Seattle Snubs Darwin on His Big 2-0-0
Thanks to Seattlest Flickr group photog cloverty for "Evolution." Don't get? Pay attention to the far right there.
Two hundred years ago today Charles Darwin was born, and 150 years ago this year, he killed God by publishing On the Origin of Species. Now, you might think lefty, anti-religious Seattle might, um, celebrate this momentous occasion, but for the life of us, while putting together today's "Can't Miss It," we couldn't find a single damned happy hour, lecture, or event for tonight. And strangely, neither Elliott Bay Books nor Town Hall even have an event scheduled, leaving us thinking that maybe we could have worked something out.
After some searching, we did come across a couple lectures tonight. Down at the Pacific Science Center at 7 p.m., molecular biologist Dr. Leroy Hood will be speaking about Darwin's role in creating the contemporary opportunities in scientific research and how that benefits us all. It's a steal at $5.
Over at the Burke Museum, they're having a trio of lectures billed as "Darwin's Birthday Bash" from 6-9 p.m. Mott Greene of the Univ. of Puget Sound talks about understanding Darwin's life and context at 6:30; Mark Terry (perhaps most interesting of the three) will address trying to make Darwin and evolutionary theory meaningful to the average high school student at 7:15; and at 8, Jon Herron will talk about contemporary science that reinforces what Darwin knew all along: that he was right. The event's free, though donations are appreciated.
Perhaps more fun, though, is an event next Thursday. Again it's over at Pacific Science Center, for their third Thursday of the month happy hour "Science With a Twist." Admission is $20 for non-members for a 6-8 p.m. happy hour, followed by an 8-9 p.m. tour of the "Lucy's Legacy" exhibit. Lucy, of course, is our distant australopithecus ancestor, who, if we recall this correctly, got eaten by a bird and preserved in a massive pile of bird droppings. She's also about as close to a "missing link" (a stupid, anti-Darwinian concept) as you can get.
Still, we're a little disappointed. It's all fine and dandy to lecture on science and argue for Darwin's continued relevance, but this is all sort of preaching to the choir. For a city that celebrates seemingly everything at a bar, we think it's a let-down that no one's throwing Charles a real celebration. So if anyone's got any news on other Darwin events, or wants to throw together an impromptu happy-hour toast for the man who snatched humanity from God's grasp, let us know either in the comments or by email, and we'll make sure to get it up.
