Derek Abbott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960 (age 64–65) South Kensington, London, England |
| Citizenship | British, Australian |
| Alma mater | Loughborough University University of Adelaide |
| Occupation(s) | Physicist,electronic engineer |
| Known for | Parrondo's paradox Stochastics T-rays |
| Spouse | Rachel Egan (m.2010) |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Laureate Fellow (2024) M. A. Sargent Medal (2019) Barry Inglis Medal (2018) David Dewhurst Medal (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering |
| Institutions | University of Adelaide Austek Microsystems GEC Hirst Research Centre |
| Thesis | GaAs MESFET Photodetectors for imaging arrays (1995) |
| Doctoral advisors | Kamran Eshraghian Bruce R. Davis |
| Other academic advisors | Michael A. Brown |
| Doctoral students | Mark D. McDonnell |
| Website | Derek Abbott's Home Page |
Derek Abbott (born 1960) is a British-Australianphysicist andelectronic engineer, and professor at the University of Adelaide. He is known for claiming to have identified the "Somerton Man", whose body had been found decades earlier on anAdelaide beach but never identified, using DNA evidence. However this has not been officially verified by police.
Derek Abbott was born inSouth Kensington, London, UK, in 1960.[1]
From 1969 to 1971, he was a boarder atCopthorne Preparatory School, Sussex.[1] From 1971 to 1978, he attendedHolland Park School inLondon.[1]
In late 1977, Abbott began work atGEC Hirst Research Centre, Wembley, UK,[2] performing research in the area ofCCD andmicrochip design forimaging systems. Whilst working, he graduated in 1982 with a BSc inPhysics fromLoughborough University.[3]
In 1986, he began work as a microchip designer atAustek Microsystems inAdelaide, Australia. In 1987, he joined theUniversity of Adelaide, completing his PhD thesis inElectrical & Electronic Engineering in 1995, entitledGaAsMESFETPhotodetectors forImaging Arrays, underKamran Eshraghian andBruce R. Davis.[4]
He became a fellow of theIEEE in 2005 "for contributions to analysis of noise and stochastic phenomena in vision systems".[5] He received anAustralian Laureate Fellowship in 2024,[6] for ultrasensitiveT-ray detection.
In March 2009, a University of Adelaide team led by Abbott began an attempt to solve theSomerton Man case involving an unidentified man being found dead near Adelaide in 1948. This involves genetic analysis and proposing to exhume the body to test for DNA.[7] His investigations have led to questions concerning the assumptions police had made on the case. Abbott also tracked down theBarbourwaxed cotton of the period and found packaging variations. This may provide clues to the country where it was purchased.[8]
The man was found with a scrap of paper and an apparently encrypted message: decryption was being started from scratch.[when?] It had been determined the letter frequency was considerably different from letters written down randomly; the frequency was to be further tested to determine if the alcohol level of the writer could alter random distribution. The format of the code also appeared to follow thequatrain format of theRubaiyat, supporting the theory that the code was aone-time padencryptionalgorithm. Copies of theRubaiyat,as well as theTalmud and Bible, were being compared to the code using computers to get a statistical base for letter frequencies. However, the code's short length meant the investigators would require the exact edition of the book used. With the original copy lost in the 1960s, researchers have been looking for a FitzGerald edition without success.[8]
An investigation had shown that the Somerton Man'sautopsy reports of 1948 and 1949 are now missing and theBarr Smith Library's collection of Cleland's notes do not contain anything on the case. Maciej Henneberg, professor ofanatomy at the University of Adelaide, examined images of the Somerton man's ears and found that his cymba (upper ear hollow) is larger than his cavum (lower ear hollow), a feature possessed by only 1–2% of theCaucasian population.[9] In May 2009, Abbott consulted with dental experts who concluded that the Somerton Man hadhypodontia (a rare genetic disorder) of both lateralincisors, a feature present in only 2% of the general population. In June 2010, Abbott obtained a photograph of Jessica Thomson's eldest son Robin, which clearly showed that he – like the unknown man – had not only a larger cymba than cavum but also hypodontia. The chance that this was a coincidence has been estimated as between one in 10,000,000 and one in 20,000,000.[10]
The media have suggested that Robin Thomson, who was 16 months old in 1948 and died in 2009, may have been a child of either Alf Boxall or the Somerton Man and passed off as Prosper Thomson's son. DNA testing would confirm or eliminate this speculation.[11] Abbott believes an exhumation and anautosomalDNA test could link the Somerton man to a shortlist of surnames which, along with existing clues to the man's identity, would be the "final piece of the puzzle". However, in October 2011, Attorney GeneralJohn Rau refused permission to exhume the body, stating: "There needs to be public interest reasons that go well beyond public curiosity or broad scientific interest."
Feltus said he was still contacted by people in Europe who believed the man was a missing relative but did not believe an exhumation and finding the man's family grouping would provide answers to relatives, as "during that period so many war criminals changed their names and came to different countries".[12]
In July 2013, Abbott released an artistic impression he commissioned of the Somerton man, believing this might finally lead to an identification. "All this time we've been publishing the autopsy photo, and it's hard to tell what something looks like from that", Abbott said.[13]
In December 2017, Abbott announced three "excellent" hairs "at the right development stage for extracting DNA" had been found on the plaster cast of the corpse, and had been submitted for analysis to the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide. Processing the results could reportedly take up to a year.[14] In February 2018, the University of Adelaide team obtained a high definition analysis of themitochondrial DNA from the hair sample from Somerton Man. They found that he and his mother belonged tohaplogroup H4a1a1a, which is possessed by only 1% of Europeans.[15]
On 26 July 2022, Abbott announced that he and American genealogistColleen Fitzpatrick had used DNA websites such asAncestry.com to build a family tree of over 4,000 people.[16] In March 2022, they narrowed this to Melbourne man Carl "Charles" Webb, an electrical engineer and instrument maker, who had no death record. Abbott said that on 23 July, "the final pieces of DNA proof were found to fully identify Webb as the Somerton Man."[17]South Australia Police and Forensic Science South Australia said they had not verified Abbott's findings, and that further comment would be provided "when results from the testing are received."[18]
After initially contacting her to seek her DNA, Abbott married Rachel Egan in 2010, and they have three children.[19][20][21][22]
