Category: Events

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)

February 17, 2013 • 12:00 pm

by Greg Mayer

As ever-alert reader Dominic has reminded us, 2013 is the centenary of Alfred Russel Wallace’s death, and it is thus an appropriate time to reflect on the many contributions of this great scientist who was, along with Charles Darwin, the co-discoverer of natural selection.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) in Singapore, 1862
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) in Singapore, 1862.

Like Darwin, who was his older contemporary, Wallace’s views on natural history were developed and brought to a head by extended travel and collecting, in Wallace’s case first to the Amazon, and then the Malay Archipelago. It was in Sarawak that Wallace wrote his first staunchly evolutionary paper, “On the Law which has regulated the Introduction of New Species”. In this paper he noted that new species arise adjacent in time and space to those to which they bear closest affinity, similar to Darwin’s observations on the former and current organic inhabitants of South America. Three years later he wrote the “Ternate paper”, in which he introduced a concept of natural selection very close to Darwin’s, the receipt of which by Darwin led to the joint publication in 1858 of Wallace’s paper along with extracts from Darwin’s unpublished works.

Wallace went on to make important contributions in selection theory, adaptive coloration, behavior, systematics, and, especially, biogeography. He was also a devoted socialist and, later in life, a spiritulaist. One of his least known efforts is his involvement in the life on Mars debate: he was a strong opponent of Percival Lowell‘s views, and wrote a book arguing against life existing on Mars, especially that Lowell’s “canals” were evidence for it. (Wallace was right about the canals, though Lowell may turn out to be right about life.)

One of the most important events surrounding the centenary has already occurred, and Matthew noted it here on WEIT at the time: the launch of Wallace Online, a wonderful website modeled on Darwin Online, and, like the latter, directed by John van Wyhe of the National University of Singapore. We have long been fans of John and Darwin Online here at WEIT. I urge all of you to go right this minute to Wallace Online and begin exploring the many astounding and amazing resources available there. The place to start is John’s brief but pithy biography of Wallace. Among John’s chief collaborators are Kees Rookmaaker, who has also contributed much to the Darwin project, and Charles Smith of Western Kentucky University. We have had occasion a number of times to link to Smith’s very valuable website, the Alfred Russel Wallace Page, and I am very glad to see such accomplished Wallaceophiles collaborating on this new project.

The Natural History Museum in London (or, as we systematists with a memory know it, the BM(NH)) also has a fantastic website devoted to the centenary, with links to many documents and images, all superintended by George Beccaloni, another noted Wallaceophile, who is also keeping a “blog” on the subject. We hope to have a number of Wallaceocentric items here at WEIT in the coming year.

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Darwin, C. R. and A. R. Wallace. 1858. On the tendency of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation of varieties and species by natural means of selection. Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology 3 (20 August): 46-50. (pdf)

Wallace, A.R. 1855. On the law which has regulated the introduction of new species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (ser. 2) 16 (93): 184-196. (pdf)

Wallace, A. R. 1907. Is Mars Habitable? A Critical Examination of Professor Percival Lowell’s Book “Mars and its Canals,” with an Aternative Explanation. London: Macmillan. (full text, including page images;  pdf)

Happy Darwin’s Birthday and Mardi Gras!

February 12, 2013 • 7:13 am

by Greg Mayer

Well, as previously noted, today is Darwin’s birthday and Mardi Gras. Laissez les bons temps rouler! At the Dinosaur Discovery Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the festivities began on Sunday. I am happy to report that some WEIT readers made it to the Museum for the activities; unfortunately, they had left by the time I arrived fairly late in the day. The Museum exhibits consist of a hall containing a variety of dinosaurs, especially theropods, with most of the skeletons being high quality casts. The hall is big enough to contain a full size Tyrannosaurus, a full size Acrocanthosaurus, and many more.

The main hall of the Dinosaur Discovery Museum.
The main hall of the Dinosaur Discovery Museum.

For Darwin Day, little Charles Darwins, each giving some interesting facts about the dinosaurs, were scattered about the hall. They will remain as part of the permanent exhibit.

Charles Darwin explains feather evolution. The origin of birds is a theme of the Museum. Note CD's own incipient plumage.
Charles Darwin explains feather evolution. The origin of birds is a theme of the Museum. Note CD’s own incipient plumage.

In addition, for Darwin Day my University of Wisconsin-Parkside colleagues Summer Ostrowski and Chris Noto had a table of fossils, casts, models, and kids’ activities set up in the foyer hall.

Drs. Summer Ostrowski and Chris Noto at the DDM's DD celebration.
Drs. Summer Ostrowski and Chris Noto at the DDM’s DD celebration.
Chris Noto as Darwin.
Chris Noto as Darwin.

