Louis Charles Birch (1918–2009) was an Australian

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processes ...

specialising in

population ecology Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment, such as birth and death rates, and by immigration and emigration. The discipline is import ...

and was also well known as a

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, writing widely on the topic of science and religion, winning the

Templeton Prize The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...

in 1990. The prize recognised his work ascribing intrinsic value to all life.Birch, Louis Charles (Charles) (1918 - )
The University of Melbourne Scholarship Research Centre, 1994 - 2007

Early life

Birch was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 8 February 1918, the son of Harry Birch, a New Zealand-born bank manager with the ES&A Bank, and his Irish-born wife, Nora. He had a twin brother, Sidney, and an older brother, Hugh. Birch attended Scotch College, Melbourne, and focused on agriculture at university in Melbourne."A Man of Science and Religion"
1918-2009 Charles Birch, Sydney Morning Herald obituary. Birch was educated at

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

, receiving a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 1939. His first job was in the entomology department at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, where he earned a Doctorate of Science in 1941.

Career

During his six years of entomological research with his then-supervisor, Herbert Andrewartha, with whom he forged a close relationship, Birch demonstrated that external processes, driven by weather and other types of disturbance, were vastly important in controlling the numbers and distribution of animals. This radical challenge to the prevailing views, namely that populations were self-regulating based on competition for limited resources, became one of Birch's major and enduring contributions to the science of ecology. In 1948, Birch became a senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

. Birch was later promoted to Reader in Zoology in 1954, and then the Challis Chair of Biology, which he held for 25 years from 1960 to 1984.

Views

Birch credited Dr Herbert Andrewartha as having a great influence on him, teaching him "to think" and to discover "the social responsibility of the scientist", saying:

In view of the enormous transformation of the modern world as a result of science and technology, the scientist is responsible for much that has happened both good and bad. This understanding is based on the premise that science is not value free.

Death

Birch died on 19 December 2009. He never married. He was survived by his twin, Sidney, and sister-in-law, Jenny.

Publications

* ''The Distribution and Abundance of Animals'', with H. G. Andrewartha. University of Chicago Press, 1954 * ''Nature and God'', SCM Press, 1965 * ''Confronting the Future: Australia and the world: the next hundred years'', Penguin Books, 1975 (2nd edition 1993) * ''Genetics and the Quality of Life'', with Paul Abrecht. Pergamon Press, 1975. * ''Another Australia in a Just and Sustainable Global Society: An Address'' University of Newcastle, 1976. * ''The Liberation of Life: From the Cell to the Community'', with John B. Cobb Jr., Cambridge University Press, 1981. * ''The Ecological Web: more on the distribution and abundance of animals'', with H. G. Andrewartha. University of Chicago Press, 1984. * ''Liberating Life: Contemporary Approaches to Ecological Theory'', Orbis, 1990 * ''On Purpose'', UNSW Press, 1990. (published in the US as ''A Purpose for Everything: Religion in a Postmodern World View'', Twentythird Publications, 1990. ) * ''Regaining Compassion for Humanity and Nature'', UNSW Press, 1993. * ''Feelings'', UNSW Press, 1995. * ''Living With the Animals: The Community of God's Creatures'', with Lukas Vischer. Risk Book Series, World Council of Churches, 1996. * ''Biology and the Riddle of Life'', co-published by UNSW Press (Australia), 1999. * ''Life and Work: Challenging Economic Man'', with David Paul. UNSW Press, 2003. * ''Science and Soul'', co-published by UNSW Press (Australia), 2007 and Templeton Foundation Press (USA), 2008.

References

External links

Charles Birch
Australian Biography

by Charles Birch

Charles Birch interviewed by Stephen Crittenden on The Religion Report, ABC Radio National, 19 December 2007.

Sydney Morning Herald, 23 December 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Charles 1918 births 2009 deaths Australian geneticists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Templeton Prize laureates