Paleonet: Darwin Days

Fri Feb 6 17:11:07 UTC 2009

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- CONTACT:*

Billy Kepner/Director of Marketing Communications

Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth

607.273.6623 x26 (Office)

607.331.9806 (Mobile)

cwk47 at cornell.edu

*Evolved and Involved: Cornell University and the Museum of the Earth *

*Celebrate Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday***

* *

ITHACA, NY - The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) and its Museum
of the Earth, along with Cornell University, celebrate the 200th birthday
and lasting legacy of Charles Darwin from Feb. 7-14 with lectures, panel
discussions, and a collaborative exhibition with the Division of Rare and
Manuscript Collections at Cornell University. This marks the fourth annual
Ithaca Darwin Days celebration.

This year's celebration focuses on the broader impact of evolution on a
variety of topics, from Cornell's Life Sciences Initiative, to religion and
education, to human races.  It will also feature lectures from Darwin
scholar and President Emeritus Dr. Frank Rhodes from Cornell University,
evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci of Stony Brook University,
paleontologist Don Prothero from Occidental College, and David Campbell
(Cornell '77), a high school biology teacher from Jacksonville, Florida who
is on the front lines of teaching evolution to students whose religious
faith teaches them otherwise.

The event also marks the first time Museum of the Earth and the Cornell
University Library have collaborated on a major exhibition. "Charles Darwin:
After the *Origin"* is on exhibit from Feb. 2 - June 7, 2009 in the Borg
Warner Gallery at Museum of the Earth and from Feb. 12 - Sept. 8 in the
Hirshland Exhibition Gallery in the Division of Rare and Manuscript
Collection, Level 2B,at the Carl A. Kroch Library. Cornell Darwin scholar
Shelia Ann Dean, guest curator for the exhibition, has written a book (*Charles
Darwin: After the Origin*, see
http://www.museumoftheearth.org/publications/bookstore.php) that serves as a
companion piece, offering an account of the work Darwin undertook while
controversies instigated by the *Origin* were stirring the Victorian world.
This marks another first for both institutions as this is the first
publication to be co-published by Cornell University Library and the
Paleontological Research Institution.

"All around the world this year, there are celebrations commemorating
Darwin," stated Dr. Warren Allmon, The Hunter R. Rawlings III Professor of
Paleontology at Cornell University and the Director of the Paleontological
Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth. "That said, you'll be hard
pressed to find anything quite like Ithaca's celebration!  We have something
for everyone -- lectures, panel discussions, family activities, and even a
birthday party.  We dedicate a great deal of time to this project every year
because we realize how important it is to educate the community.  Public
opinion surveys continue to show that a majority of Americans do not
understand evolution, and what they think they do understand they do not
accept. That only proves that we as science educators have a lot of work to
do.  Darwin Day is a great annual opportunity to address this."

Darwin Day, in existence since 2000, is an international celebration of
Darwin's birthday (February 12) with a focus on the science and humanism
that specifically relates to the work of Darwin. 2009 is not only the
bicentennial of Darwin's birth, but also the 150th anniversary of  publication
of his revolutionary book *On the Origin of Species.  *For more information
on Ithaca's Darwin Days and a complete schedule of events please visit us on
the web at www.ithacadarwindays.org.

Museum of the Earth at the Paleontological Research Institution is a natural
history museum located in Ithaca, NY.  The Museum offers access to the
world-class collections and scientific research of the Paleontological
Research Institution, emphasizing New York State and the northeastern United
States.  The Museum tells the story of our planet as preserved in the
geologic record and explores the relationship between Earth and its
life.  Exhibits
at the Museum include a 500-foot mural, *Rocks of Ages, Sands of Time
*depicting
544 million years of Earth's history, a North Atlantic Right Whale skeleton,
an active fossil preparation lab, the Hyde Park Mastodon and much more.  Visit
us on the web at www.museumoftheearth.org.

The schedule of Ithaca's Darwin Days follows:

*Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009* – "Maxwell's Equations and Darwin's Finches: Science,
Faith and Evolution," a lecture by Sylvester J. Gates, the James S. Toll
Professor and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the
University of Maryland. This is the second annual Robert and Mabel Beggs
Lecture on Science, Spirituality and Society. At Sage Chapel, Cornell
campus, at 7 p.m.

