transmutation diary · story, creation is the powerful story of charles darwin and the single most...

1 Transmutation Diary www.darwin200.org July2009

TRANSMUTATION DIARYThe partner newsletter of www.darwin200.org July 2009


Darwin200

Darwin200 partner activities continue throughout the summer.The British Council/NHM International Student Summit in earlyJuly focused on Darwin and contemporary science, whileDarwin200 supported the biodiversity session in the meetingof the World Congress of Science Journalists in London inthat same week. A major highlight of Darwin Year is of coursethe festival and celebrations in Cambridge which are taking placeas this edition is being writtenwww.darwin2009.cam.ac.uk.

Meanwhile the whole phenomenon of Darwin200 is attractinginterest. At the British Science Association (BSA)Communication Conference in June it was explored in thecontext of ‘Are Years of… a Success?’ Meanwhile here in thesecretariat we have been receiving requests from organisationsboth within the UK and abroad asking how Darwin200 hasworked and if they can apply the model to other forthcominganniversaries and ‘Years of’ celebrations. We still have a whileto go before Darwin200 climaxes in November with the 150thanniversary of On the Origin of Species, but the general opinionseems to be that Darwin200 has really reached diverseaudiences and created in-depth explorations of Darwin, his ideasand their relevance today. Why this success? Well I think theanswer is simple – and it’s the same answer to a differentquestion. At the BSA conference I was asked, ‘How do you dealwith Darwin fatigue?’ My reply was that the diversity of partnerswho are engaged, their perspectives and their audiencescontinue to make Darwin200 refreshing and surprising. However,if there is success we would like more evidence of it. What hasthis actually meant for partners? Accompanying this newsletteris an evaluation form. If you can, please send us your feedback,as we would like to share the lessons learned for the benefitof others.

We are also trying to keep an archive of what has happened inDarwin200 during the year – please send us copies of yourevents programmes or any related press info – paper orelectronic.

Katie Edwards,Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BDc/o [email protected]

Twenty-five thousand Royal Mint,£2 anniversary coins have been struck. Seewww.royalmint.com/store/BritishBase/UKCDBU.aspx

What’s on

After Darwin: ContemporaryExpressions26 June – 29 NovemberAn exhibition of major artistsand writers exhibiting existingand newly commissionedwork inspired by Darwin’s book,The Expression of the Emotionsin Man and Animals. Theexhibition features work byGautier Deblonde, Jeremy Dellerand Matthew Killip incollaboration with RichardWiseman, Tina Gonsalves, MarkHaddon, Ruth Padel, DianaThater and Bill Viola.www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/expressions/index.html

Front cover – After Darwin: ContemporaryExpressions, NHM, derived from work ofevolutionary biologist N N Ladygina-KohtsComparative Study of Ape Emotions andIntelligence, Darwin Museum Moscow, 1935.

Garden Detectives26 June – 27 SeptemberVisit a special summer holidayexhibition for families at theNational Museum of Scotlandbased on the simple methodsof observation at the heart ofDarwin’s work.www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum/coming_soon/garden_detectives.aspx

Cont’d…


Creation – The movie

Detail from the set of Darwin's study in Down House

Part ghost story, part psychological thriller, part heart-wrenching lovestory, Creation is the powerful story of Charles Darwin and the singlemost explosive idea in history. Creation stars Paul Bettany, JenniferConnelly, Jeremy Northam, Toby Jones and Benedict Cumberbatchand is due to be released on 25th September.

Darwin’s great, still controversial, book On the Origin of Speciesdepicts nature as a battleground. In Creation the battleground is aman’s heart. Torn between his love for his deeply religious wife and hisown growing belief in a world where God has no place, Darwin findshimself caught in a struggle between faith and reason, love and truth.

This is not the grey-bearded old man that most people imagine whenthey think of Darwin. The Darwin we meet in Creation is a young,vibrant father, husband and friend whose mental and physical healthgradually buckles under the weight of guilt and grief for a lost child.Ultimately it is Annie, his adored ten year-old daughter who leads himout of darkness and helps him reconnect with his wife and family. Onlythen is he able to create the book that changed the world. Told in adazzling collage of scenes from the past and present, laced withstories of exotic animals and the dark dreams of a troubled mindCreation is a film that will provoke, entertain and ultimately deeplymove audiences.

Directed by Jon Amiel (Entrapment) from a screenplay by John Collee(Master and the Commander), based on Randal Keynes’ book, Annie’sBox, about the life of his great great grandfather Charles Darwin.Produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor).

