Welcome
Reg Morrison, a well-known Australian photographer whose pictures
have appeared around the world in newspapers, books and magazines,
has, in the past 20 years, become a specialist writer on a wide
range of environmental and evolutionary subjects. Feel free to
browse this site and download some of his ground-breaking
work on a wide range of topics including the evolutionary origin
of spirituality, the genetic foundation
of "Free Will", an iconoclastic assessment of the Iraq
war, the delusion of "Clean
Coal",
GM crops and vanishing bees, and for those with a strong stomach,
a cold-eyed and science-based prognosis for our species' survival.
To view current articles:
Some of these articles incorporate numerous photos and diagrams
and are relatively slow to open on-screen.
They may be downloaded to your desktop however, and you also have
the option in some cases to view a FlashPaper version.
To download: right-click your
mouse and select "download
linked file".
Topics: SCIENCE
… PHOTOGRAPHY
… POLITICS
Science
- 'FREE WILL'? … IT'S
UNAVOIDABLE! (1.1 MB) Right-click
to download PDF
Tyrants, beware.
- HYDROGEN:
Life's Maker and Breaker (3.5 MB) Right-click
to download PDF
A reassessment of life: hydrogen's cosmic role, and its part
in the future of our species.
The primary molecular ingredients of earthly life are carbon,
hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur (CHNOPS). All
six play vital and particular roles in the structure and behavior
of organisms, but the traditional emphasis on carbon obscures
a more accurate, cosmic view of the biota, the biosphere and
our place within it. This skewed perspective effectively conceals
the magnitude and immediacy of the threats we face on this hydrogen-regulated
planet.
 
- MEET THE
TOOLMAKER (1.16 MB)
Right-click to download PDF
Axiom: "Humans are the only animals
that make and use tools."
This means that they are uniquely rational and Special … Right?
Er … Wrong!
-
FINGERPRINTS
OF THE COSMOS—Chaos and its Fractals (5
MB) Right-click
to download PDF
All thermodynamic entropy
is inherently chaotic and fractal and is
determined by repetitive feedback (iteration)
within kinetic energy gradients. Fractal
patterns have been recognised as a primary
characteristic of the natural world for at
least 2,500 years (see Heraclitus quote,
p.2). Nevertheless, such patterns were not
explored in much detail until the early 1960’s
when, with the aid of computers, meteorologist
Edward Lorenz began to analyse the iterative
and fractal nature of weather patterns. He
presented his research in 1963 in a short,
little-noted paper entitled “Does the
flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil
set off a tornado in Texas?”. Lorenz’ proposition,
which later became widely acclaimed as Chaos
theory, has also become known as the Butterfly
Effect. Extensive research has since revealed
chaotic ‘order’ in such diverse
phenomena as the folds in filo pastry, the
dripping of taps and the beating of hearts.
(Precisely regular heartbeats signal a life-threatening
lack of bodily feedback: slightly chaotic
heart-beats are synonymous with good health.)
-
THE MYTHOLOGY OF MEMES (FlashPaper)
A reassessment of Richard Dawkins 'Memes' from an evolutionary
perspective.
The genetic facts behind his popular fantasy.
-
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
A bouquet for Beethoven and bacteria.
Photography
- In BLACK & WHITE:
Australia 1960—1975 (11.7
MB) Right-click
to download linked PDF
"These
were indeed momentous years, not merely from a historical
perspective, for this was the period during which our species
made the ominous evolutionary transition from explosive
population growth to global fecundity decline …"
- A
ONE-EYED VIEW (1.2 MB)
Right-click to download linked
PDF
"If 'Art' is the only
label that fits a picture of mine, then
as a photographer, I have utterly failed."
A brief historical overview of photography, the most
wonderful form of graphic communication that our species
ever devised.
- ANATOMY
OF A PHOTOGRAPH (FlashPaper or PDF 2.6MB)
"Hunting, shooting, and fishing for photographs
that bite." A general guide to the craft
of shooting, cropping and reading photographs.
Politics
- WHO'S WINNING IN IRAQ (268
KB) Right-click to download
PDF
A brief summary of the
origin and mechanics of the most audacious international 'sting'
of all time, the 'sting' that snared America, Britain and Australia,
and altered the course of civilization.
- INTELLIGENT DESIGN v.
INTELLIGENT EDUCATION
"If schools
also want to present students with Intelligent Design, I don't
have any difficulty with that."
(Liberal Education
Minister Brendan Nelson, August 2005.)
Dear
Dr Nelson, which
part of the word 'science' don't you understand?
(Dr Nelson became Leader of the Liberal
Coalition in 2007, was deposed in 2008, and is now on the
Liberal back bench.)
- ID
AND THE
EVOLUTION OF CREATIONISM by Dr Alex Ritchie, formerly
Senior Research Scientist (Paleaontology) at the Australian
Museum.
- LEST WE FORGET
The 'Stolen Generation' painting in the background was by
Perth artist Allan Baker. The Aboriginal child in the foreground,
'Peter', was the first admitted to Ngal-a, a 'mothercraft
home', when it opened in 1959. Peter was later assigned to
foster parents. This picture was used on the front page of
The West Australian on 21.3.61.
Ngala was one of a number of homes set up to care for orphaned
and neglected children who had been 'taken into care' when
it was deemed necessary for the child's welfare. This included
'half-cast' Aboriginal children as well as some 'full-bloods'
where local authorities felt that fostering by white parents
would give the child a better chance a 'full life' in white
society. (Photo: Reg Morrison)
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