Darwin exhibition begins tomorrow

PUNE: Charles Darwin is coming to town. The life and works of the legendary English naturalist will be shown at an exhibition organised by the British Library from November 10 to 29. Titled Darwin Now', the exhibition explores Darwin's life, his ground-breaking theory and the continuing relevance of his ideas.
It also sheds light on contemporary reactions to Darwin's theory of evolution and how fields as diverse as geology and economics influenced his thinking.
The exhibition will be shown in over 25 countries worldwide throughout 2009, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth (February 12) and the 150th year of the publication of On the Origin of Species' (on November 24).
"People should know about the Darwinian theory, especially students and those from the field of sciences. That's why we invited students from some 60 schools and 80 colleges, along with people from 12 science organisations in the city," says V Sugandhi, assistant librarian at the British Library.
In order to further understand various aspects of Darwinian theory and the pure sciences, several events have been lined up at the British Library during the exhibition.
Madhav Gadgil, a life member of the Agarkar Research Institute will deliver a talk on Evolutionary progress: Relative roles of competition and co-operation' at 6 pm on November, while Milin Watve, faculty member of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, will talk on health, Darwinian medicine and microbiology on November 10.
A session on making science toys will be carried out by Arvind Gupta of the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) on November 21. Children can also look forward to an exciting quiz on pure sciences on November 22.
An origami workshop by Mandar Lele, a faculty member of VIT, will be held on November 29. Darwin Now' will be inaugurated by actress Sonali Kulkarni at 6 pm on November 10.