So yesterday, or today if you’re west of London, was the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and this year is also the 150th anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species.

While down in Canberra for John’s wedding last weekend I went to the Darwin Exhibition at the National Museum of Australia which was pretty interesting. While familiar with Darwin’s story, it was still pretty cool to see some of his original notebooks and realise that the scribbles therein changed the whole world. After all, Darwin is right up there with Gallileo, Newton and Einstein as the greatest contributors to our understanding of how the world works.

Looking at the exhibits, it’s depressing to think that 150 years later there are still large proportions of our population who are not prepared to accept that Darwin was right, and that evolution by natural selection IS the way all of life’s diversity came to be. Despite the mountains of evidence, and confirmation by things we’ve since discovered, e.g: plate tectonics, DNA/genetics etc. people are still prepared to insist that it’s all rubbish and “some dude in the sky made us”. I certainly know which story is more plausible.

Anyway, enjoy the day and get out there to appreciate the wonders of the natural world and the man who provided the foundation for our understanding how it works. And if you can’t get outside, then perhaps watching a David Attenborough documentary is an appropriate substitute!