See: www.creationthemovie.comExclusive clip at:www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/5505963/Creation-the-movie-world-exclusive-trailer.html

What’s on

Seeing the Light: Finch by Finch3 July – 15 SeptemberAn exhibition of cast glassGalapagos finch beaks by glassartist Tolly Nason is being heldat the University Museum ofZoology in Cambridge. In thisproject, Tolly has cast the beaksof 14 Galapagos finches collectedby Darwin in solid red glass at 20times their original size.www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/museum/events

Simple Beginnings: The Story ofEvolution, Bolton Museum,Aquarium and Archive

This exhibition opened in June. Itexamines who Darwin was andwhy his ideas were so important.Explore how evolution works bylooking at ammonites, finchesand snakes. Runs until Saturday7 November. See more about theexhibition and the supportingprogramme of events and talks atwww.boltonmuseums.org.uk/whatson

Darwin Summer TalksJuly – AugustEvery Wednesday evening in Julyand August the Chelsea PhysicGarden is hosting a Darwin-themed talk. Subjects includeDarwin’s love of plants, Darwinand Victorian visual culture andretracing Darwin’s travels throughPatagonia and Chile.www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/events

Cont’d…


Endless Forms

Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the VisualArts opened last month at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.It explores the impact of Darwin’s theories upon artists of the latenineteenth century. This large exhibition of nearly 200 objects isarranged in themed sections exploring artists’ depictions of thenatural world both before and after Darwin published hiscontroversial ideas. By juxtaposing artworks and scientificspecimens of the time, the exhibition persuades us to view theart differently in order to understand how Darwin was influencedby the visual culture of his time – from the powerful and brutaldepictions of nature to the precise, detailed botanical drawings ofHooker and Henslow – and to see how later artists, including theImpressionists, were in turn influenced by Darwin’s theories.

Traditional landscape paintings, photos and sculptures areviewed alongside cases of scientific specimens includingminerals, fossils and a stunning display of Argus pheasantfeathers. Artists include Landseer, Monet, two newlycommissioned cartoons of a young and an old Darwin byQuentin Blake and even Darwin’s own hand-drawn map showinga cross-section through a mountain range in Chile.

The exhibition has already been seen by 25,000 visitors at theYale Center for Visual Art and, being the biggest exhibition toopen so far at the Fitzwilliam Museum, it is likely to be just aspopular there as it coincides with the Darwin 2009 Festival atCambridge during July.

Endless Forms, 16 June – 4 October:www.darwinendlessforms.org

For a full review see:www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/richarddorment/5603643/Endless-Forms-Charles-Darwin-at-the-Fitzwilliam-Museum---review.html

What’s on

A Voyage Round the World6 July – 23 December,Cambridge University Library.The exhibition reunitesmanuscripts and natural historyspecimens from the University’scollections, many of them neverbefore seen in public, andexplores how Darwin’sexperiences on the Beagle playedan essential role in theformulation of his theories.

Darwin the GeologistThe Sedgwick Museum,University of Cambridge.This is a major, new exhibitionof the geological specimenscollected by Darwin during thevoyage of the HMS Beagle. Thisnew permanent display openedon 7 July. The exhibitioncomplements Charles Darwin –Becoming a Geologist whichtells the story of Darwin’schildhood and student life.

As part of the openingcelebrations the SedgwickMuseum is also hosting aconference entitled:

Darwin in the Field: Collecting,Observation and ExperimentThe conference will exploreDarwin’s field skills and his legacyof records and collections.11–12 July 2009. See:www.sedgwickmuseum.org/about/news/090518_darwin_conference.html


New Darwin resource online

Galapagos mockingbird courtesy of ARKive

ARKive has launched a significant addition to its website as partof its response to Darwin200. With the support of the BritishCouncil’s Darwin Now programme, this includes afree-to-download massive multimedia resource that profiles 50species intimately related to Charles Darwin’s voyageon HMS Beagle. Supporting these profiles is a new onlinelearning resource for 11–16 year olds which take as a startingpoint what Darwin observed on the Beagle and covers subjectsincluding variation and natural selection, classification andidentification keys. Material available for use in the classroomincludes Power Point presentations for downloading, alongwith suggestions for classroom activities.

See:www.arkive.org/darwin/www.arkive.org/news/20090701-celebrating-darwin.html

Darwin – abroad

The Institute Charles DarwinInternational (ICDI) created inParis in 1998 has been runningconferences and events focusingon Darwin’s work, republishingDarwin’s complete works inFrench and encouraging studiesof Darwin’s work to reappraiseareas which have in the pastbeen ignored or misinterpreted.

