Darwin – myths, voyages and notebooks: Evolution events in March and April

Evolution Festival

Darwin celebrations continue with thought-provoking talks and exhibitions across the country.

In this bulletin we highlight 15 evolution events taking place in March and April. Some of them are finishing soon, including the Darwin exhibition at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra, so don’t delay if you want to see them.

Charles Darwin – voyages and ideas that shook the world opens today at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney.

The opening will be marked by a two day symposium. In the wake of the Beagle: Science in the Southern Oceans from the Age of Darwin is being held at the National Maritime Museum on 20-21 March. Internationally acclaimed speakers will explore the work of Darwin and his contemporaries, Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley and Alfred Wallace, and their influence on current scientific research.

Jim Endersby will de-bunk some of the myths surrounding Darwin’s theory of evolution and its reception in the 19th century in talks in Sydney.

Have we reached our evolutionary ceiling? Are we clever enough to get into big trouble but not clever enough to get out of it? Ronald Wright will be exploring these questions in a series of talks around the country. Can it be that human evolution has led us to a sticky situation?

There are also many events we don’t yet know about. We ask everyone running Darwin-related events to register them at www.evolutionaustralia.org.au so we can include you in future bulletins and pr0motions.

Please also include us in your media lists. We will be telling journalists about newsworthy Darwinian activities.

More below and at www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog

Kind regards,

Niall

0417 131 977

niall@scienceinpublic.com.au

www.scienceinpublic.com/blog

Maritime exhibition on Darwin at sea opens in Sydney

Join Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle in Charles Darwin – voyages and ideas that shook the world, at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney, opening Friday 20 March. See how Darwin lived aboard the Beagle and examine some of the specimens he collected on the voyage which set him on the path to his theory of evolution.

Coinciding with the opening of the exhibition, a symposium In the wake of the Beagle: Science in the Southern Oceans from the Age of Darwin is being held at the National Maritime Museum on 20-21 March. Internationally acclaimed speakers will explore the work of Darwin and his contemporaries, Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley and Alfred Wallace, and their influence on current scientific research.

And also at the ANMM, Happy Birthday Mr Darwin on Thursday 26 March. What were the contributions of artist Conrad Martens, who spent a year on the Beagle, and Joseph Hooker, who classified Darwin’s Galapagos plants and became his greatest friend.

Last chance to see Darwin at the NMA, Canberra

Darwin’s original notebooks used on the Beagle and a reconstruction of his study share the stage with living plants and animals in the Darwin exhibition at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra. The exhibition, which is organised by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, will be closing on Sunday 29 March.

The accompanying NMA exhibition, Darwin and Australia, showing Darwin’s experiences and encounters during his visit to Australia, closes on the same day.

Did nature make a mistake when she enlarged the brains of apes?

In “Darwin’s ape and the progress trap” Ronald Wright raises the question of whether mankind has reached its evolutionary ceiling. Are we clever enough to get into big trouble but not clever enough to get out of it? Ronald, a writer, historian and archaeologist, is giving a series of public lectures around the country in March and April, in Darwin, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart, sponsored by the National Academies Forum.

What did Darwin say exactly?

Jim Endersby de-bunks some of the myths surrounding Darwin’s On the Origin of Species by looking at exactly what Darwin did and didn’t say, and how his contemporaries reacted to his book. Jim is speaking at the Australian Museum, Sydney.

Jim also examines the bitter disputes among experts in the 19th century about the right system that should be used to classify living things. Jim, editor of the commemorative edition of On the Origin of Species, will examine the some of the complexities of 19th century order in a public lecture at the Macleay Museum, Sydney.

Other Darwin exhibitions around the country

  • Science inspires art in Generate – an exhibition exploring Darwin’s scientific theories and his emotional life by scientist-turned-artist Julie Ryder. At the Australian Botanic Gardens, Canberra, until 26 March.
  • Dinosaurs made out of 3500 tonnes of sand are on display at the Frankston waterfront, in Victoria, until 26 April. Dinostory presents creatures that roamed Gondwana in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
  • One of the 1250 copies of the first edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species is among many rare, beautiful and significant books on display at the Mirror of the World exhibition at the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne.
  • Darwin to DNA at the Melbourne Museum explores the discovery of evolution by Darwin and his contemporary Alfred Russel Wallace including specimens they collected. It then takes you further into the genetic mechanisms of DNA, and how we can use DNA to examine questions about evolution.
  • The quirky side of Charles Darwin is on display at the Melbourne Museum in the exhibition Five things about Charles Darwin, on until 31 May.
  • Darwin himself was wary of the impact he knew his theory of evolution would have. The events and influences shaping Darwin are explored in Charles Darwin: the reluctant revolutionary at the Queensland Museum, Brisbane, until 31 December.
  • Crocodiles and their kind are an evolutionary success story – they have been around for the past 200 million years. See one of the largest crocodilians that ever existed in Supercrocodilians – Darwin’s ultimate survival story at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, until 29 November.

And a conference in April:

  • Adelaide Conference on Mathematical and Evolutionary Biology, Port Elliot, SA

Read about these and other events at http://evolutionaustralia.org.au

We acknowledge the generous support of Science Minister Carr through the Commonwealth Department of Innovation, Industry, Science & Research; the State Government of Victoria; and the University of Melbourne. Together they are supporting the national promotion and branding of evolution events.