There’s a new series of short films about evolution, all of them part of a larger project, “The closer you look, the more you see.” I’m boosting it because it not only involves work at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), where I got my Ph.D., but also stars my friend Andrew Berry, who’s a great presenter. And, of course, it’ll teach you about the evidence for evolution.
Here are the details from the site:
Evolution is the most powerful, revealing, transformative, inevitable truth that humans have ever discovered. Andrew Berry, Lecturer in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, takes you behind the scenes to explore groundbreaking research in evolutionary biology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, a renowned research center not open to the public. Harvard scientists reveal the inner workings of the evolutionary process and ponder challenging questions about who we are and where we came from. The film demonstrates the rewards of patient, rigorous, detailed observation. The closer you look, the more you see.
The film’s twelve captivating episodes give a clear understanding of how evolution works and why we know it’s true.
It’s free, and the episodes (on Vimeo) range from 3 to 17 minutes long, most running around 6 minutes. (Click on the screenshot below to go to them.) That means you can pick one or two per day, and get an education in evolution in a week or less. There are some very cool things shown, including butterflies collected by Vladimir Nabokov, who worked at the MCZ.
But start at the beginning with episode 1, “Taxonomy”.
Well, I know what I’m going to be doing in my spare time!
Thank you!
Too bad. I excitedly began to watch chapter one, taxonomy, but with the focus on vipers and the bringing out of a glassjar which contains, I imagine, a large Western Rattlesnake, I quickly left the series, fearing the nightmares that would likely follow tonight and the next several nights. I guess my queasiness started years ago and drove me to the “lifeless” science of physics and aerospace engineering.
Query: are the snakes a constant theme or can I jump onto chapter 2 and what follows without fear?
I’m the same. I stopped Biology fairly early. No taste for creepy crawlies.
I just heard the first 2.
They are relatively short, under 18 or so minutes and wonderful. The second one, on Nabokov and butterflies is so compelling.
Strongly recommend them.
This illuminating series makes it clear why Harvard’s MCZ would be such a great place to get training in evolutionary and organismal biology.