Bernard d'Abrera
Encyclopedia
Bernard d'Abrera is 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
, his work since 1982 has been openly critical of the evolutionary theory.
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 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.
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 has spent over forty years photographing museum specimens of butterflies and moths, as well as identifying and cataloguing specimens around the world. D'Abrera's research has been conducted primarily in the Natural History Museum
in London. D'Abrera began photographing the Natural History Museum's collection in 1969, completing the task in 2005. He has also visited the Macleay Museum
in Sydney
, the Museum Victoria
in Melbourne
, the Royal Museum for Central Africa
at Tervuren
, Belgium
, the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, the Museum für Naturkunde, the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
and others. In total he has taken over 60,000 images of butterfly and moth specimens, representing 18,000 species of buterflies as well as most of the larger moths of the world.
He published his first book, Butterflies of the Australian Region, in 1971. His magnum opus
comprises a series of works forming a synoptic reference to the true butterflies, hawkmoths and saturniid moths
of the whole world, which is based largely on the collections of the Natural History Museum
in London
, and other worldwide museums, public and private. The works comprise taxonomic text of over 4 million words, illustrated with over 66,000 coloured figures, over approximately 7,500 pages (see Hill House Publishers web site for list of titles, regions and families treated). With only minimal contributions (by invitation) from others, d'Abrera has produced all of the photographs and illustrations, and all of the text in his 32 volumes (so far) on the butterflies and larger moths from all the faunal regions of the world. He has also contributed his butterfly and moth photographs to other books not authored by him.
D'Abrera has described several new genera as well as over 100 new species and subspecies. The D'Abrera's Tiger
, Parantica dabrerai, an Indonesian butterfly species is named for him, as is Gnathothlibus
dabrera, a species of Indonesian moth.
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 blackmarket.
In 1982, d'Abrera and his wife Lucilla founded Hill House Publishers, a publishing house based in Melbourne
and London
, to publish inter alia, 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. 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). 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)."
", 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
.
D'Abrera is 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", He believes 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 unscientific, but hostile to science."
, an evolutionary biologist and entomologist at the University of California at Davis, describes d'Abrera's books thus:
Philip James DeVries
describes him as 'one of the best known Lepidopterists in the world, and therefore, an eminence on all things butterfly'.
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, particularly noted for his books on true butterflies (Papilionoidea
Papilionoidea
The superfamily Papilionoidea contains all the butterflies except for the skippers, which are classified in superfamily Hesperioidea, and the moth-like Hedyloidea....
) and larger moths of the world (Saturniidae
Saturniidae
The Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, are among the largest and most spectacular of the moths. They form a family of Lepidoptera, with an estimated 1,300 to 1,500 described species worldwide...
and Sphingidae
Sphingidae
Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...
). Referred to as one of the world's best-known lepidopterists by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, his work since 1982 has been openly critical of the evolutionary theory.
Biography
Bernard d'Abrera is a graduate of the University of New South WalesUniversity of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. 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 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.
He received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
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 has spent over forty years photographing museum specimens of butterflies and moths, as well as identifying and cataloguing specimens around the world. D'Abrera's research has been conducted primarily in the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London. D'Abrera began photographing the Natural History Museum's collection in 1969, completing the task in 2005. He has also visited the Macleay Museum
Macleay Museum
The Macleay Museum in Sydney, Australia, is a natural history museum located on the main campus of the University of Sydney.- History :The building in which the museum is housed was built off Science Lane in 1887...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria
Museum Victoria is an organisation which operates three major state-owned museums in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; these are: the Melbourne Museum, the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks. It also manages the Royal Exhibition Building and a storage facility in Melbourne's City of Moreland.Museum...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, the Royal Museum for Central Africa
Royal Museum for Central Africa
The Royal Museum for Central Africa is an ethnographical and natural history museum in Tervuren, just outside Brussels, Belgium. It was first built to show off King Leopold II's Congo Free State for the 1897 World Exhibition. It focuses mainly on Congo, Belgium's former colony...
at Tervuren
Tervuren
Tervuren is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Duisburg, Tervuren, Vossem and Moorsel. On January 1, 2006, Tervuren had a total population of 20,636...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, the Museum für Naturkunde, the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle is the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.- History :The museum was formally founded on 10 June 1793, during the French Revolution...
and others. In total he has taken over 60,000 images of butterfly and moth specimens, representing 18,000 species of buterflies as well as most of the larger moths of the world.
