Pondering Evolution is Life-changing
By David Sunderlin, Assistant Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences
Evolution is life-changing. It is the epic story of the existence of our ancestors and ourselves. It is the process by which “endless forms most beautiful” have come to grace our planet. It is the variation of life refined and created by raw natural laws and events that are occasionally random and more frequently non-random. Fundamental to truly understanding everything from genes to ecosystems, organic evolution is, in many scientists’ minds, the single most important scientific concept yet considered by mankind’s highly evolved brain. Pondering evolution, literally the change of life through time, is, as I’m sure you’ll find, life-changing. More
Related links
Resources
"Darwin Against Himself: Caution vs. Honesty in the Life of a Reluctant Revolutionary”
In Lafayette’s Lives of Liberty Lecture for 2008-09, David Quammen explored the scientific and personal hurdles that Darwin vaulted in his progress toward what Quammen calls “history’s most radical act of biological insight.” He is the author of the 2006 biography The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution and general editor of On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition, a decorative reprise of Darwin’s magnum opus.
Upcoming Events: 2009 - 2010
Dates, times, and locations to be announced
Brown Bag: Is it possible to believe in the merits of modern science and also in the tenets of one’s religious faith? What then to do about the Creation story, evolution, a belief in a supreme being? Join us for a lunchtime discussion on Friday, September 4th at 12:00 Noon in Interfaith Chapel, Hogg Hall. Lunch will be provided, or you can bring your own.
Presentation: “The San Cristobal Wind Project in the Galapagos” by Paul Loeffelman, director of environmental public policy at American Electric Power Co., Inc. Columbus, Ohio. Learn more about the San Cristobal Wind Project at galapagoswind.org.
“Building the first Wind Project on the Galapagos Islands: after this one, global electrification should be easy.”
William’s Center for the Arts Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - 8:00 p.m.
Baba Brinkman’s Rap Guide to Evolution: The Rap Guide to Evolution explores the history and current understanding
of Darwin!s theory, combining hilarious remixes of popular rap songs with
clever lyrical storytelling that covers Natural Selection, Sexual Selection,
Evolutionary Psychology, and much more.
Performances in the Williams Center of the Arts, November 9-10. For more information, click here.
Lafayette College Theater will present a staged reading of INHERIT THE WIND by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, October 1, 2, and 3, 2009 in the Williams Center for the Arts. INHERIT THE WIND is the prize-winning play based on the Scopes monkey trial in which a high school teacher was found guilty of breaking Tennessee law for teaching a unit on Darwin's theory of evolution in his biology class. Performances begin at 8:00 p.m. and will be followed immediately each night with discussions led by faculty and administrators, including both the Provost and the Dean of the College. This special event is free and open to the entire campus.
Gallery exhibition: From Scales to Feathers: The Evanescent Presence of Sculpted Wings October 25 through December 11. TheWilliams Center Gallery and Shrewsbury Museum, Shropshire, England, will present joint exhibitions of works by environmental artist Brandon Ballengée. An amateur biologist and activist, Ballengée works to explore the boundaries between art and science. For more than a decade he has created works about “bio-indicator” species such as amphibians, fish, and birds. Learn more about Brandon Ballengée at greenmuseum.org.
Outdoor plant installation: Ornamental Chrysanthemums, Williams Center Gallery. Today's ornamental chrysanthemums, probably developed from C. indicum and others, are highly evolved flowering plants. Working with Lafayette’s Department of Plant Operations, the gallery is tending a garden that includes a small sample of the garden hardy and exhibition chrysanthemums available today.
Gallery exhibition: Works by Chun Wai Liew, associate professor of computer science, and Ed Kerns, Clapp Professor of Art, Grossman Gallery, Williams Visual Arts Building, October 19 through December 11. Liew and Kerns share an interest in recurring natural patterns. In ancient China, these patterns, called Li, were considered evidence of the unity of the universe. Darwin’s theory holds that all life is related and descended from a common beginning. This profound insight, combined with the idea that from relatively simple interactions complex patterns and processes emerge, informs Liew and Kerns’ exploration of dynamic processes in visual structures.
