If you haven’t had enough Darwin yet, here are some more tidbits.
“I think in many respects Wallace was as talented, if not more talented, than Darwin.”
David Grimaldi, curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, sings the praises of the poor man who has been forgotten in all this Darwin worship (Washington Post).
“We respectfully encourage those who reject evolution to weigh the now overwhelming evidence, hugely strengthened by recent advances in genetics, which testifies to the theory’s validity. At the same time, we respectfully ask those contemporary Darwinians who seem intent on using Darwin’s theory as a vehicle for promoting an anti-theistic agenda to desist from doing so, as they are, albeit unintentionally, turning people away from the theory.”
Prominent scientists and religious figures call for a ‘Darwin ceasefire’ in the Daily Telegraph.
“Creationism is the belief that the biblical stories of Creation as described in the Book of Genesis are literally true. Is genuine Christianity obliged to adopt any of these positions? No, it is not.”
So says Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, head of the Catholic church in England (The Times).
“You must have noticed there’s an awful lot of Darwin about at the moment. Now, some people claim Darwin is due to global warming. Some say he’s a figment of the collective “id”, an animistic need to see patterns and purpose in the fearful random chaos of existence. Still others believe Darwin is plainly an act of God. They point out that if you found the great naturalist sitting on top of a Galapagos tortoise, weaving beetles into his beard in the ready-meal aisle of Tesco, he would inescapably remind you that he had been designed and therefore there must be a grand designer and that that cosmic architect could only be God — or David Attenborough, as we more commonly know him.”
Is AA Gill losing it? Make up your own mind at his Times review of the latest programme by Attenborough.
“One risk, just below the equator, is sunburn. Another is pretentiousness: I can’t be the first to feel the constant temptation to compare the great man’s observations with mine. Here goes anyway.”
BBC science correspondent David Shukman has got a trip to the Galapagos out of the anniversary. He still finds plenty to complain about.
Previously
Darwin 200 – February 02, 2009