Douglas Dewar
Encyclopedia
Douglas Dewar was a barrister
, British civil servant in India and an ornithologist
. He wrote widely in newspapers such as The Madras Mail, Pioneer, Times of India and periodicals such as the Civil and Military Gazette
and Bird Notes.
In his early education, he had been taught the ideas of evolution and was half-hearted in his acceptance of the principles. Although his early works on ornithology seemed to accept ideas of adaptation and selection, he later became a creationist and published a number of books and debates attacking evolution, and was the founding secretary-treasurer in the Evolution Protest Movement in 1932 along with Bernard Acworth. He leaned towards the idea of old earth creationism
but questioned radiometric dating
. His book, The Transformist Illusion published posthumously in 1957 attempted to show the failure of evolution using examples such as the infinitesimal probability of proteins arising out of random mixing, the fossil record, bird anatomy, blood group incompatibilities, and queried evolutionary claims in embryology and vestigial organs. Reviewers pointed out the problems in his objections.
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, British civil servant in India and an ornithologist
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
. He wrote widely in newspapers such as The Madras Mail, Pioneer, Times of India and periodicals such as the Civil and Military Gazette
Civil and Military Gazette
The Civil and Military Gazette was a daily English language newspaper founded in 1872 in British India. It was published from Lahore, Simla and Karachi, some times simultaneously, until its closure in 1963.-History:...
and Bird Notes.
Biography
He particularly advanced field studies of birds and he wrote in his Birds of the Plains:- "The ornithological world is peopled by two classes of human beings. There are those who study nature inside the museum with the microscope and scalpel and there are those who live to observe birds In the open and study their habits." He accuses the museum ornithologists of needlessly multiplying new species and altering names, too much attention being paid to local variations.
In his early education, he had been taught the ideas of evolution and was half-hearted in his acceptance of the principles. Although his early works on ornithology seemed to accept ideas of adaptation and selection, he later became a creationist and published a number of books and debates attacking evolution, and was the founding secretary-treasurer in the Evolution Protest Movement in 1932 along with Bernard Acworth. He leaned towards the idea of old earth creationism
Old Earth creationism
Old Earth creationism is an umbrella term for a number of types of creationism, including gap creationism and progressive creationism...
but questioned radiometric dating
Radiometric dating
Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...
. His book, The Transformist Illusion published posthumously in 1957 attempted to show the failure of evolution using examples such as the infinitesimal probability of proteins arising out of random mixing, the fossil record, bird anatomy, blood group incompatibilities, and queried evolutionary claims in embryology and vestigial organs. Reviewers pointed out the problems in his objections.
Writings
He wrote several books; in his earlier career on the birds of India, and later, critical of evolution:- Douglas Dewar, Frank FinnFrank FinnFrank Finn FZS, MBOU was an English ornithologist.Finn was born in Maidstone and educated at Maidstone Grammar School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He went on a collecting expedition to East Africa in 1892, and became First Assistant Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta in 1894, and...
(1909) The making of species. London, New York, J. Lane Company. - Dewar, Douglas (1916) A bird calendar for northern India. Scanned book
- Dewar, Douglas (1913) Glimpses of Indian birds. Scanned book
- Dewar, Douglas (1908) Birds of the plains. Scanned book
- Dewar, Douglas (1906) Bombay ducks; an account of some of the every-day birds and beasts found in a naturalist's Eldorado. Scanned book
- Dewar, Douglas (1923) Himalayan and Kashmiri birds, being a key to the birds commonly seen in summer in the Himalayas & Kashmir
- Dewar, Douglas (1931) Difficulties of the evolution theory. London : E. Arnold & co.
- Dewar, Douglas (1936) Man: a special creation. London: Thynne.
- Dewar, Douglas (1938) More Difficulties of the Evolution Theory. London: Thynne.
- Dewar, Douglas, H.S. Shelton and Arnold LunnArnold LunnSir Arnold Henry Moore Lunn was a famous skier, mountaineer and writer. He was knighted for "services to British Skiing and Anglo-Swiss relations" in 1952.He was born in Madras, India and died in London.-Early life:...
(1947) Is evolution proved? / a debate between Douglas Dewar and H.S. Shelton. With an introd. by the editor, Arnold Lunn. London: Hollis and Carter - Dewar, Douglas (1949) Is evolution a myth? : a debate between Douglas Dewar, L. Merson Davies and J.B.S. Haldane, London: C.A. Watts/Paternoster Press.
- Dewar, Douglas (1957) The Transformist Illusion. Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Dehoff Publications