ICDI has developed a variety ofexhibition materials, includingversions translated for Englishspeaking counties. A basic45 panel version can be obtainedon CD-ROM which can then bereproduced within the resourcesof the organisations who mighthire it. For more information seewww.darwinisme.org/exposition_ang.htmlwww.darwinisme.org/cdrom_ang.html

Tomorrow, in a YearThe Danish Arts Council issupporting the world premiere ofHotel Pro Forma and The Knife’sDarwin-opera, Tomorrow, ina Year (I morgen om et år).It premieres at the Royal DanishTheatre on 2 September 2009with further performances on4 and 5 September. The tourgoes to Geneva (11, 12September 2009), Dresden (8, 9October 2009) and Århus (27, 28November 2009). Details from:[email protected]


Inherit the Wind

Spencer Tracy, playing Harry Drummond (based on Darrow) examines Fredric March,playing Matthew Harrison Brady (based on Bryan) in the 1960 film version of Inherit theWind

Marking the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’sOn the Origin of Species, Trevor Nunn returns to direct Old Vicartistic director Kevin Spacey in Lawrence and Lee’s grippinglyrelevant drama, based on the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial.

Several fictional characters include a fundamentalist preacherand his daughter, who in the play is the fiancée of John Scopes.Henry Drummond is less cynical and biting than the Darrow whothe character was based on. Scopes, a relatively minor figure inthe real drama at Dayton, becomes Bertram Cates, a centralfigure in the play, who is arrested while teaching class, thrownin jail, burned in effigy, and taunted by a fire-snorting preacher.As the two legal Titans, Lawrence and Lee, confront each otherthe narrative draws heavily on the real Scopes trial. As thecommunity puts freedom of thought on trial, the powerful Darrowcondemnation of anti-intellectualism, an exchange betweenDarrow and Judge Raulston that earned Darrow a contemptcitation, and portions of the Darrow examination of Bryan arelifted nearly verbatim from the actual trial transcript.From 18 September – 20 December.See: www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=55 .

Darwin - abroad

Age of Wonders

British composer MichaelStimpson has been invited to theNorthern Territory, Australia,to see the first full productionof Age of Wonders, his newwork written to celebrate the200th anniversary of the birth ofCharles Darwin. It was performedby the Darwin SymphonyOrchestra in a celebration eventcalled Origins held on 1 July inthe city park.

The complete work is in fourparts. The Man Who Walkedwith Henslow is a piece for violinand piano, which exploresDarwin’s early life and influences.The Beagle is a piece for a stringquartet that follows the voyageand how Darwin and Fitzroy seethe world begins to diverge duringits course.

The complexity of the Age ofWonders has further evolved inAn Entangled Bank, the piece fora string orchestra, which focuseson Darwin’s life in Down Houseand the writing and publication ofOn the Origin of Species.

The final section Transmutationsis for a full orchestra. It is acomplex piece of four sectionsweaving the strong elements fromthe previous sections which havesurvived by ‘natural selection’.The work reminds us of thecomplexity of Darwin’s ideasbefore returning to the solo violinfrom the first section, the warmthof Charles Darwin.


Darwin Initiative

The Darwin Initiative is a UK government programme set upand announced by the Department of Environment Food andRural Affairs (Defra) in 2002, the year of the Rio Earth Summit.It aims to assist countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financialresources to engage with the Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD), The Convention of Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) and the Convention on Migratory Species of WildAnimals (CMS), through funding collaborative projects drawingon UK expertise. The initiative has funded some 673 projects todate by partnering more than 860 organisations in the hostcountries with UK biodiversity expertise.

The website at darwin.defra.gov.uk provides access toinformation about the projects funded under the initiative,as well as resources for Darwin Initiative projects, and for thoseinterested in applying for funding. The Darwin Initiative hasproduced a range of documents, which are available throughthe website including, training manuals, scientific articles,management plans, databases, taxonomic keys, and manyothers. Use the search tools to identify resources of interest.

St Helena Wird-bird - the last surviving endemic species needs careful managment if it isto survive

As a part of their contribution to Darwin Year, the initiative hasproduced a .pdf briefing note called the Evolution of the DarwinInitiative. It includes a map that retraces Darwin’s Beaglevoyage, and highlights some of the biodiversity research projectshappening today in the places he visited.

See: darwin.defra.gov.uk/reports/briefing_note.darwin_200.pdf

Darwin - abroad

The Next 200 Years of Darwin:Exploring the Evolving Legacy

This festival in Salzburg oflectures, discussions and fieldtrips will celebrate thebicentenary. Held from 21–27August the festival is part of theSalzburg Global Seminar.See:www.SalzburgGlobal.org/go/Darwin2009 or contact Ian Brown,[email protected]

150 years of Darwin'sEvolutionary Theory: a SouthAmerican celebration

This celebration will gatherinternationally renownedevolutionary scientists in Puntadel Este, Uruguay, on 2–6September. The meeting isorganized by the InternationalUnion of Biological Sciences(IUBS), and will include keynotelectures, several symposia andposter sessions. Seewww.darwin200.edu.uyor [email protected].

