Darwin 2009

2008 already saw the 150th anniversary of Darwin and Wallace’s papers on natural selection being jointly presented to the Linnaen Society in London. The 2009 anniversaries of Darwin’s birth and of the publication of On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life are being marked in a host of media – lectures, movies, articles, books, radio shows etc – covering everything from biographies of Darwin, the social and scientific impact of his ideas, the development of evolutionary biology, the current state of evolutionary biology and its place in education.

Here is a list of recent and upcoming coverage related to the anniversaries. Hopefully this will be updated as more events, productions and publications come to light.

Note: There are a million other lectures and resources on history of evolution and on Darwin and compiling them would be different task altogether - this is a just a snapshot of things from the last year and upcoming year relating generally to the anniversaries mentioned :)

Newspapers
Darwin: shaped by slavery The Times, historian of science and Darwin biographer Adrian Desmond - Review of Desmond's book, with James Moore, Darwin's Sacred Cause (Guardian). Another review in New Scientist
Attenborough on Darwin The Times
'We ought to be exterminated' - Steve Jones on Darwin's life, marriage, children, and health, The Guardian
On the Origin of Species: edited extracts from the book in six parts, The Guardian
Darwin Bicentenary - The Guardian
Evolution: the rules of engagement the Guardian
Mark Steel: What creationists really hate is that we emerged by accident The Independent
You think others got there before Darwin? (Steve Connor) The Independent
How important was Charles Darwin, and what is his legacy today? The Independent
Darwin's home nominated as world heritage site Guardian 30 Jan 2009
Darwin Anniversary editorial The Guardian 9 Feb 2009
Darwin, Ahead of His Time, Is Still Influential New York Times, 9 Feb 2009
What are the limits of Darwinian explanations? The Guardian question series Feb 2009
1- Mary Midgley: Selectionism can only take us so far 9 Feb
2- Steven Rose: Evolutionary psychology goes too far 11 Feb
3- Razib Khan: Social sciences should steer clear The Guardian 13 Feb 2009
Darwin Day in the UK The Guardian 12 Feb
Darwin was right. Up to a point Simon Conway Morris, The Guardian 12 Feb
Evolution of Darwin’s theories – 200 years on Irish News 12 Feb
Scientist v statesman: who can call the battle of the bicentennial men? the Guardian 13 Feb 2009
Defying Darwin The Guardian G2, 17 Feb 2009
Ehsan Mahood: Islam's evolutionary legacy The Guardian, 2 Mar 2009

