March 13, 2008
‘Evolution in the Evening’ series offers timely look at tricky subject
The fossil record, human evolution, the origin of the species and even the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria will be subjects of the discussion-based lecture series “Evolution in the Evening,” starting April 3 on the UW campus.
With some of this year’s presidential candidates publicly expressing their disbelief in evolution, it’s a timely subject for discussion.
The series, which is free and open to the public as well as UW audiences, will be Thursday evenings from 7 to 8:30 in 320 Hitchcock, April 3–June 5. Registration is limited to 30 people, call 206-685-2185 or e-mail kbrady@u.washington.edu.
“I’d like to get a wide range of people with diverse backgrounds and views,” says Toby Bradshaw, a professor of biology who will lead the discussions. “I’m not averse to strong opinions on any side.”
Even among those who accept it, evolution can be difficult to understand and can at first seem counterintuitive. Thus Bradshaw will discuss evidence for evolution and why scientists accept evolution as the explanation for the origin of all life on Earth. He plans to discuss a few of the major questions still open in evolution and what sort of evidence might help close those questions. He also intends to talk about the erroneous view that evolution is only useful as an explanation of things that happened in the past, and that it has no value for predicting the future.
But mostly he wants to cover anything that people are curious to know more about, he says.
Tag(s): evolution
