Happy Birthday Charles Darwin

February 12, 2009.

Many reports state that if Charles Darwin were alive today, he’d be excited by the acceptance of his theories, and he’d probably be a whiz in the online world. Personally, I think he would also be out enjoying whitewater rafting with O.A.R.S., since so many O.A.R.S. trips feature the beauty of the natural world, including intriguing wildlife, discussions about history, geology and the earth’s natural elements. Shoot, he probably would have been asked to be a guest lecturer on any number of their vacations!

Sally Lightfoot crabs.

Charles Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in Shropshire, England. He died on April 19, 1882, at the age of 73. He studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge.

According to the Darwin Day Celebration website, there are over 663 events scheduled in 44 countries in celebration of Darwin Day 2009. For example, Harvard University is having a readathon of “On the Origin of the Species” today and there is a facebook celebration.

The current issue of National Geographic Magazine features Charles Darwin and the National Geographic Channel is airing “Darwin’s Secret Notebooks”

According to a recent U.S. News & World Report article, a Gallup poll shows that 39 percent of Americans believe in the theory of evolution. A quarter say they don’t believe in evolution, and 36 percent say they have no opinion.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that a secularist group is observing the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin with billboards that urge people to "Evolve Beyond Belief." The Freedom From Religion Foundation placed "Praise Darwin" billboards in Grand Junction; Dayton, Tenn.; Dover, Pa.; and Whitehall, Ohio. They feature stained-glass designs and a picture of the evolutionary theorist born on Feb. 12, 1809.

NPR reports: " Leonard Krishtalka, a paleontologist and head of the natural history museum at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, stated that there are 34 states in the United States that have passed anti-evolution laws of one kind or another," says Krishtalka, "whether it’s stickers in textbooks or warnings that ‘Reading this book with be injurious to your mental health," whether it’s California or Alabama or Louisiana. For the record, in Kansas, the teaching of evolution in schools never stopped because all of the regulation and rules that the anti-evolution segment of the Kansas City Board of Education tried to get through were never enacted."

Agree or disagree with Darwin’s theories, there’s no denying he played an important role in scientific explorations. No matter how you celebrate the day, or curse the man’s ideas, I can’t suggest enough a visit to the Galapagos Islands to see for yourself where his inspiration came from.