William Beebe

William Beebe (July 29, 1877 – June 4, 1962), American naturalist, explorer, and author.

Charles William Beebe was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was curator of ornithology for the New York Zoological Society from 1899 to 1952. He was a self-styled "naturalist" and everything living seemed to hold a continuing fascination for him. In 1919 he was also made Director of the Department of Tropical Research.

He wrote many popular books of his expeditions some of which became best sellers ("my potboilers") in the 1920s and 1930s. He was also a regular contributor to the National Geographic Magazine. The money from the sale of these books helped finance his later expeditions. He also wrote his magnificent A Monograph of the Pheasants (1918-1922), which remains the classic reference on the subject.

His interest in deep-sea exploration led to the development of the bathysphere, a spherical metal diving vessel. In 1934 he made a record descent of 923m (3,028 ft.) with Otis Barton off Nonsuch Island in Bermuda in 1934. Beebe made a total of 35 dives in the bathysphere.

He was still very active well into his late 70s and early 80's observing nesting birds through his giant specially-made binoculars on a tripod from the verandah of his home in Simla, and even climbing high into trees to observe the eggs of a rare Bellbird. He was always a kind and patient teacher and did everything he could to encourage budding naturalists.

He set up a camp for jungle studies in 1942 at Caripito, Venezuela. In 1950, when he was 73 years old, he bought with his own money 228 acres (92 hectares) of land in the Arima Valley (Trinidad and Tobago) which he named "Simla". This land became the New York Zoological Society's Tropical Research Station in Trinidad. The New York Zoological Society Simla Research Station was directed by Dr. Jocelyn Crane after Dr. Beebe's death and later donated to the Trust.

The Simla Research Station adjoined an old cocoa plantation owned by the remarkable Icelandic woman, Asa Wright, who for years was the entertaining and and always patient host to the numerous scientists, artists, photographers and nature lovers who came to visit the Research Station.

The world renowned American Audubon Society purchased Asa Wright's home, and the two properties were united. They are now run through collaboration with the Trinidad Field Naturalist Society as the Asa Wright Nature Centre, one of the finest bird watching sites in the Caribbean.

Among Dr. Beebe's many popular books are: Two Bird-Lovers in Mexico (1905); The Bird (1906); The Log of the Sun (1906); Our Search for a Wilderness (1910); Tropical Wild Life (1917); Jungle Peace (1918); Edge of the Jungle (1921); Galápagos: World's End (1924): Jungle Days (1925); The Arcturus Adventure (1926); Pheasants, Their Lives and Homes (1926); Pheasant Jungles (1927); Beneath Tropic Seas (1928); Nonsuch: Land of Water (1932); Exploring with Beebe (1932); Field Book of the Shore Fishes of Bermuda (1933); Zaca Venture (1938); Book of Bays (1947); High Jungle (1949); The Edge of the Jungle (1950); Unseen Life of New York (1953); Half Mile Down (1951); and Adventuring with Beebe (1955), which is a selection from his earlier works.

References

• Carol Grant Gould. The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer and Naturalist. Shearwater Books. (2004). (This excellent biography also contains a useful "Selected Bibliography" of Beebe's publications and of relevant books and articles by other authors.)

• Fairfield Osborn. "My Most Unforgettable Character." Readers' Digest Magazine, July 1968, pp. 140-149.

• Brad Matsen. Descent - The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss. Pantheon Books. (2005).

External links

• Asa Wright Nature Centre & Lodge (http://www.asawright.org/)
• William Beebe Tropical Research Station (http://www.wbtrs.org/index.html)
• Article on the Centre from Nalis (http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Places/Place_AsaWrightNatureCenter.html)
• Website dedicated to Beebe (http://hometown.aol.com/chines6930/mw1/beebe1.htm)de:Charles William Beebe