Radio / podcasts
BBC season variety of TV and Radio shows
BBC Radio 3 Darwin shows
- Darwin: My Ancestor BBC Radio 4, four-part radio series by Darwin's great great grand-daughter, writer and poet Ruth Padel.
- In Our Time Darwin specials BBC Radio 4
- Darwin and religion BBC Radio 4 'Beyond Belief' (5 Jan 2009)
- Dear Darwin BBC Radio 4 (5-9 Jan 2009)
- - 1 Craig Venter
- - 2 Jonathan Miller
- - 3 Jerry Coyne
- - 4 Peter Bentley
- - 5 Baruch Blumberg
- Hunting the Beagle BBC Radio 4
- Leading Edge 22 Jan 2009 'Darwin's Sacred Cause' BBC Radio 4
- David Attenborough with Simon Mayo, 30mins BBC Radio 5, 30 Jan09
- Darwin's Conundrum BBC Radio 3, 15 Feb 2009
- The Darwinian Sistine Chapel BBC Radio 4, 14 Apr 2009, 11am
- Woman's Hour, BBC Radio 4, discussion on Darwin & Gender project, 28 July 2009
The Man Who Wasn't Darwin: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Founding of Evolutionary Biology , by science writer David Quammen.
Darwin Lecture series on Radio New Zealand
Celebrating Darwin's Evolution Revolution NPR
Darwin In Australia
Attenborough on Darwin Nature
The Forces That Shaped A Young Charles Darwin NPR 1 Feb 09
Quammen, Jones, and Judson on Darwin on Quirks & Quarks podcast
Darwin specialScience Times (NY Times 9 Feb 2009)
Darwin special Nature journal, 12 Feb 2009
Science Talk: Darwin Day Special pt 1: Bicentennial of the Birth of Charles Darwin Scientific American, 12 Feb 2009
Science Talk: Darwin Day Special pt 2: Evolutionary Psychology and Religion Scientific American, 12 Feb 2009
Science Talk: Darwin Day Special pt 3: Origins of Paleontology and the Impact of Religion on the Development of Evolutionary Theory Scientific American, 12 Feb 2009
Dawkins: Radio interview on Darwin BBC World Service 12 Feb 2009
Science podcast: Happy Birthday Darwin The Guardian, 16 Feb 2009
Science in Action 19 Feb 2009 BBC World Service
Debating Darwin RTE Radio in Ireland, 6-part radio series, Apr-May 2009
1- s01e01
2- s01e02
1- s02e01
2- s02e02
3- s02e03
4- s02e04
5- s02e05
6- s02e06
Darwin Endless Forms podcasts Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
1. Darwin and the Ancient Earth: Dinosaurs and the ‘Deep Past’ in the 19th-Century Imagination Jim Secord
2. Darwin in Cambridge: from Christ’s College to the Beagle John vanWhye
3. The Roots of a Theory: How Plants Specimens Led a Young Darwin to Discovery John Parker
4. Uncovering our Origins: Monkeys, Apes and “Primitive Man’ – and how Darwin got it wrong (with Richard Foley)
5. ‘Flaunting It’ – Sexual Selection and the Courtship of Nature (with Tim Clutton-Brock)
6. A Tour of ‘Endless Forms’ (with Sir Paul Nurse)
7. Evolving Philosophy (with Philip Kitcher)
8. Darwin, Hooker and the Venus Flytraps (with Sir Peter Crane)
9. Humankind – A Troubling Future? (with Lord Robert May)
10. The Evolving Body (with Randolph Nesse)
11. Darwin, Design and Christianity (with John Brooke)
12. From ‘Missing Link Mania’ to Creationism.com: 150 Years of Popular Darwinism in Europe (with Peter Kjaergaard)
13. The Predatory Ape: Sex, Simians and Society in Nineteenth-Century Europe (with Gowan Dawson)
14. Evolving Images: race & popular Darwinism in 19th century photography (Elizabeth Edwards)
15. Between Apes and Angels: Representing the Darker Implications of Darwinisme (with Marek Kohn)
16. Struggle and Strikes: The ‘Survival of the Fittest’ in Art and Literature (w/ Gillian Beer)

TV
BBC season variety of TV and Radio shows
BBC 2 show list
- Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species, 2 Feb 2009 BBC Four TV documentary
- What Darwin Didn't Know, 26-28 Jan - BBC Four TV documentary on the evolution of evolution presented by evolutionary biologist Armand Marie Leroi.
- Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life David Attenborough, 1 February , 9pm BBC One
- Darwin's Struggle: The Evolution of the Origin of Species BBC 4, 2-8 Feb 2009
- Darwin's Dangerous Idea BBC2, Mar 2009 (Andrew Marr)
- Jimmy Doherty in Darwin's Garden BBC2, Mar 2009
- Did Darwin Kill God? BBC2, Apr 2009
- The Incredible Human Journey BBC 2, five-part series on human origins, May 09
- Newsnight Review: Darwin special BBC 2, 11 Sept 2009 (inc. Richard Dawkins, Ruth Padel, Kevin Spacey)
Darwin's Secret Notebooks: upcoming National Geographic documentary about Darwin's research
Evolve TV series: History Channel
Darwin Originals: Channel 4, short films to be broadcast in February.
Dawkins on Darwin National Geographic
Evolution moments The Daily Show
Essence of Darwin's theory France 24 TV, Feb 2009
Charles Darwin on TV Burp Harry Hill
Darwin's Darkest Hour A two-hour drama on the crisis that forced Darwin to publish his theory of evolution. Aired October 6, 2009 on PBS.

