Professor Charles Birch, Dead at 91. (December 24, 2009)

Through much of his life he travelled parallel intellectual universes of science and religion attempting to meld them into a philosophical whole, and in 1990 he was joint winner of the Templeton Prize for his efforts. In awarding the prize the foundation's citation reads:

L. Charles Birch, Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia, engaged in adventurous reflection on questions of science and faith throughout his career as a biologist and geneticist. He saw modern discoveries about natural science as expanding the understanding of God as designer and creator of the universe and its creatures.

Louis Charles Birch was born in Melbourne on February 8, 1918; he attended Scotch College, Melbourne, and graduated in agriculture from The University of Melbourne in 1939. In 1941, he took a master of science degree at the University of Adelaide.

Following World War II he took up a research fellowship at the University of Chicago and in 1947 travelled to Oxford University to study animal population dynamics.

1948 saw him join the staff of The University of Sydney as a senior lecturer in zoology. He was offered the Challis Chair of Biology in 1960 a position he held until his retirement in 1983.

Professor Birch was the author of nine books and 150 published papers. His books include: The Distribution and Abundance of Animals with H.G. Andrewartha (1954), Nature and God (1965); Genetics and the Quality of Life (1975); The Liberation of Life: From Cell to the Community (1981); On Purpose (1984); Regaining Compassion: for Humanity and Nature (1993) and Science & Soul, (2008).