Captain Bernard Acworth DSO (3 February 1885 – 16 February 1963) was an English submariner, writer,

evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

and

creationist Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 'th ...

Biography

Acworth was trained at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, becoming a submariner during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

in 1917. After retiring from the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, he became a journalist and unsuccessful parliamentary candidate (in 1931 as a Liberal at

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

and as an Independent at Putney in 1942). In 1932 Acworth, Douglas Dewar, Lewis Merson Davies and Sir

Ambrose Fleming Sir John Ambrose Fleming FRS (29 November 1849 – 18 April 1945) was an English electrical engineer and physicist who invented the first thermionic valve or vacuum tube, designed the radio transmitter with which the first transatlantic radi ...

launched the

Evolution Protest Movement The Creation Science Movement (CSM, founded in 1932 as the Evolution Protest Movement) is a British Creationist organisation which lays claim to the title "the oldest creationist movement in the world". It was a member of the Evangelical Alliance u ...

(later named the Creationist Science Movement), which was dedicated to opposing the teaching of evolution as a scientific fact. Acworth also corresponded with

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

regarding his views on the incompatibility of evolution and Christianity. Acworth published some idiosyncratic views on biological matters. He claimed that birds, and other aerial migrants such as butterflies, do not migrate purposefully over particular routes, but wander aimlessly, their apparent routes a result of the prevailing winds at different seasons. He also believed that parasitic

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

s are hybrids between male cuckoos and the females of the host species.Allen, William H. (1957). ''Reviewed Work: Bird and Butterfly Mysteries by Bernard Acworth''. ''Bird-Banding'' 28 (1): 55-56.

Reception

His book ''This Bondage: A Study Of The "Migration" Of Birds, Insects, And Aircraft'' received positive reviews in two science journals.Anonymous. (1930). ''Reviewed Work: This Bondage: A Study Of The "Migration" Of Birds, Insects, And Aircraft, With Some Reflections On "Evolution" And Relativity by Bernard Acworth''. '' British Medical Journal'' 1 (3606): 291. For example the '' British Medical Journal'' described it as a "charming work that will be welcomed by all his fellow bird lovers for the very clear exposition which it contains of the principles of bird flight." A more critical review in ''

The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly. ...

'' criticized the book for trying to discredit the evidence for evolution and noted that:

He fails to take the physical fact of inertia sufficiently into consideration, nor does he grant to most birds the superiority over normal meteorological conditions which they undoubtedly have. He builds up an elaborate theory in which zoological dispersal, migration, and other natural phenomena are dependent ultimately upon temperature plus the winds. While his deductions and reasoning are not without considerable value, they are undoubtedly of most value to one capable of realizing the weakness of Commander Acworth's ornithological information... In developing his own special theories he sets up one straw man after another and succeeds to his satisfaction in knocking it down.

A review of his ''Bird and Butterfly Mysteries'' in the journal ''Bird-Banding'' was also negative:

The kindest possible appraisal of Captain Acworth's theories of migration is that they might be true if birds acted in the way he thinks they do and if they flew in an atmosphere in which there was no turbulence and in which the only winds were the prevailing winds of the climatic charts. But his theories do not hold in the imperfect real world in which ornithologists must work.

Acworth received criticism from naturalists for not being a field observer, something which he confessed to. His arm-chair speculations such as his unorthodox ideas about cuckoos were disproven by observational research. Pike, Oliver G. (1934)
''The Cuckoo's - Secret''
''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

''. p. 20

Publications

Books authored by Acworth include: * 1929 – ''This Bondage: A Study of the "Migration" of Birds, Insects, and Aircraft, with some Reflections on "Evolution" and Relativity''. * 1930 – ''The Navies of Today and Tomorrow. A Study of the Naval Crisis from Within''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1932 – ''Back to the Coal Standard: The Future of Transport and Power''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1934 – ''The Navy and the Next War. A Vindication of Sea Power''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1934 – ''This Progress: The Tragedy of Evolution''.

Rich & Cowan Rich & Cowan Ltd was a book publisher, based at 37 Bedford Square, London WC1. They specialized in literary books. Books * ''A Ghost in Monte Carlo'' by Barbara Cartland, (1951) * ''Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 ...

: London. * 1935 �
''The Restoration of England’s Sea Power''
Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1937 – ''Britain in Danger: An Examination of Our New Navy''. * 1940 – ''How the War Will Be Won''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1940 – ''What We Are Fighting For''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1940 – ''The Navy’s Here!'' Raphael Tuck Books: London. * 1940 – ''Life in a Submarine''. Raphael Tuck Books: London. * 1944 – ''The Cuckoo and Other Bird Mysteries''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1947 – ''Butterfly Miracles and Mysteries''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1947 – ''Swift: A Study''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London. * 1955 – ''Bird and Butterfly Mysteries: Realities of Migration''. Eyre and Spottiswoode: London.

References

External links

Creation Science Movement
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acworth, Bernard 1885 births 1963 deaths British Christian creationists 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy personnel of World War I Royal Navy submariners