He published his first book, Butterflies of the Australian Region, in 1971. His magnum opus
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
comprises a series of works forming a synoptic reference to the true butterflies, hawkmoths and saturniid moths
Saturniidae
The Saturniidae, commonly known as saturniids, are among the largest and most spectacular of the moths. They form a family of Lepidoptera, with an estimated 1,300 to 1,500 described species worldwide...
of the whole world, which is based largely on the collections of the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and other worldwide museums, public and private. The works comprise taxonomic text of over 4 million words, illustrated with over 66,000 coloured figures, over approximately 7,500 pages (see Hill House Publishers web site for list of titles, regions and families treated). With only minimal contributions (by invitation) from others, d'Abrera has produced all of the photographs and illustrations, and all of the text in his 32 volumes (so far) on the butterflies and larger moths from all the faunal regions of the world. He has also contributed his butterfly and moth photographs to other books not authored by him.
D'Abrera has described several new genera as well as over 100 new species and subspecies. The D'Abrera's Tiger
D'Abrera's Tiger
The D'Abrera's Tiger is a species of nymphalid butterfly in the Danainae subfamily. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia....
, Parantica dabrerai, an Indonesian butterfly species is named for him, as is Gnathothlibus
Gnathothlibus
Gnathothlibus is a genus of moths in the Sphingidae family.-Species:*Gnathothlibus australiensis - Lachlan, 2004*Gnathothlibus brendelli - Hayes 1983*Gnathothlibus collardi - Haxaire, 2002*Gnathothlibus dabrera - Eitschberger 1999...
dabrera, a species of Indonesian moth.
In 1978, d'Abrera helped uncover a smuggling ring on Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
estimated to have earned at least $200,000 annually through the rare butterfly blackmarket.
In 1982, d'Abrera and his wife Lucilla founded Hill House Publishers, a publishing house based in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, to publish inter alia, his own work. In 1987, Hill House began a project to produce antiquarian facsimiles of the works of Victorian ornithologist John Gould
John Gould
John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
, based on the Natural History Museum's collection. 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). In a 2002 review of the book The Last Sorcerer: Echoes of the Rainforest, Townsend Letter
Townsend Letter
The Townsend Letter is a periodical publication focusing on alternative medicine which has been in circulation since 1983. It aims to provide the alternative medical community with a forum to discuss a wide variety of health-related topics. The Letter notes in a disclaimer: "We encourage reports...
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)."
Evolution
D'Abrera is listed as a signatory on the petition known as "A Scientific Dissent from DarwinismA Scientific Dissent From Darwinism
A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism is a statement issued in 2001 by the Discovery Institute, a conservative non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, USA, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design.The statement expresses skepticism about the ability of random...
", a campaign
Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns
Discovery Institute intelligent design campaigns are a series of related public relations campaigns conducted by the Discovery Institute which seek to promote intelligent design while attempting to discredit evolutionary biology, which the Institute terms "Darwinism." The Discovery Institute is the...
begun in 2001 by the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
. D'Abrera is also a fellow of the pro-intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
organization, International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
International Society for Complexity, Information and Design
The International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design was a non-profit professional society that promoted intelligent design...
.
D'Abrera is 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", He believes 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 unscientific, but hostile to science."
Critical reception
Arthur ShapiroArthur Shapiro
Arthur Shapiro is a professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis. He graduated with an AB in biology from University of Pennsylvania and completed his PhD in Entomology at Cornell in 1970. He is known as an interesting character to see around campus as he refuses to...
, an evolutionary biologist and entomologist at the University of California at Davis, describes d'Abrera's books thus:
Philip James DeVries
Philip James DeVries
Philip James DeVries PhD is a tropical biologist whose research focuses on insect ecology and evolution, especially butterflies...
describes him as 'one of the best known Lepidopterists in the world, and therefore, an eminence on all things butterfly'.
External links
- Hill House Publishers.
- Bernard d'Abrera - a brief biography, Bernard d'Abrera 2007, "Learn About Butterflies" website, Adrian Hoskins.
- Bernard d'Abrera, International Society for Complexity, Information and DesignInternational Society for Complexity, Information and DesignThe International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design was a non-profit professional society that promoted intelligent design...
official website. - Reviews of Butterflies of South America, Thomas C. Emmel, Arthur ShapiroArthur ShapiroArthur Shapiro is a professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis. He graduated with an AB in biology from University of Pennsylvania and completed his PhD in Entomology at Cornell in 1970. He is known as an interesting character to see around campus as he refuses to...
, Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, 23:172-173.