Polymath Charles Brewer-Carias
Charles Brewer-Carías Website - Link
Article on Charles Brewer's new book entitled “Symbology of the Yekuana Basketry” - The Humboldt of the 21st Centuryes.aleteia.org/2019/08/10/el-humboldt-del-siglo-xxi-charles-brewer-carias/
Article on Charles Brewer's new book entitled “Symbology of the Yekuana Basketry” - The Humboldt of the 21st Centuryes.aleteia.org/2019/08/10/el-humboldt-del-siglo-xxi-charles-brewer-carias/
I describe myself as a discoverer and, also as an explorer in the eighteenth century frame
- Charles Brewer
- Charles Brewer
Polymath Victorian Explorer
The Victorians had a love affair with the natural world. From carnivorous pitcher plants to the Victorian hobby of butterfly collecting and exploring far flung corners of the earth to catalogue and bring back new species, they were trailblazers in their field. On a whole the 21st century world has lost the curiosity and wonder that captivated the Victorian scientists and explorers. Victorian scientists where well known for their work in natural history and exploration. While the current scientific community encourages specialization, the hallmark of the Victorian “Ethos was generalization. Like the Victorian Era explorers, Charles is a polymath, a man knowledgeable in many fields of science and learning. In fact he discribes himself as a ‘encyclopedist”
This is striking in a time when men and women of science are confining themselves to steadily narrower fields of study, identifying themselves as strictly geologists, biologists, historians or anthropologists before embarking into their field of research. This is not for Charles. His disdain for such limiting specialization harks back to a time when scientists were people who knew something about everything, and could, on their own, study a rock formation, pottery shard, or insect with equal competence and authority. In this day and age, he exemplifies the Victorian ethos of discovery.
This is striking in a time when men and women of science are confining themselves to steadily narrower fields of study, identifying themselves as strictly geologists, biologists, historians or anthropologists before embarking into their field of research. This is not for Charles. His disdain for such limiting specialization harks back to a time when scientists were people who knew something about everything, and could, on their own, study a rock formation, pottery shard, or insect with equal competence and authority. In this day and age, he exemplifies the Victorian ethos of discovery.
In this day and age, it is hard to believe that anyone could be an explorer, trekking into the wild for the sake of discovering anything still unknown to man. The breed, you may argue, has died out. Too much is known, the world has shrunk since the days of the explorers of Victorian England, and exploring, frankly, isn’t the fashion any longer. Yet Charles Brewer-Carias, who keeps himself fit for the next expedition with daily workouts continues to prove that there is still much to be discovered. Sometimes discribed as the Humboldt of the moden age, Brewer-Carias is a man from another time. The 74-year old ex-dentist describes himself as an explorer in the manner of the eighteenth century gentlemen who trekked and charted the then unknown vastness of South America. His expeditions have the same storybook quality that characterized the adventures of Percy Fawcett, Sir Robert Schumbergk and Richard Spruce, and even the fictional exploits of Professor Challenger and Alan Quatermain. He seems like something out of an adventure story, right down to his impressive handlebar moustache and his khakis and he has been unofficially caricatured as the villain in the children’s movie “Up.”
But the man is very real, living and breathing twenty-first century air of his native Venezuela, and, at 74, still going strong. Called the country’s Indiana Jones, Charles has at least 28 new species to his name, has written several books, and can count among his achievements the discovery of the largest sink holes and quartzite caves on the planet, Charles is also a widely known “survival specialist”and holds the record for starting fire with sticks (in 2.7 seconds. Charles is also well-known for his photography. Several books have been published with his showcasing his spectacular natural history Photography. The former dentist has led over 250 expeditions into the heart of the Guayana Highlands of his native Venezuela. Dr Charles is especially interested in the fauna and flora of the tepius, high plateaus surrounded by sheer, steep cliffs on every side. The isolation of these tablelands provided the inspiration for “The Lost World” of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In a reality no less fantastic, it has given rise to plants and animals of stunning uniqueness. While other areas, such as neighboring Colombia, may have more biodiversity, the tepuis, or tabletop mountains, are so unique in their flora, fauna and geology that they are called the "Islands in time" the Galapagos Islands of mainland South America. They hold endless fascination.