Magazine / Web Articles
What Darwin Didn't Know Smithsonian magazine
Why Darwin was wrong about the tree of life. New Scientist, lazy shock journalism heralded by the Telegraph and Guardian (and here), but rightly criticized at the excellent Sandwalk (here and here) and Evolution Blog for taking valid amendments and blowing them out of all proportion into supposed earth-shattering paradigm shifts. Full criticism bibliography here.
Darwin Was Right - Coyne, Dawkins, Dennett, Myers response to above article in New Scientist 18 Feb 2009
National Geographic Feb 2009 two articles, David Quammen 'Darwin's First Clues' and Matt Ridley 'Modern Darwins'
Darwin 200: BBC Focus Magazine (feat. PZ Myers, Dawkins, Steve Jones...)
Evolution special issue: Scientific American
Darwin's dangerous idea: Top 10 evolution articles 2008 - New Scientist
Darwin vs God by historian of science John van Whye, BBC History Magazine this month (Jan 2009, vol.10, no. 1 pp: 26-31)
Celebrating Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday: New York Academy of Science magazine
Free Inquiry special issue Feb-March 2009 issue
Darwin the abolitionist Adrian Desmond in Prospect magazine Feb 2009
Evolution's Final Frontiers: The next 200 years New Scientist 31 Jan09
Seeing Corals with the Eye of ReasonNatural History Magazine Feb 09
Attenborough on DarwinBBC Wildlife Magazine, Feb 2009
Darwin and Friends Philosophy now special issue, Jan/Feb 2009 (some free articles)
Darwin special Forbes magazine (contains bunch of creationist crap - criticism of Forbes at PZ Myers and Carl Zimmer's blogs)
Life BeforeDarwin BBC History Magazine Feb 2009
Public Misunderstanding of Darwin Scientific American, Feb 2009
Darwin and the Workers Movement ICC Feb 2009
TV Review: Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life ICC Feb 2009
Discover Does Darwin Discover magazine, March 2009
Darwin vs. His Dad, circa 1831 The Scientist, Feb 2009
Darwin Turns 200 Science News special edition 31 Jan 2009 [access required]
Evolving Darwin Time Magazine 12 Feb 2009, Carl Zimmer
Happy 200th, Darwin Understanding Evolution (also has video interview with Elliot Sober)
SEED celebrates the life and work of Charles Darwin SEED Magazine, Feb 2009 (lots of articles)
On Darwin's 200th, a theory still in controversy Physorg.com, 9 Feb 2009
Don't Diss Darwin National Centre for Science Education (USA), Nov 2009
Steven Shapin - The Darwin Show, London Review of Books Vol. 32 No. 1 · (Jan 2010)

Journals
Darwin's Gifts special: The Lancet
'Beyond the Origin' Darwin 200 special: Nature
Evolution Gems: Nature
Science (9 Jan 09) including an article by historian of science Peter Bowler
Origins Blog Science magazine blog
Journal of History of Biology Jan 09 has two articles: Frank Sulloway - Tantalizing Tortoises and the Darwin-Galápagos Legend & R. Noguera-Solano & R.Ruiz-Gutiérrez - Darwin and Inheritance: The Influence of Prosper Lucas
Darwin special American Journal of Botany, vol.96(1); Jan 2009
Darwin/Evolution special American Biology Teacher, vol.71(2), Feb 2009
Evolution Education Darwin special Evolution: Education and Outreach Vol.2(1), March 2009
Speciation special issue Science, 6 Feb 2009
Darwin Day issue Nature journal, 12 February 2009
Evolution Nature: Insight vol 457 12 Feb 2009
(Re)Reading The Origin Current Biology vol.19 (3) 10 Feb 2009
Special Issue - Teaching Evolution in the Classroom, Journal of Effective Teaching Vol.9 (2) Sept.2009

