Darwin Year in Boston – Roundup of events

The scientific world is going Darwin crazy this year, with 2009 marking the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th year since the publication of On the Origin of Species.

Here’s a roundup of Darwin-related events around the Boston area. As I come across more, I’ll add them here. If you hear of any, please post them here as a comment.

My favorite event:

Darwin’s birthday bash, complete with a giant birthday cake (and yes, 200 candles) and a “survival of the fittest” cake-eating contest

February 11, 6pm (11pm in London), just in time to bring in Darwin’s Feb 12 birthday

775 Commonwealth Ave

January 22-24, Broad Institute

MIT Darwin Bicentennial Symposium

Program ranges from evolution of the oceans and early atmosphere to the evolution of cell division.

(Anna and I will be attending and reporting back)

January 26, 2-5pm

Evolution before Darwin

Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science

February 12, 9am-5pm

The Impact of Darwinism on the Human Sciences

Boston University Provost’s Colloquium

February 12, 6pm

Darwin at 200: Rethinking the Revolution

Harvard Museum of Natural History

February 26, 6pm

Evolution in the Post-Genomic Age

Harvard Museum of Natural History

March 5, 6pm

Survival of the Swiftest, Smartest or Fattest? Human Evolution 150 Years After Darwin

Harvard Museum of Natural History

April 3-4

The Reception of Darwinism: Trans-cultural Differences

Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science

Here are two websites for Boston-specific Darwin activities.

To find the epicenter of Darwin-mania, check out the University of Cambridge’s site, this site from the UK, and the HMS Beagle Project

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