Darwin Now celebrates the lasting impact that Darwin's ideas about evolution and his approach to the understanding of the natural world has on our lives.
Charles Darwin is one of the world’s greatest scientists ever; the father of evolutionary theory. His breakthrough ideas about evolution have changed our understanding of the natural world and our place within it. The year of 2009 marks the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, which first described biological evolution through natural selection. Darwin’s insight was that species adapt to their environments over time and that humans are, therefore, descended from earlier species. Today, the teaching of modern biology and many aspects of contemporary medicine are founded upon his theory of evolution, but his ideas have also had a wide-reaching influence on a range of other academics, including historians, theologians, novelists, psychologists, philosophers and sociologists. Indeed, many of the questions he raised a century and a half ago are just as likely to be discussed and debated today as they were then.
In celebration of Darwin’s remarkable legacy in the 21st century, our Darwin Now project brings together an exciting series of global events and initiatives. It provides an international element to Darwin 200 , a national celebration of Darwin’s 200th birthday led by the Natural History Museum. Darwin200 is a consortium of organisations across the UK, made up of over 70 UK organisations, including: The Charles Darwin Trust, BBC, Open University, Cambridge University, Royal Society, Welcome Trust and of course, the British Council. Darwin Now will look at the impact of Darwin’s ideas on contemporary biology and evolutionary theory. It will explore the fundamental, influential and sometimes controversial nature of Darwin’s legacy and its relevance in the world today.
Darwin Now activities will include international conferences, Café Scientifique, Darwin Now exhibition, Student Summits, web resources and more. We will be updating these web pages regularly so be sure to visit the site again to find out what is happening and how you can get involved.
| 
