera is also a fellow of the pro-
intelligent design
organization,
International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
.
[11]
D'Abrera was strongly opposed to the theory of evolution because in his view it is not a bona fide scientific theory. He describes evolution theory as "viscid, asphyxiating baggage" that requires "blind religious faith",
[12]
He believed it cannot be tested or demonstrated in any natural frame of reference, and therefore it may not be considered even a scientific postulate. The
objection that evolution is unfalsifiable
has been widely rejected by the scientific community. D'Abrera's views on evolution and science have been criticised by Arthur Shapiro, who describes him as "profoundly anti-scientific ? not
un
scientific, but hostile to science."
[13]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
Arthur Shapiro
, an
evolutionary biologist
and
entomologist
at the
University of California at Davis
, described d'Abrera's books thus:
[14]
Attention should be paid to their stupidities, their errors, their pig-headedness, their bad writing. The thing is, as I say in my reviews, they're absolutely indispensable. There's nothing else like them. If you're trying to identify exotic butterflies outside your geographic area, the primary and secondary literatures are so scattered and relatively inaccessible, you're out of hope. Big coffee table picture books are the only way to go. But if you're going to do that, at least get input from the people in the areas you cover geographically so you don't make an ass of yourself.
Philip James DeVries
described him as "likely one of the best known lepidopterists in the world, and therefore, an eminence on all things butterfly'.
[15]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Charles Clover (27 November 2004).
"Museum's move puts butterfly world in a flutter"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London. p. 5
. Retrieved
28 January
2018
.
- ^
"University of New South Wales ? Records and Archives Office ? Foundation Day Exhibition"
. Recordkeeping.unsw.edu.au
. Retrieved
10 August
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Opinion and Order
Archived
14 May 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
, Retrieved August 2011
- ^
Macleay Museum News
Archived
12 September 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
, usyd.edu.au. Retrieved August 2011
- ^
UK.
"The Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula ? AS Corbet and HM Pendlebury"
. NHBS
. Retrieved
10 August
2011
.
- ^
"The Sphingidae of Southeast"
. Sphin-sea.unibas.ch. Archived from
the original
on 26 July 2011
. Retrieved
10 August
2011
.
- ^
Sandra Salmans (19 April 1978).
"Australian entomologist Bernard D'Abrera comments on network of smugglers and black marketeers"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
7 December
2010
.
- ^
"About Hill House Publishers | HillHouse"
. Hillhouse-publishers.com. Archived from
the original
on 11 July 2011
. Retrieved
10 August
2011
.
- ^
"Official Website for Hill House Publishers"
. Hill House Publishers. Archived from
the original
on 21 December 2019
. Retrieved
26 November
2007
.
- ^
Irene Alleger (1 February 2002). "Adventure and Research in the Rainforest. (Book Corner)".
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
. p. 14.
- ^
Society Fellows
,
International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
official website.
- ^
Concise Atlas of the Butterflies of the World
, Bernard d'Abrera, Hill House Publishers, Melb.& Lond., 2001,
ISBN
978-0-947352-37-0
.
- ^
Shapiro, Arthur.
"(Review of) Bernard d'Abrera, Butterflies of the Holarctic Region, Part I"
(PDF)
.
Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera
.
30
(1?2): 142?144. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 July 2011
. Retrieved
4 December
2010
.
- ^
Laufer, Peter. (2009).
The dangerous world of butterflies : the startling subculture of criminals, collectors, and conservationist
. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press. p.
215
.
ISBN
1-59921-555-1
.
- ^
Peabody research
Archived
7 August 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
, Retrieved August 2011
External links
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