Science Saturday
There are a plethora of prominent examples of the mutual influence between the arts and sciences: Leonardo De Vinci, Albert Einstein, Maria Sibylla Merian, Hedy Lemarr, Geothe. The painter behind today’s Science Saturday offering, Abbott H. Thayer, did indeed make some lasting contributions to natural science, most notably on the role of countershading nature, sometimes referred to as Thayer’s Law, and on disruptive patterning. His writings on animal camouflage were influential in the development of tactical camouflage during World War I, urged on by Thayer himself.
Published in New York in 1909 by Macmillan, Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom: An Exposition of the Laws of Disguise Through Color and Pattern: Being a Summary of Abbott H. Thayer’s Discoveries was the culmination of Thayer’s work on the subject. Authorship is credited to Gerald H. Thayer, with his father Abbott H. Thayer’s contributing an introductory essay and many of the illustrations. The elder and younger Thayers collaborated extensively on the book, which was printed in New York at The Trow Press, with lithographs and half-tone prints by A. Hoen & Co. of Baltimore.
Despite the aforementioned lasting contributions, the book received scathing criticism from the scientific and naturalist community, including being roundly mocked by Theodore Roosevelt. While some of Thayer’s observations were sound, he insisted that every aspect of animal coloration was rooted in camouflage, a theory that lacked scientific rigor. Take the example of the flamingo (illustrated in the final image above): Thayer argues that their vibrant plumage is camouflage because, for a brief period during sunrise and sunset, the animals might appear to blend into the horizon when viewed by predators from below the water line. There is no attempt to explain how their bright pink hue might help them escape predation for the other 23 or so hours of the day.
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-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern
