COLUMBIA — The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday is Thursday. In celebration, the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center will host the 2009 Darwin Symposium, titled Darwin's Ongoing Revolution: Evolutionary Thought in Emerging Fields.
"We want to show where research based on evolution and evolutionary thought is right now," said Stefani Engelstein, chairwoman of the planning committee of the symposium.
One of the speakers is David Geary, a curator's professor at MU. Some of his research is focused on evolutionary psychology. He has written two books on the topic, which are focused on sex differences and brain and cognitive evolution.
Other speakers include: David Sloan Wilson from Binghamton University; Randolph Nesse from the University of Michigan Medical School; Michael Ruse from Florida State University; Gillian Beer from Cambridge University; Ann Gibbons, a journalist; and Ron Numbers from the University of Wisconsin.
These presenters are leaders in the fields of biology, evolutionary medicine, philosophy of biology, literature and science, the history of the relationship between religion and science and evolutionary psychology.
Other events include a talk by Geary titled "Darwin and Modern Psychology," at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Columbia Public Library. The event is free. Ellis Library will have an exhibit in March about the history of evolutionary thought. The Ragtag Cinema will be showing films on March 2 and March 11 about evolution. The Perlow-Stevens Gallery, 812 E. Broadway, will be having a juried art show from March 3 through 28 with art inspired by evolution.