Problem: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (; Russian: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, pronounced [vla'djimjIr na'bok@f] ( listen), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin; 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1899 - 2 July 1977) was a Russian-American novelist, translator and entomologist.

Nabokov's interest in entomology had been inspired by books of Maria Sibylla Merian he had found in the attic of his family's country home in Vyra. Throughout an extensive career of collecting he never learned to drive a car, and he depended on his wife Vera to take him to collecting sites. During the 1940s, as a research fellow in zoology, he was responsible for organizing the butterfly collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. His writings in this area were highly technical. This, combined with his specialty in the relatively unspectacular tribe Polyommatini of the family Lycaenidae, has left this facet of his life little explored by most admirers of his literary works. He described the Karner blue. The genus Nabokovia was named after him in honor of this work, as were a number of butterfly and moth species (e.g. many species in the genera Madeleinea and Pseudolucia bear epithets alluding to Nabokov or names from his novels). In 1967, Nabokov commented: "The pleasures and rewards of literary inspiration are nothing beside the rapture of discovering a new organ under the microscope or an undescribed species on a mountainside in Iran or Peru. It is not improbable that had there been no revolution in Russia, I would have devoted myself entirely to lepidopterology and never written any novels at all."  The palaeontologist and essayist Stephen Jay Gould discussed Nabokov's lepidoptery in his essay, "No Science Without Fancy, No Art Without Facts: The Lepidoptery of Vladimir Nabokov" (reprinted in I Have Landed). Gould notes that Nabokov was occasionally a scientific "stick-in-the-mud". For example, Nabokov never accepted that genetics or the counting of chromosomes could be a valid way to distinguish species of insects, and relied on the traditional (for lepidopterists) microscopic comparison of their genitalia.  The Harvard Museum of Natural History, which now contains the Museum of Comparative Zoology, still possesses Nabokov's "genitalia cabinet", where the author stored his collection of male blue butterfly genitalia. "Nabokov was a serious taxonomist," says museum staff writer Nancy Pick, author of The Rarest of the Rare: Stories Behind the Treasures at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. "He actually did quite a good job at distinguishing species that you would not think were different--by looking at their genitalia under a microscope six hours a day, seven days a week, until his eyesight was permanently impaired." The rest of his collection, about 4,300 specimens, was given to the Lausanne's Museum of Zoology in Switzerland.  Though his work was not taken seriously by professional lepidopterists during his life, new genetic research supports Nabokov's hypothesis that a group of butterfly species, called the Polyommatus blues, came to the New World over the Bering Strait in five waves, eventually reaching Chile.  Many of Nabokov's fans have tried to ascribe literary value to his scientific papers, Gould notes. Conversely, others have claimed that his scientific work enriched his literary output. Gould advocates a third view, holding that the other two positions are examples of the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Rather than assuming that either side of Nabokov's work caused or stimulated the other, Gould proposes that both stemmed from Nabokov's love of detail, contemplation, and symmetry.

what animal did he wok on

Answer with quotes: male blue butterfly


Problem: Conacher was born in Toronto, Ontario on May 24, 1900. His middle name was given after the South African city of Pretoria, where British troops were fighting the Boer War at the time of his birth. He was the eldest son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Conacher, and the third of ten children overall. He had four brothers and five sisters.

Conacher scored the first goal in Pirates history on American Thanksgiving Day Thursday November 26, 1925, against the Boston Bruins. He scored nine goals in 33 games in 1925-26, then returned to Toronto to play professional baseball with the Toronto Maple Leafs. An outfielder on the team, Conacher and the Maple Leafs won the International League championship then defeated the Louisville Colonels to win the Little World Series.  He returned to Pittsburgh for the 1926-27 NHL season, but was dealt early in the year to the New York Americans in exchange for Charlie Langlois and $2,000. The trade nearly proved disastrous for Conacher. He scored 8 goals in 1926-27 and improved to 11 in 1927-28, but playing for a team owned by notorious bootlegger Bill Dwyer resulted in his becoming a heavy drinker. Conacher served as player-coach in 1929-30, but his play and health had deteriorated. Two events in that off-season saved Conacher: he swore off alcohol completely upon the birth of his first child, and his playing rights were sold to the Montreal Maroons.  Conacher periodically struggled with Montreal, and at one point was placed on waivers with no other team willing to take over his contract. Nonetheless, his overall play and point totals increased for three consecutive seasons with the Maroons, peaking at 28 points in 1932-33. He was named to the Second All-Star Team that season, but was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks in exchange for Teddy Graham. Conacher was a key figure in the club's first-ever Stanley Cup victory that season. He finished second to the Canadiens' Aurel Joliat in the voting for the Hart Trophy and earned a spot on the NHL's First All-Star Team.  On Wednesday October 3, 1934, Conacher was involved in one of the largest transactions in league history. He was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, along with Leroy Goldsworthy and Roger Jenkins in exchange for Montreal superstar Howie Morenz, Lorne Chabot and Marty Burke. The deal was only part of a series of trades involving four teams that represented one of the biggest deals in NHL history. Immediately following the Chicago trade, Conacher was sent back to the Maroons, along with Herb Cain, in exchange for the rights to Nelson Crutchfield. Conacher spent his last three NHL seasons with the Maroons and won his second Stanley Cup in 1935. He ended his hockey career after the team was eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers on April 23, 1937. That final year he was runner-up to Babe Siebert in the 1937 Hart Trophy voting and was placed on the NHL Second All-Star Team.

How did his professional career begin?

Answer with quotes:
Conacher scored the first goal in Pirates history on American Thanksgiving Day Thursday November 26, 1925, against the Boston Bruins.