On November 24, 1859 a book was published that would change the world and the way we look at it, making today
NATIONAL EVOLUTION DAY!
Charles Darwin had spent years painstakingly researching “The Origin Of The Species,” the book that founded evolutionary biology.
Originally released with the mouthy title “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life,” Darwin’s work turned the scientific world on its ear and touched off heated debates in the non-scientific world that continue to this day.
He further refined and expanded the Theory of Evolution in subsequent books like The Descent of Man, The Voyage of the Beagle, On the Origin of Species and other works that opened broad new avenues of scientific inquiry.
While science has long since accepted evolution as established fact, religious authorities haven’t been able to wrap their heads around an alternate explanation to their claim of 7 days of feverish creation by an omnipotent God as the only explanation to the mystery of life. None of which matters, since enough of the right people know that the Theory of Evolution is the truth, and they can get on with their scientific work, and let others worry about the mystical.
Here’s to Charles Darwin and asking why, and all his scientific descendants who keep asking why. Inquiring minds want to know.
•Suggested Activities: Developing gills and returning to the sea.