Nabokov Theory on Butterfly Evolution Is Vindicated

[Lee Hurrell]

A friend sent me a very interesting article from the New York Times. I had no idea the author of Lolita was a lepidopterist. There are also some interesting points about genetics:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/scien ... ted=1&_r=1

Cheers

Lee

[Padfield]

An American friend of mine sent me the same link yesterday too. Very interesting - and a higher quality of journalism than I am used to in English newspapers, I might add!

Nabokov settled in Switzerland and he and his wife are buried near Montreux. His collection is housed in Lausanne - I should probably make an effort to go and see it.

A great man.

Guy

[Perseus]

Posted before me:

Nabokov Theory on Butterfly Evolution Is Vindicated

Vladimir Nabokov may be known to most people as the author of classic novels like “Lolita” and “Pale Fire.” But even as he was writing those books, Nabokov had a parallel existence as a self-taught expert on butterflies.

And in a speculative moment in 1945, he came up with a sweeping hypothesis for the evolution of the butterflies he studied, a group known as the Polyommatus blues. He envisioned them coming to the New World from Asia over millions of years in a series of waves.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/scien ... ted=1&_r=1

[Charles Nicol]

today's Telegraph has a similar article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... right.html

Charles