Also in the foyer, UWP grad student Sean Murphy had turtle shells and turtles on hand to help explain the evolution of turtles. Turtles, the quintessential charismatic mesofauna, have the most radically transformed body plan of any tetrapod: their shoulder and pelvic girdles are inside their rib cage. (Feel where your ribs are, and then your shoulders and hips, and then imagine how you would get both of the latter inside of the former!) The turtles were the hit of the day, and were featured in local news coverage (which I would link to except the Kenosha News website won’t show you anything at all without paying).

Sean Murphy demonstrates turtle shell morphology.
Sean Murphy demonstrates turtle shell morphology.

The turtles held a conference, no doubt favorably comparing their own mature self-knowledge to the frantic insecurities of their human companions.

Rhinoclemmys, Emydoidea, and Terrapene, in conference.
Rhinoclemmys, Emydoidea, and Terrapene, in conference.

Dr. Thomas Carr, director of the Carthage College Institute of Paleontology, which is housed at the Museum, was also on hand.

Thomas Carr and his friend, an Allosaurus.
Thomas Carr and his friend, an Allosaurus.

At the end, after the Museum closed, the dinosaurs had to return to their homes through the snow.

A dinosaur dashes to its car after participating in the Dinosaur Discovery Museum's Darwin Day festivities. Since it turns out that dinosaurs are warm-blooded, the snow was not actually a major problem for the dinosaurs.
A dinosaur dashes to its car after participating in the Dinosaur Discovery Museum’s Darwin Day festivities. Since it turns out that dinosaurs are warm-blooded, the snow was not actually a major problem for the dinosaurs.

Darwin Day at the Dinosaur Discovery Museum

February 8, 2013 • 9:43 am

by Greg Mayer

If you’ll be in or near southeastern Wisconsin on this coming Sunday (instead of being on your way to New Orleans), you’ll want to visit the Dinosaur Discovery Museum in Kenosha (5608 Tenth Avenue,  Kenosha, WI 53140, 262-653-4450) for their Darwin Day event.

Darwin Day

Sunday, February 10, 2013; 1-4pm

An international celebration of science and humanity recognizing the birthday of the father of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin. Explore the discoveries and life of Charles Darwin, the man who first described biological evolution via natural selection. Learn about his research on natural selection, participate in discussions on evolution, and explore the Museum as an evolutionary biologist. Family crafts and hands-on fun throughout the afternoon.

Do you have a fossil or interesting rock you want to learn more about? Bring it in and have it looked at by a paleontologist.

Darwin in Obama-style poster
An image being used in the Museum’s promotional materials for the event.

My colleagues Drs. Chris Noto and Summer Ostrowski will be there, and I’m going to try to stop by. The Museum is home to the Carthage College Institute of Paleontology, headed by Dr. Thomas Carr.

Two reasons to party on February 12: Darwin’s birthday and Mardi Gras!

February 7, 2013 • 11:49 am

by Greg Mayer

Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), one last big party before the Lenten season of fasting and penance, is fast upon us, and this year, by coincidence it corresponds with Darwin’s birthday (February 12). New Orleans, as usual, will have a big parade, with floats, music, and costumed dancers. The parades are organized by social clubs called “krewes”, and in 1873 the theme of the Mistick Krewe of Comus (Comus being the Greek god of revelry) was “The Missing Links of Darwin’s Origin of Species“.

A book published by the Krewe in 1873 detailing their costumes.
A book published by the Krewe in 1873 detailing their costumes.

The Tulane University Digital Library maintains a collection of the sketches of the costumes designed by the Krewe. In the costumes, half human/half animal (or even half plant) figures are depicted with the faces of contemporary public figures– mostly Republican politicians and city officials that the Krewe wanted to satirize. They might not have thought much of Darwin (he’s portrayed as an ass!), but the main intent was political commentary (a tradition which continues in Mardi Gras to this day). The picture of Darwin as an ass is not very convincing as a likeness of Darwin:

Darwin as an ass.
Darwin as an ass.

Ulysses Grant, however, was instantly recognizable:

Ulysses Grant as a tobacco grub worm.
Ulysses Grant as a tobacco grub worm.

Interestingly, in 1964, the Mistick Krewe returned to a Darwinian theme, creating this design for a float entitled “Darwin on the Beagle”. It looks quite nice, actually. I don’t know if this float was ever made. Perhaps readers with some knowledge of New Orleans would be able to track down what happened at the 1964 Mardi Gras (maybe even photos of the float).

Float design for "Darwin on the Beagle" from 1964.
Float design for “Darwin on the Beagle” from 1964.

h/t Dominic via i09

The Academy of Natural Sciences at 200

March 27, 2012 • 7:52 am

by Greg Mayer

This year is the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the oldest natural history museum in the United States. Although now surpassed in size by some later-founded institutions, it is still one of the most important natural history museums in America, rich in types and other historically important specimens, and home to such luminaries as the paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope  in the 19th century and Ted Daeschler today. The Academy is celebrating its bicentennial with special exhibitions and web features, and the publication of a book, A Glorious Enterprise, by R.M. Peck and M.T. Stroud, with photographs by Rosamund Purcell. The New York Times has an article by Cornelia Dean, with a selection of images by Purcell and from the Academy’s archives and library, and further images can be seen at the University of Pennsylvania Press website (publishers of the book).

