Happy Darwin Day! International Darwin Day Foundation

Happy Darwin Day! International Darwin Day Foundation
Happy Darwin Day!
Ever since Charles Darwin published his famous book, On The Origin of Species that there have been sporadic efforts to celebrate his accomplishments. One, with a recent but prolonged history, was initiated in 1980, at Salem College in Massachusetts. This weeklong event called the Darwin Festival continues to be held each year.
However, the history that leads directly to this Darwin Day Web site was initiated by Dr. Robert (“Bob”) Stephens and took place at Stanford University. The first EVENT sponsored by the Stanford Humanists student group and the Humanist Community, was held on April 22, 1995. The famous anthropologist Dr. Donald Johanson, who discovered the early fossil human called ‘Lucy’, gave a lecture entitled “Darwin and Human Origins” to over 600 people in the Kresge Auditorium.
In subsequent years the location and date of the celebration was changed to coincide with Darwin’s birthday and was held on, or near, February 12 each year. The success of the venture is reflected in the list of speakers which include Richard Dawkins, 1996; Paul Berg, 1997; Robert Sapolsky, 1998; Douglas Hofstadter, 1999; Michael Shermer, 2001; Robert Stephens and Arthur Jackson, 2003; Robert and Lola Stephens, 2004; and Eugenie Scott, 2005.
In the intervening years, after the original Darwin Day Celebration was established, Bob worked with other groups to expand the idea of celebrating Science and Humanity. Modern cultures, which rely so heavily on scientific knowledge which was developed solely on the basis of human curiosity and ingenuity, had not developed a tradition by which to show appreciation for this phenomenal knowledge system which is largely responsible for providing all of us with the standard of health and prosperity that we enjoy today. Therefore, the Darwin Day celebration was seen as an authentic way to show appreciation to all those, both past and present, who have contributed to the scientific enterprise. The overall goal of the original concept was to recognize the achievements of humanity as represented in the acquisition of verifiable scientific knowledge.
Enjoy reading Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary day by day.,…
http://darwinbeagle.blogspot.ca/