Darwin Bicentennial

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Goals of the Darwin Society

Promoting the recognition of Darwin's contributions and the importance of teaching evolutionary mechanisms in our schools and colleges.
Strengthening links between high school science teachers and academic scientists and scholars.
- Supporting inquiry-based science education for all students.

Coming Soon! The Cambridge Science Festival April 18th-27th

View The Cambridge Science Festival Flyer 2014

Visit The Cambridge Science Festival Schedule 2014

Video of "THE ORIGINS OF FREEDOM The Continuing Debate Over Equality Lincoln and Darwin" is available

View The Origins of Freedom: the continuing debate over Equality on MIT TechTV

Join Us Wednesday, FEB. 12! 2014

About the project

Darwin Day,

Recent Boston-area Events

Videos of Evolution Symposiums

Darwin's Life, Letters and Work

Darwin and Lincoln

Darwin Illustrations

National and International Events

Resources and Information on Darwin and Evolution

Partners and Sponsors

Celebrating:

Darwin's Birthday

and Lincoln's Birthday

Directions: Enter through the main entrance, Right before you get to the corridor take the elevator on the left to the 3 floor. From the Elevator turn right and then left into the main corridor. Turn into the first hallway on your right and you will see Room 3-333

Map: http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=3

Bring Evolution To Your School/Community For Darwin Day 2014!

Interested in bringing cutting-edge evolutionary science to your school and community? Apply to be a stop on NESCent’s 2014 Darwin Day Roadshow.

NESCent (The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center) is an NSF-funded evolution research center. To celebrate Charles Darwin’s contributionj 0s to science and society, we send our scientists on the road every year around “Darwin Day” (the annual, world-wide celebration of Darwin’s birthday on Feb. 12^th) to talk to students, teachers and the general public about their research and career opportunities in science. Our focus is on small, rural communities (i.e., places that wouldn’t likely have a Darwin Day celebration if they weren’t a stop on our Roadshow) and any schools with traditionally under-served students. There is no cost to you, the teachers, and we’ll even leave you with a collection of evolution teaching resources!

For more information, and to apply to have your school considered, please visit roadshow.nescent.org or contact Jory Weintraub (jory at nescent dot org). Applications are being accepted now through Friday, November 27th.

Darwin in the News

Darwin Day Resolution Introduced In Congress By Rush Holt

Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) introduced a resolution in Congress to make Feb. 12, 2013 "Darwin Day." As reported by the Huffington Post, Holt, a physicist, said, "Charles Darwin [is] a worthy symbol on which to celebrate the achievements of reason, science, and the advancement of human knowledge," Holt wrote in the resolution, which promotes evolution and warns against the "teaching of creationism."

Science Guy Bill Nye Defends Evolution Education

The enthusiastic yet mild-mannered Bill Nye (The Science Guy) has launched a firestorm of outrage from Creationists with his video for The Big Think, an online forum. In the video, Nye asserts that Darwin's theory is necessary to understand the natural world, for children and adults. Nye said, "I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, in your world that's completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them." Creationists reacted with a video of their own, telling Nye not to interfere with what their children learn in school.

Resources for Teachers

Classroom presentations posted:

Malaria and Sickle Cell Disease - Natural Selection at Work

Reading Group Suggestions

Use Janet Browne's short, lively paperback book, Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography (Atlanta Books, London, 2006) for your High School or College class or your Book Club! Amazon

Evolutionary Writings, Including the Autobiographies by Charles Darwin (Edited by James A. Secord)

This volume published by Oxford University Press brings together the key chapters of Darwin's most important and accessible books, including the Journal of Researches on the Beagle voyage (1845), The Origin of Species (1859), and The Descent of Man (1871), along with the full text of his delightful autobiography. They are accompanied by generous selections of responses from Darwin's nineteenth-century readers from across the world. Oxford University Press

The Death of a Galapagos Giant Tortoise

Darwin studied giant tortoises in 1835 when he visited the Galapagos Islands. Read this obituary for Lonesome George, a 100-year-old giant tortoise and the last of his subspecies, from The New York Times, here.

Read the Wall Street Journal's review of Darwin's Ghosts by Rebecca Stott

In Darwin's Ghosts, Rebecca Stott traces the work of the many scholars, philosophers and scientists whose insights into nature and its laws culminated in 'Origin of Species.' Read a review here.

Click here for Darwin Day events in your area.

Organize your own Darwin Day Screening: Nova has produced several films that highlight Darwin and his contributions. They are available online and are easy to view. Have a screening party at school, at home or at work!