Videos / Lectures / Interviews
Chicago/DarwinUniv. of Chicago, Oct 2009. Includes Richard Lewontin, Ron Numbers, Janet Browne, Elliott Sober, Eugenie Scott, Dan Dennett, Philip Kitcher, Jerry Coyne, and more.
Janet Browne on Charles Darwin historian of science Janet Brown, May 08
Darwin's Legacy: Stanford Video lectures series (also available on itunes )
- 1: Introduction William Durham
- 2: Evolution vs Creationism Eugenie Scott
- 3: Darwin biography Janet Browne
- 4: Philosophical importance of Darwin Dan Dennett
- 5: Species Peter and Rosemary Grant
- 6: Darwin's life and work Niles Eldredge
- 7: Social Darwinism Melissa Brown
- 8: Virus evolution and understanding cancer Paul Ewald
- 9: Social behaviour Russell Fernald
- 10: Literary aspects George Levine

Year of Darwin: Case Western Reserve University video series (on itunes search for 'case western darwin')
- 1: David Quammen: The Reluctant Mr. Darwin (Aug. 28, 2008)
- 2: Gary Litman: Evolution of the Immune System (Sep. 9, 2008)
- 3: Sean B. Carroll: How evolution works in regards to animal development (Sep. 11, 2008)
- 4: Robert Richards: Darwinian Moral Theory (Sep. 18, 2008)
- 5: Judge John E Jones III: Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District (Sep. 25, 2008)
- 6: Thomas Near: Climate Change and Diversification of Antarctic Fishes (Oct. 9, 2008)
- 7: Neil Shubin: Finding Your Inner Fish (Oct. 14, 2008)
- 8: Edward Larson - From Dayton to Dover: A History of the Evolution Teaching Legal Controversy in America (Oct 16, 2008)
- 9: Jerry Coyne: The Locus of Evolution: Evo Devo and the Genetics of Adaptation (Oct. 22, 2008)
- 10: John Holland: Modeling Complex Adaptive Systems (Oct. 30, 2008)
- 11: Robert Hazen: Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins (Nov. 6, 2008)
- 12: Ronald Numbers—Darwin’s Legacy: Place, Race, Religion and Gender (Nov 24, 2008)
- 13: Steven N. Austad: Robert R. Kohn Memorial Lecture—Evolutionary Aspects of Aging (Dec. 4, 2008)
- 14: Hayagreeva Rao—Darwin and the Evolution of Industries and Firms (25 Feb 2009)
- 15: John van Wyhe - Charles Darwin: The True Story (April 1, 2009)
Darwin's Sacred Cause: race, slavery and the quest for human origins journalist Olivia Judson in conversation with Adrian Desmond and James Moore - 9 February 2009
The life and times of Charles Darwin The Guardian, 12 Feb 2009
Charles Darwin, secular saint The Guardian, 12 Feb 2009
Video 200th Birthday Card Society for the Study of Evolution
Darwin at Cambridge Cambridge News Online
A Darwinian Perspective on Religions: Past, Present and Future Daniel Dennett
Richard Dawkins - The Genius of Charles Darwin
- Uncut interview with Daniel Dennett
- Uncut interview with Ian McEwan
- Uncut interview with Nicholas Humphrey
- Uncut interview with George Coyne
- Uncut interview with Randolph Nesse
- Uncut interview with Steven Pinker
- Uncut interview with Craig Venter