Two species of musk parrot from Fiji, painted by Titian Peale of the United States Exploring Expedition. Peale was a Philadelphia naturalist whose family had it's own museum, the Peale Museum; some of his collections, however, went to the Academy.

We’ve done museum reviews and discussed the merits of varying approaches to exhibition, notably the ‘interactive’ vs. ‘cabinet’ styles, here at WEIT a number times (see, for example here, here, here, here and here). Natural history museums grew out of the older “cabinets of curiosities”, and the original Academy exhibits were in this style (which is not quite the same as the newer style I’ve taken to calling the ‘cabinet’ style, which is influenced by the older tradition). Although I’ve been to the Academy several times, it has always been for research in the collections (which, at most natural history museums, vastly outnumber the specimens on display, and form the basis of the museum’s scientific mission), and unfortunately, I’ve never gotten to take more than a cursory walk through the exhibits. So, I should go to see the exhibits– and so should you!

Hitchens fêted in London

November 11, 2011 • 5:10 am

On Wednesday Christopher Hitchens (ill with pneumonia in Washington, D.C.) was fêted in an event at Royal Festival Hall.  Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry were the hosts, but a gaggle of luminaries weighed in by video. As The New Statesman reports,

Richard Dawkins, Hitchens’s fellow anti-theist, appeared on stage with Fry in London, and Martin Amis, his dearest friend, appeared via video link from New York, as did James Fenton and Salman Rushdie. The line-up also included actor Sean Penn (who Hitchens enjoys pool games with), former Harper’seditor Lewis Lapham and novelist Christopher Buckley, son of the late conservative intellectual (whether there can be such a thing is a subject for another occasion) William F. Buckley, whom Hitchens often debated on US TV show Firing Line. It felt like a hyper-intelligent version of Question Time. . .

. . . But the most significant and poignant intervention came from Ian McEwan, who was watching the event live with Hitchens in Texas. “I talked until late last night with Hitch, we were discussing the non-communist left of the early 50s,” he wrote in an email read out by Fry. “He can’t run a mile just now but be reassured his Rolls Royce mind is purring smoothly.”

Sadly, the Rolls Royce is running out of gas.  The Statesman describes the evening, which appears as an elegy/eulogy.  I fear it won’t be long now, and when Hitch is gone we have absolutely nobody to replace him. They say that no one is indispensable, but “they” are wrong.

Miranda Hale paid the $7 fee to watch this via computer livestream, and I expect she’ll report on what she saw. I also understand that at least one of our readers was at the event, and if you were there, or saw it, do weigh in below.

More debased academics—at my school!

May 20, 2011 • 11:10 am

Yes, I know a fair number of my readers think that courses on vampires, Batman, and the like are perfectly valid things to have at a good university, and I’m not averse to academic studies of popular culture.  But there are limits.

This is one of them.  A student at the University of Chicago has organized a one-day academic conference on (Ceiling Cat help us) the television show “Jersey Shore.”  I have watched bits of it in hotel rooms, and it’s about as dire a show as it comes: an MTV “reality documentary” about a pack of drunken, sex-obsessed youngsters who booze, brawl, and bonk their way through various cities.   The student, who must have gotten university funding for this venture, explains:

“I think it’s very important for academics not to restrict their work to so-called “high culture,” but to seriously engage with popular culture as well,” Showalter said via email. “The images and sounds of pop culture surround us and entertain us, and for those reasons alone they are deserving of study. With regards to ‘Jersey Shore’ specifically, I believe the show is both a fascinating and innovative example of reality television, as well as a useful lens through which to examine many of the issues that animate contemporary life: problems around gender roles, ethnic identity, celebrity, the influence of mass media, the notion of ‘reality’ itself, and so on.”

The response on campus has been positive overall, according to Showalter, who said the conference part of the “uncommon” tradition U of C prides itself on. So far, the conference will include talks from University of Michigan Professor Candace Moore, University of Western Ontario Professor Alison Hearn and Gawker’s Brian Moylan. . .

. . . “I hope the conference attendees gain a new appreciation for Jersey Shore as a cultural document, realize that even shows that are derided as vulgar or lowbrow have important things to tell us, and learn to be more thoughtful consumers of pop culture themselves. I hope the conference inspires other students to fully pursue their academic interests, no matter how unusual they may seem to others.”

Oh, and for the record, Snooki is Showalter’s favorite cast member, though he said Pauly D. always has the best lines.

Where have we failed?  Is this a good way to spend university money (or students’ time) on broadening our academic horizons?  I don’t think so.

On the other hand, since I’m already here maybe I can give a paper, too.  How about this: “Gym, Tan, and Laplace: How The Situation uses science to attract women.”

The gang.  Right to left: Pauly D, Snooki, and The Situation (kneeling).