We celebrate today the Darwin’s day, to honor the birth of Charles Darwin in 02/12/1809.
Darwin stands as a major figure in the history of science. He revolutionised our understanding of nature and of the origins of man. He contributed to proving the theory of evolution against that of transmutation, using examples from zoology, botany and geology.
The Royal Society in 1839 recognised his contribution as a naturalist & for being ‘well acquainted with geology, botany, zoology & many other branches of natural knowledge.
As a pioneering naturalist, his groundbreaking 1859 work ‘On the Origin of Species’ had a profound influence on scientific thought in the 19th century and beyond.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”. Charles Darwin
So, let’s celebrate with amazing visual science:
Big Bang Boom: An unscientific point of view on the beginning and evolution of life … and how it could probably end. Direction and animation by BLU . (Jump to minute 6 to see dinosaurs).
A tapestry of footage tracing the cosmic and biological origins of our species, set to original music, by Simphony of Science.
Tree of Life
Darwin used the concept of a tree of life in the context of his theory of evolution. In the Origin of Species (1859) Chapter IV he presented an abstract diagram of a theoretical tree of life for species of an unnamed large genus.
Page from Darwin’s notebooks around July 1837. This photo shows his first sketch of an evolutionary tree taken from his first notebook on transmutation of species. The notebook is viewable at the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, New York City.
So, to celebrate today, see this awensome interactive tree of life:
Click and use the search box to zoom a specific node. Press esc to zoom out.
To see more:
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