Events
Darwin 200 Ireland - contains list of events in Ireland.
DARWIN ON FILM: INHERIT THE WIND Belfast Film Festival, Wed 1 April 8pm
Darwin Day - list of events happening worldwide, mostly focussed on US. Also has some podcasts.
Royal Society London Events 2009: Darwin, Poetry, and Science 9 February, Darwin and the Evolution of Flowers 11/12 May, The causes of evolution: 150 years of progress since Darwin 12/14/ November
Darwin's Reach, Long Island NY
Cambridge Darwin 2009 - featuring a variety of contributors from the arts, science and philosophy, including Richard Dawkins, Evelyn Fox Keller, Sarah Hrdy, Steve Jones, Dan Dennett, Elliot Sober, Peter Bowler and a bunch more.
California Academy of Sciences: Evolve 2009
Celebrate Darwin - New York Academy of Sciences
Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, opens Sept 2009
Natural History Museum Darwin Exhibition until 19 April 2009
Darwin 200 bicentenary site, inc database of events etc
Guardian events list
Darwin Celebrations Open University
Darwin lecture series Cambridge University, Darwin College Jan-March 2009
Harvard Natural History Museum
Darwin £2 coin Royal Mint, 25000 issued so it'll be a LONG time before they're worth anything ;)
Darwin stamp series Royal Mail
Darwin Tours Wellcome Trust, Feb-March 09
Two Hundred Years of Evolution: Celebrating Charles Darwin in 2009 Janet Brown at the Geological Society of London (organised by Royal Society of Chemistry), 5.30pm, 6 May 2009
Darwin, Humanism and Science Variety of speakers inc. Richard Dawkins, James Williams, and AC Grayling, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL - 6 June 2009
Endless Forms Darwin Exhibition, Cambridge, June-Oct 2009
Celebration of Darwin Virginia Tech, Nov 09

Movies
Creation – biographical drama about Darwin starring Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany - interview with Bettany here
Evolution’s Captain – not much info yet, based on the book Evolution's Captain: The Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World and centres on the relationship between Darwin and Capt. Fitzroy on the Beagle.

Polls
Third of teachers would give creationism the same status as evolution in classrooms Teachers TV, Nov 2008
Teachers, Evolution and Creationism in UK Ipsos MORI, Dec 2008
Rescuing Darwin Project Theos Think-tank 4-part project
1- Rescuing Darwin: project introduction & discussion Theos 'public theology thinktank' Feb 2009
2- Faith & Darwin Survey
-- see also British attitudes to evolution by region Theos Thinktank in Guardian, Mar 2009
3- Discussing Darwin: interview with Mary Midgely
Debate Over Evolution Pew Forum, Feb 2009
On Darwin’s Birthday, Only 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution Gallup USA, Feb 2009

Darwin survey shows international consensus on acceptance of evolution - British Council Darwin Now project, July 2009
- more on public perception, compatibility etc, here

Some general sites on Darwin and evolution:
NOVA Evolution resource site by PBS
Dispersal of Darwin excellent history of science blog
Darwin Online: Complete works of Charles Darwin
Open University Darwin site: info and links to study
New Scientist FAQ Evolution
Evolution: 24 myths and misconceptions
Teacher's TV Evolution week schedule includes Steve Jones' Teaching Challenge, Teaching Evolution KS 3/4, and Adam Rutherford on Evolution and Creationism
Wellcome Trust: Darwin and evolution - information and resources for schools and the public.
Evolution: the big picture - Wellcome Trust booklet for schools on arguments for evolution and practical importance.
Understanding Evolution resource for teachers and students.
PBS Evolution this US network did a full 8-part series on evolution, and hosts an educational resource for students and teachers
Children’s Books about Evolution and Charles Darwin - Annotated Bibliography of resources for kids and teachers across age ranges.
National Centre for Science Education – science education advocacy group in the US with a focus on protecting the integrity of biology education in public schools through publications and support for students and teachers at a grassroots level.
Comedian Mark Steel's TV show on Darwin (video) and the same show live, The 'Evolution of Man' (mp3) lecture on Darwin
Darwin Today - contemporary research in evolution in the UK
10 myths about Darwin Mark Pallen, author of Rough Guide to Evolution (I take issue with some of these, most historians do seem to think his daughter Annie's death had a profound impact on his faith)
Evolution 101 podcast - short introductions to a variety of concepts within evolutionary biology.
What is Evolution? Sandwalk blog by biochemist Larry Moran
Why Evolution Is True blog by Jerry Coyne, author of book Why Evolution is True
Lisa The Skeptic The Simpsons, s9e08
The Monkey Suit The Simpsons, s17e21