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 cuckoos are hybrids between male cuckoos and the females of the host species.[4]
Reception
His book This Bondage: A Study Of The "Migration" Of Birds, Insects, And Aircraft received positive reviews in two science journals.[5][6] 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."[5] A more critical review in The Auk 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.[7]
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.[4]
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.[4][8]
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. ASINB0006AKPPY
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: London.
^ abcAllen, William H. (1957). Reviewed Work: Bird and Butterfly Mysteries by Bernard Acworth. Bird-Banding 28 (1): 55-56.
^ abAnonymous. (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.
^H. S. T. (1930). This Bondage: A Study of the "Migration" of Birds, Insects, and Aircraft, with some Reflections on "Evolution" and Relativity by Bernard Acworth. Science Progress in the Twentieth Century (1919-1933) 24 (96): 732.
^R. C. M. (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. The Auk 47 (4): 585-586.