*Monday, Feb. 9, 2009* – "Evolution and the Life Sciences," panel discussion
on the role of
evolution in the life sciences, at Room G-10 Biotech Building, Cornell
campus, at 5 p.m.

 *Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009* – "What's science got to do with it? When
scientists talk nonsense about religion" a lecture by Massimo Pigliucci,
professor of ecology and evolution, and of philosophy at Stony Brook
University, at Corson Mudd Hall, Room A-106, Cornell campus, at 4:45 p.m.

*Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009 *– "Evolution and Race," a panel discussion on
biological, social, political and ethical aspects of evolution, at Lewis
Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell campus, at 7 p.m.

*Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009* – "Teaching Evolution in the Public Schools," a
lecture by David Campbell, a high school biology teacher from Jacksonville,
Fla., explains teaching evolution to students whose faith teaches them
otherwise. Cornell President Emeritus Hunter R. Rawlings will introduce him.
At Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell campus, at 4:45 p.m.

*Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009* – "Teaching Evolution," a panel discussion
teaching evolution in today's classroom. At Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith
Hall, Cornell campus, at 6 p.m.

*Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009* – Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday.

*Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009* - "Darwin and Religion," a lecture by Ross Brann,
Cornell professor of Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies
and Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, on evolution and religion, in
Annabel Taylor Hall Auditorium, Cornell campus, 3 p.m.

*Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009* - "Charles Darwin: *Origins*," a keynote lecture
by Cornell President Emeritus Frank Rhodes, a paleontologist and Darwin
historian, at Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell
campus, at 4:45 p.m.

* *

*Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009* - Opening Reception of "Charles Darwin: After the
*Origin*," a joint exhibition between Cornell University Library and the
Museum of the Earth at the Hirshland Exhibition Gallery, Division of Rare
and Manuscript Collections, Level 2B, Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell campus,
at 6:00 p.m.

*Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009* - Darwin Family Day at the Museum of the Earth,
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  A day of fun and family friendly activities, with
visits from the Cayuga Nature Center and the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, in honor
of Charles Darwin's 200th Birthday and the opening of "Charles Darwin: After
the *Origin*." Admission fee: $8 for adults, $5 for college
students/seniors, $3 for youth, ages 4-17. Free for museum members.

*Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009* – A virtual tour of the Creation Museum,
Petersburg, Kentucky, from the Jason Wiles at noon. Admission fee: $8 for
adults, $5 for college students/seniors, $3 for youth, ages 4-17. Free for
museum members.

*Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009* – "Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why it
Matters,"
a lecture by Don Prothero, professor of geology at Occidental College, Los
Angeles and a lecturer in geobiology at Cal Tech, Pasadena, Calif., at Room
G-10, Biotech Building, Cornell campus, 4:30 p.m.*
*
*Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009* – Celebrate Darwin's Birthday with dessert and
drinks, at the evening reception at the Museum of the Earth, 7 p.m.
Festivities include a performance of
the short play, "Words, Words, Words." Tickets $10. Purchase tickets by
calling 607.273.6623 x11, at any Darwin Days event, or at the door.

-- 
********************************************
Paula M. Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Science
and Director of Publications
Paleontological Research Institution
1259 Trumansburg Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel. (607) 273-6623, ext. 20
Fax (607) 273-6620
email  pmm37 at cornell.edu

"No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's
draft."  -H. G. Wells

See "Seashells of Southern Florida: Living Marine Mollusks of the Florida
Keys and Adjacent Regions: Bivalves,"
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8484.html

On Exhibit:
Charles Darwin: After the Origin
A collaborative exhibition at Museum of the Earth and the Carl A. Kroch
Library at Cornell University
Made possible through the generosity of Stephan Lowentheil and the Tompkins
County Tourism Grants
February 2 - June 11, 2009
Mon., Thurs.-Sat. 10 am - 5pm
Sun. 11 am - 5 pm.

Visit us on the web at www.museumoftheearth.org
Museum of the Earth is part of Ithaca's Discovery Trail -- Learm more at:
www.discoverytrail.net
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