Darwin’s Birthday Tribute

--by Hanje Richards

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Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity held on or around February 12, the day in 1809 when Charles Darwin was born. Specifically, it celebrates the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin -- the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection with scientific rigor. More generally, Darwin Day expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity.

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.Charles Darwin was born on the same date, in the same year, as Abraham Lincoln. Last year, they both celebrated their 200th birthdays. Both men facilitated change. Both men remain powerful voices all these years after their deaths. This blog post is in honor and celebration of the contributions of Charles Darwin -- who shook things up in his lifetime, and continues to do so today.

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Happy 201st, Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Darwin!

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Charles Darwin: A Biography (by E. J. Browne) - The first of a two-volume biography of Charles Darwin follows the great nineteenth-century scientist from his youth, through his scientific apprenticeship at sea, to his refinement of the ideas that he presented in Origin of Species.

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Charles Darwin and Evolution (by Steve Parker; grades 5-9) - A brief overview of the scientist's work and ideas that were formed by his research, and by the writings of thinkers such as Thomas Malthus. In the main text, Parker relates Darwin's work to that of other naturalists, then places it in the context of other scientific, political, and artistic events and explorations in his lifetime through the use of a time line. The last double-page chapter describes the work of Gregor Mendel in genetics and the development of neo-Darwinism, which adds the latest DNA research to the work of these two men to form the more complete theory of evolution in use today. The illustrations help to explain some concepts and contibute to the book's attractiveness.

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Darwin and the Beagle (by Alan Moorehead) - Charles Darwin left England in 1831, traveled to the east coast of South America, down to Tierra del Fuego, up the west coast, over to the Galapagos, across the Pacific, and eventually back to his home five years later. Along the way, he made extensive studies of the natural world and began to develop his radical notions of natural selection. This book will give you an excellent idea of what he encountered during his travels.

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Charles Darwin and the Evolution Revolution (by Rebecca Stefoff; grades 7-12) -- On the Origin Of Species, published in 1858, transformed our view of the world and made Charles Darwin one of the most controversial figures in science. This new biography looks at the person behind the controversy whose earth-shaking discoveries and ideas remain as exciting and interesting as today's headlines.

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Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist (by Adrian Desmond & James Moore) - In lively and accessible style, the authors tell how Darwin came to his world-changing conclusions and how he kept his thoughts secret for twenty years. Hailed as the definitive biography, this book explains Darwin's paradox and offers a window on Victorian science, theology, and mores.

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.One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought Ernst Mayr (575 MAY) Evolutionary theory ranks as one of the most powerful concepts of modern civilization. Its effects on our view of life have been wide and deep. One of the most world-shaking books ever published, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, first appeared in print over 130 years ago, and it touched off a debate that rages to this day.

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Mayr has achieved a remarkable distillation of Charles Darwin's scientific thought and his enormous legacy to twentieth-century biology. Here we have an accessible account of the revolutionary ideas that Darwin thrust upon the world. Describing his treatise as "one long argument," Darwin definitively refuted the belief in the divine creation of each individual species, establishing in its place the concept that all of life descended from a common ancestor.

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The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection / The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (by Charles Darwin; "Encyclopedia Britannica Great Books of the Western World, Vol. 49" (1952 ed.)). Two seminal works of science that still cause debate and controversy collected in one book: The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection, and The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex.

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Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of the Theory of Evolution (by David Quamann) - Twenty-one years passed between Charles Darwin's epiphany that "natural selection" formed the basis of evolution and the scientist's publication of On the Origin of Species. Why did Darwin delay, and what happened during the course of those two decades? The human drama and scientific basis of these years constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that elucidates the character of a cautious naturalist who initiated an intellectual revolution.

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Three Men of the Beagle (by Richard Le Marks) - Marks intertwines the stories of English aristocrat Robert FitzRoy, commander of the Beagle; his passenger, Charles Darwin; and a Yahgan Indian kidnapped by the crew, illuminating the ways the West perceives and misperceives other cultures.

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Voyage of the Beagle (by Charles Darwin) - This richly readable book is the product of Charles Darwin's amazing journey aboard the Beagle where he made observations that led to his revolutionary theory of natural selection.