PHILADELPHIA –- The 200th anniversary in February 2009 of the birth of Charles Darwin, originator of the modern theory of evolution, is just months away. Now, the University of Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the University of Penn Museum and major Philadelphia cultural organizations, is launching a Year of Evolution series of public programs and events from late April 2008 through May 2009.

The Year of Evolution kicks off for the public on Saturday, April 19, as Penn Museum opens “Surviving: The Body of Evidence,” an exhibition exploring the process of evolution and its impact on humans. Other public programs so far scheduled at Penn include:

• Donald Johanson, director, Institute for Human Origins (May 2008)
• Spencer Wells, director, National Geographic Genographic Project (October 2008)
• E. Janet Browne, author, “Charles Darwin: Voyaging and the Power of Place” (November 2008)
• Kenneth R. Miller, author, “Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution” (February 2009).

Penn’s offerings will also include programs for children and families, scholarly symposia and a special Penn Reading Project for entering freshmen.

Penn will be joined by leading Philadelphia cultural institutions, including The Academy of Natural Sciences, The Free Library of Philadelphia, The Franklin, Philadelphia Zoo, Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia and the American Philosophical Society Museum (APS Museum). They will offer such programs as:

• Exhibitions about the work of Darwin (American Philosophical Society Museum) and geneticist Gregor Mendel (The Academy of Natural Sciences)
• An evolutionary perspective on a medical collection (Mütter Museum)
• IMAX movie programs (The Franklin)
• A closer look at our closest relatives, our fellow primates (Philadelphia Zoo)

Howard Goldfine, a professor of microbiology in Penn’s School of Medicine, and Michael Weisberg, an assistant professor of philosophy in Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences, are the co-chairs of the Year of Evolution. Janet Monge, acting curator of physical anthropology at Penn Museum and exhibition co-curator, was instrumental in organizing the city-wide effort.
“Evolutionary biology is the cornerstone of what we know and where we can go in to the future,” Weisberg said. “With the approach of Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of his seminal book, ‘On the Origin of Species,’ we felt now was an ideal time to offer our students and the wider public this exciting opportunity to explore evolution and its critical role in science.”

“With its rich scientific and medical communities, its strong cultural community and its many schools of higher education,” Monge said, “Philadelphia has always been a leader in the advancement of science. The spirit of inquiry has been alive and well in this city from its earliest days, as witnessed by Benjamin Franklin, Penn’s founder, considered by many to be the first American scientist.”

Additional information about the Year of Evolution is available beginning April 16 at www.yearofevolution.org.

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