Diversity of moths in Lebanon

Description

LebanonPostcard presents the book Insects’ Role in the Environment – Diversity of moths in Lebanon by Professor Abdul Mun’im Talhouk, hardcover, used rare book, 24×17 cm, 272 pages, English, 1997.

Before assuming his hereditary title of “Sheikh” from his well-born family, deep-rooted in Lebanon’s history, he has acquired the moral title of “prince and master” scholar. He relinquished the family title to go running in fields and wilderness, searching for an insect to catch as if “bitten” by one.

Should we try to caricaturize A.S. Talhouk, we would draw a spectacled giant overlooking a giant insect and asking “whom might it be? and what might it have
done to that tree, that fruit or that flower?” And if he were to caricaturize himself, he would draw an insect focussing a microscope and looking at him lying flat
under its lens, and asking “who is that detective interested in me?”

This great man in the eyes of his students, disciples and associates does not consider himself exceptional, for so modest and so unpretentious he is.

One day, he called me from Basel in Switzerland, a few hours from Geneva where I was working, to inform me that he would be coming by train on a certain date,
just to see me and to introduce me to his eminent English friend, so that all of us entomologists would meet. At the agreed hour, my wife and I went to the
station to witness coming down from a wagon the man with his cane, wearing a raincoat similar to the one worn by that other “detective”, the smart and pleasant
Colombo. It was a warm reunion at one of the station’s restaurants, where we enjoyed his company, his talks and his wits. He later departed as he came, without
having left the terminal. A friend indeed this special “Homo sapiens.”

This book is a glance at Dr. Talhouk’s long experience with nature and science, and his love for the world of insects. He knows and we all know, that a lifetime of
an entomologist is but a drop in the infinite world of insects. And Professor Talhouk who spent most of his life searching to uncover its secrets, finds himself
today, after having published a considerable number of books, essays and articles, still distant from total knowledge.

The work of this eminent scholar from my country has put Lebanon on the lips of all specialists working on insects that attack fruits and all agricultural products. And, if some of his fellow researchers fail to recall his name, they will always remember that a Lebanese studied and discovered this or that insect that bears his name.

Sheikh Abdul Mun’im Talhouk, the Doctor, and the University Professor, is a researcher down deep to his bones. He spent all of his life seeking knowledge,
worked relentlessly, answered lovingly to all those who requested his help, offering information, knowledge and enlightenment. His fondness for knowledge
and his search to uncover the hidden secrets of nature, his innate modesty, his affection for others, his broad-mindedness and his fabulous humane qualities are but some of his qualities that brought him the love, the respect and esteem of his students, his associates and all those who have known him.

Georges Tohmé
Past President, Lebanese University

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