Tim Berra

Tim Berra (born August 31, 1943) is the author of the 1990 book, "Evolution and the Myth of Creationism." Dr. Tim M. Berra is Professor Emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State University. He is a two-time Fulbright Fellow, and after retirement has pursued his special interests in the zoology of Australia, often on grant from the National Geographic Society.

Berra's book was the result of his having been asked to help local curriculum writers create a mandated curriculum to include all the science that demonstrated creationism. The writers had been unable to find science journal articles explaining the evidence for creationism. Berra pointed out that such articles do not exist. The book describes, for policy makers, why politics cannot mandate science that cannot be done. It is notable for a point-by-point rebuttal to chief claims of creationism.

Dr. Tim M. Berra is Professor Emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State University. He received the Ph.D. in Biology from Tulane University in 1969. He is a two-time recipient of Fulbright Fellowships to Australia in 1969 and 1979. He taught at the University of Papua New Guinea before joining the faculty of OSU in 1972. Over the last 39 years he has spent over 7 years doing fieldwork in Australia. Dr. Berra is the author of over 70 scientific papers and 6 books including Evolution and the Myth of Creationism published by Stanford University Press in 1990. His book A Natural History of Australia (Academic Press, 1998) features 200 of his color photographs, 220 line drawings and maps, and over 500 references. Freshwater Fish Distribution featuring 169 maps, 324 fish drawings and 1,700 references was published by University of Chicago Press in 2007. His latest book, Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man, will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press in November 2008 and features 60 b/w illustrations and 16 color plates. Dr. Berra is the former editor of The Ohio Journal of Science and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium where he also served on the Conservation and Collection Management Committee. He was also the ichthyological book review editor of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and a member of the Board of Governors of the Society. Dr. Berra resigned these positions at the end of 2000 to pursue fieldwork supported by the National Geographic Society and the Columbus Zoo in Australia in 2001. He is Research Associate at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia where he spent most of 2001 working on the life history of the nurseryfish. He returned to Darwin in 2003, 2004, and 2005 to continue his nurseryfish research. In 1992 he was visiting professor at the University of Concepcion in Chile, and in 1996 he was visiting professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He took early retirement from Ohio State University in July 1995 to devote full time to research, writing, and photography.

References

*Tim Berra, "Evolution and the Myth of Creationism" (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1990), pp. 117-119.

ee also

*intelligent design
*Nursery fish