Gulbenkian Darwin Exhibition

After its unprecedented successin Lisbon, Portugal, theGulbenkian Darwin exhibition hasnow moved to Madrid, Spain,while plans are also beingconsidered for a small exhibitionfor Portuguese speaking Africa.


Publications associated with Darwin200exhibitions

The Art of Plant Evolution, by W John Kress and ShirleyShirwood This publication celebrates an exhibition in the ShirleySherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, in the year of Kew’s250th anniversary and Darwin’s bicentenary. The book aimsto give readers a sense of the contemporary scientificdiscoveries made in our understanding of plant relationships, byillustrating each species with a painting by a contemporary artist.The text places the artist’s observations as displayed in thepaintings in the context of modern plant classification, providingreaders with a new understanding of the botanical world and theinterrelationships among species, enhancing their appreciationof an artist’s ability to portray the delicate beauty of nature.ISBN: 978184246421-2

Expressions: From Darwin to Contemporary Arts, Ed, BergitArends. Darwin wrote He who admits… that the structure andhabits of all animals have been gradually evolved, will look at thewhole subject of Expression in a new and interesting light. Thisbook creates a trajectory from Darwin’s observations to thecontemporary recordings of emotions in the arts. It uses newlycommissioned work, to straddle the natural sciences, art andliterature and explores questions of human-animal kinship.It includes texts by Antonio Damasio, Aris Fioretos, MarkHaddon, Ruth Padel, Julia Voss and Bridget M Waller and artworks by Gautier Deblonde, Jeremy Deller and Matthew Killipin collaboration with Richard Wiseman, Tina Gonsalves, DianaThater and Bill Viola. The book accompanies the exhibitionAfter Darwin: Contemporary ExpressionsISBN: 9780565092429 (available at www.nhm.ac.uk)

New releases

The Darwin Poems

The Darwin Poems by EmilyBallou is now available onAmazon. Some of Emily’s workwas read at the Darwin200 VIPevent at the NHM on 12 February2009. She will be reading moreat the Edinburgh Book Festivalwith poet Jen Hadfield on17 August.ISBN: 9781921401275

A Natural Calling by A W DLarkum. This scholarly workprovides new factual materialon Darwin following many yearsof research into Darwin’srelationship with his cousinWilliam Darwin Fox. It is abiographical and historicalaccount of the letters exchangedby these men and the diaries ofW D Fox, which have never beenaccessed before.ISBN 9781402092329

Darwin Song Project –CD available

Darwin Song Project workshopsand performance for folkmusicians were a part of theShrewsbury Darwin Festival.A CD of the superb performanceat the new Shrewsbury Theatrehas now been released:www.darwinsongproject.com


Oxford University – Darwin200 Publications fromOUP

Oxford University Press has produced a series of special Darwin200cross branded academic texts. As part of their efforts to celebrateDarwin Year they have focused on the latest thinking in areas ofevolutionary biology.

Human Genetic Diversity: Functional Consequences for Healthand Disease, by Julian Knight explores potential issues around thescientific effort to explore the human genome. How it promises to helpus understand our evolutionary origins, predict our risk of disease andtreat illnesses. An authoritative overview of the rapidly advancing field.www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199227709

Principles of Evolutionary Medicine, by Peter Gluckman, AlanBeedle and Mark Hanson, explores how evolutionary science iscritical to our understanding of integrated human biology and is anunderpinning discipline essential for medical and public healthprofessionals.www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199236398

Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems, byAlan Dixson is aimed at a graduate readership synthesising researchon primate anatomy reproductive physiology and behaviour, and socontextualising Darwin’s own initial insights that helped advance thisarea of study.www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199559435

News

Origins play

Director Eyal Israel and producerMill Goble are looking for anappropriate space to stageTrumpery by Peter Parnell.The play describes the eventssurrounding the publication ofOn the Origin of Species, half setin 1857 (two years prior topublication), and half set in 1861(two years post publication). Atthe opening we find CharlesDarwin not as the revolutionarywe imagine him to be, but as aman drowning in worries. Thestory that unfolds shows us hownatural selection is still human.Parnell creates a world thatmoves effortlessly from theevents revolving around Darwinand Alfred Wallace (which one isthe father of natural selection?),to his conflict with Richard Owenand his alliance with ThomasHuxley, to the deteriorating healthof his daughter Annie, his fragilerelationship with his wife andfinally his loss of Christian faith.Contact Eyal Israel,[email protected]. 07949442638.

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