‘Our story starts at the dawn of the 18th Century… The stage was set for someone to do for Biology what Newton did for Physics.’ This is how the Darwin’s Evolution Exhibition, at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, begins. Having opened on the 12th February 2009 to coincide with Darwin’s birthday, this exhibition joins museums, research institutes and organizations from all over the world in the celebration of two events: the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1st October 1859).
Divided into eight sections filled with interactive content, the exhibition features: 1) biology before Darwin (from Worm to Linnaeus, and from Buffon to Belon); 2) live animals (six San Francisco Piranhas, a Boa Constrictor, several Golden Lion-Tamarins, several Meerkats, Iguanas, and two very large Leopard Tortoises); 3) the Beagle’s five-year voyage (the event considered by Darwin as the most important in his life); 4) the idea of evolution and of the tree of life (that came to Darwin after he was back in London); 5) his life and work in Downe (where he wrote On the Origin of Species); 6) modern genetics (that sprang from the hands of men like Fisher, Haldane, Wright, Dobzansky, Mayr and Simpson); 7) Darwin’s correspondence with other scientists (which largely contributed to his research); 8) and his legacy (the tree of life that keeps expanding over the decades through the work of other evolutionary biologists).
Walls written with quotations from Darwin’s writings, the original letters he wrote to his family and friends when he was travelling around the world, a big model of the HMS Beagle, a wax figure of the young explorer, many samples of various species to observe with magnifying glasses or with microscopes, live animals, hundreds of drawings and pictures of animals that led to the theory of evolution, a staircase and a slide built around DNA bands (where one can climb up the genetic code and slide down the protein synthesis), a small room where children can write and hang letters addressed to Darwin, computer games, films, various electronic and mechanic devices for children, a telltale skull exhibition of human evolution, and a short documentary on the origin of life and evolution by David Attenborough, are some of the attractions of this exhibition.
On visiting the Darwin’s Evolution Exhibition, one cannot help feeling enraptured and overwhelmed by the fact that one man’s passion for knowledge, love for nature and keen eye for the observation of animals and plants led to the disclosure of truths that today are part of our daily lives. Darwin’s lifelong achievements opened an endless path towards the discovery of the mysteries of the origin and evolution of life on Earth.
Marta
Divided into eight sections filled with interactive content, the exhibition features: 1) biology before Darwin (from Worm to Linnaeus, and from Buffon to Belon); 2) live animals (six San Francisco Piranhas, a Boa Constrictor, several Golden Lion-Tamarins, several Meerkats, Iguanas, and two very large Leopard Tortoises); 3) the Beagle’s five-year voyage (the event considered by Darwin as the most important in his life); 4) the idea of evolution and of the tree of life (that came to Darwin after he was back in London); 5) his life and work in Downe (where he wrote On the Origin of Species); 6) modern genetics (that sprang from the hands of men like Fisher, Haldane, Wright, Dobzansky, Mayr and Simpson); 7) Darwin’s correspondence with other scientists (which largely contributed to his research); 8) and his legacy (the tree of life that keeps expanding over the decades through the work of other evolutionary biologists).
Walls written with quotations from Darwin’s writings, the original letters he wrote to his family and friends when he was travelling around the world, a big model of the HMS Beagle, a wax figure of the young explorer, many samples of various species to observe with magnifying glasses or with microscopes, live animals, hundreds of drawings and pictures of animals that led to the theory of evolution, a staircase and a slide built around DNA bands (where one can climb up the genetic code and slide down the protein synthesis), a small room where children can write and hang letters addressed to Darwin, computer games, films, various electronic and mechanic devices for children, a telltale skull exhibition of human evolution, and a short documentary on the origin of life and evolution by David Attenborough, are some of the attractions of this exhibition.
On visiting the Darwin’s Evolution Exhibition, one cannot help feeling enraptured and overwhelmed by the fact that one man’s passion for knowledge, love for nature and keen eye for the observation of animals and plants led to the disclosure of truths that today are part of our daily lives. Darwin’s lifelong achievements opened an endless path towards the discovery of the mysteries of the origin and evolution of life on Earth.
Marta
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