But the man is very real, living and breathing twenty-first century air of his native Venezuela, and, at 74, still going strong. Called the country’s Indiana Jones, Charles has at least 28 new species to his name, has written several books, and can count among his achievements the discovery of the largest sink holes and quartzite caves on the planet, Charles is also a widely known “survival specialist”and holds the record for starting fire with sticks (in 2.7 seconds. Charles is also well-known for his photography. Several books have been published with his showcasing his spectacular natural history Photography. The former dentist has led over 250 expeditions into the heart of the Guayana Highlands of his native Venezuela. Dr Charles is especially interested in the fauna and flora of the tepius, high plateaus surrounded by sheer, steep cliffs on every side. The isolation of these tablelands provided the inspiration for “The Lost World” of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In a reality no less fantastic, it has given rise to plants and animals of stunning uniqueness. While other areas, such as neighboring Colombia, may have more biodiversity, the tepuis, or tabletop mountains, are so unique in their flora, fauna and geology that they are called the "Islands in time" the Galapagos Islands of mainland South America. They hold endless fascination.
For someone who isn’t a professional taxonomist, Charles Brewer-Carias has certainly done more than his share of enriching the field. 28 new plant and animal species bear his name, and that’s only counting the discoveries he was given credit for.
Charles expeditions have brought hundreds of these to light. Among his discoveries are a new bromeliads. These aerial plants that grow high up on the trunks of trees, including an entirely new genus (a notch higher than plain species on the taxonomy scale). He found this
new species in 1981. It has glossy leaves and white flowers. He’s found his share of animals too. New insect species bear his name, as does one kind of bird, a lizard, and an incredible amphibious cricket and rare scorpions. And Charles is always on the lookout for new species. Describing the way he works, Charles Brewer-Carias says that he observes the color, shape, and movement of an animal, looking for things out of the ordinary and comparing these to his “stock of memories.” It’s an effective method, and has helped him identify a new frog in his garden by its unusual call and a snail by its odd habit of gnawing out a leaf at night to give it a place to hide from predators during the day. Perhaps his most dramatic finds are the biospeleothems, the coral-like silicate creatures he found growing in the quartzite caves of the tepuis.
Charles expeditions have brought hundreds of these to light. Among his discoveries are a new bromeliads. These aerial plants that grow high up on the trunks of trees, including an entirely new genus (a notch higher than plain species on the taxonomy scale). He found this
new species in 1981. It has glossy leaves and white flowers. He’s found his share of animals too. New insect species bear his name, as does one kind of bird, a lizard, and an incredible amphibious cricket and rare scorpions. And Charles is always on the lookout for new species. Describing the way he works, Charles Brewer-Carias says that he observes the color, shape, and movement of an animal, looking for things out of the ordinary and comparing these to his “stock of memories.” It’s an effective method, and has helped him identify a new frog in his garden by its unusual call and a snail by its odd habit of gnawing out a leaf at night to give it a place to hide from predators during the day. Perhaps his most dramatic finds are the biospeleothems, the coral-like silicate creatures he found growing in the quartzite caves of the tepuis.
They are unlike any life form known, and scientists say that they could be over a million years old, making biospeleothems the oldest living organisms on the planet. Charles Brewer-Carias describes their discovery as “a kind of magic,” something that has never before been known by mankind.
A Biospeleothem is a word derived from the Greek words bios, meaning life and speleothem, meaning cave deposit. It is said to be a life form made up wholly of minerals. It can survive even when water and light is lacking. Because of this, a biospeleothem is considered an extremophile. The species is able to live under conditions that are extremely hostile. Biospeleothem is a term not interchangeable with that of stalactites and stalagmites. This is because biospelothems are not created through drippings of soluble calcium compounds from the cave roof.
Instead, they grow outward just like trees grow; they form rings that are concentric.
A Biospeleothem is a word derived from the Greek words bios, meaning life and speleothem, meaning cave deposit. It is said to be a life form made up wholly of minerals. It can survive even when water and light is lacking. Because of this, a biospeleothem is considered an extremophile. The species is able to live under conditions that are extremely hostile. Biospeleothem is a term not interchangeable with that of stalactites and stalagmites. This is because biospelothems are not created through drippings of soluble calcium compounds from the cave roof.
Instead, they grow outward just like trees grow; they form rings that are concentric.
Bibliography
Click on the imagers below to enlarge
Quote from Mark W. Moffett tropical biologist about Charles Brewer-Carías
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All the photos are the Intellectual property of Charles Brewer-Carías