Clips for National Geographic’s Darwin 200 programming:
Two clips from BBC’s Darwin’s Struggle:
Kate Miller talking about products from Charlie’s Playhouse:
Eight year old Dudeboy inhabits the body of Charles Darwin to recite the last line of “On the Origin of Species”:
A historia pessoal de Charles Darwin (3 videos):
If you are in the UK, go watch this program with David Attenborough, which aired on the BBC earlier this evening, online now. You can also request a free Tree of Life poster, but only if you are in the UK. Wow, us Yankees can’t watch the program or get a neat poster for a child’s room… Bummer!
It seems many in the UK really should watch the program…
Richard did, and here is what he had to say…
Via Reality TV Website. Among a few shows about evolution:
DARWIN’S SECRET NOTEBOOKS
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9 PM ET/PTNational Geographic takes a revealing look at the very origins of evolution in Darwin’s Secret Notebooks. Though Darwin circled the world on the HMS Beagle for nearly five years, he spent just five weeks in the famed Galapagos Islands. Darwin had no epiphany there. So what was it? What “certain facts” from the voyage led this young creationist to propose a theory so radical that it would remain controversial (though largely proven) 150 years later? Using Darwin’s own diary and field notes as a travel guide, retrace Darwin’s expedition beyond the Galapagos to uncover the forgotten evidence that inspired his revolutionary work. We see how fossils in Argentina, seashells in the Andes and fish in the South Pacific helped him cultivate his radical theory of evolution.
For more information visit www.natgeotv.com/darwin
This is an ad for a German electronics store: “The evolution of technology, beginning in the early stone age and evolving to the most powerfull technology of all times.” Via Laughing Squid.
Back in October I was contacted by BBC Marketing for my mailing address. They added me to the list of invitees to the launch of the BBC Darwin Season in London on January 20, 2009. Today I received the neat little invitation in the mail. Of course, sadly, I am not able to go, but it was nice to be invited!
Did any of my fellow Darwin bloggers receive an invitation?
By the way, in the fall of 2009, I may get to go to London. Talking with my advisor today, we decided that my research on Tyndall will necessitate a research trip to the archive of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, which holds a large collection of Tyndall material. Although we have access to the letters, I will need to see Tyndall’s journals… What else could I possibly want to see in London or the outskirts of?
NOTE: This is here more for me to rewatch it since I am writing a paper on the evolution/creation issue as it happened in Darby, MT in 2004.
UCTV (Univ. of California Television) has a Science section for its programming. There are plenty of programs involving Darwin and evolution (most of which came from the Focus on Origins series, with many creationist/ID speakers). Only a few of the programs are available to watch however…
It was liveblogged at The Beagle Project Blog (also, you can download Parts 1 and 2 here and here. respectively).
The 3 part series, The Genius of Charles Darwin (with Richard Dawkins), starts tonight on Channel 4 in the UK. Peter of The HMS Beagle Project will be liveblogging it tonight, and here are some clips from the Cheltenham Science Festival (more here):
Dawkins on Darwin ’s Theory of Survival of the Fittest (05:03)
Dawkins on who was first- Darwin or Wallace? (03:55)
Dawkins on Darwin ’s the ‘ Eureka ’ Moment (02:48)
Dawkins explains Evolution by natural Selection (01:57)
From Times Colonist:
Documentary film: Darwin rediscovered
Victoria-based father-and-son production team tackle evolution
Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist
Published: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
After sailing to victory with its award-winning television series Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery, Victoria-based Ferns Productions is focusing on another legendary historical figure — evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin.
The father-and-son team — Pat Ferns and Andrew Ferns — are in pre-production with Sydney, Australia-based Becker Group Ltd., with substantial support from Screen Australia, on Darwin’s Brave New World.
Inspired by a thesis by Australian historian Iain McCalmon, the three-hour docudrama series will focus on controversies surrounding publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species.
“Darwin’s legacy goes on. It’s the most important idea in modern science and has changed the world,” says Pat Ferns, noting that as with the Cook series, it will be distinguished by material that offers a fresh take.
The series, made with support from the Canadian Television Fund, will be telecast by ABC in Australia and CBC in Canada late next year, the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth.
As with the Cook series, the Darwin project will be filmed around the world, with an international cast and an emphasis on locales in Australia, New Zealand and the Galapagos Islands to offer a “unique Southern Hemisphere perspective.”
It will explore the contributions of Darwin’s disciples Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley and Alfred Russel Wallace, and the bitter battle for publication of the work Darwin originally intended to publish only after his death, Ferns says.
When the veteran Canadian production executive took the Darwin project idea to Screen Australia’s Mark Hamlyn, he discovered his former co-production partner on the Cook series had started discussions on a project with McCalmon.
“We decided to merge our interests,” says Ferns, who got David Suzuki, Richard Dawkins and others on board to lend their scientific expertise.
Darwin’s Brave New World, written by Katherine Thomson, is being co-directed by Australia’s Lisa Matthews and Jason Bourque, the Canadian filmmaker who got his start making shorts and music videos here.
“Jason is more heavily known as a drama director, but his documentary work is wonderful. He has a terrific eye,” Ferns says.
Bourque came highly recommended by Andrew Ferns, who had worked with him on films for Vancouver’s Insight Productions. Although Pat Ferns says he was impressed by his award-winning documentaries such as Dreams of Flight and Shadow Company, the film about international military contracting he made with Nick Bicanic, it was Eterne Sangui, Bourque’s poetic 1999 dance short that sold him.
Reached in Australia, Bourque describes the film as “a dream job … probably my biggest adventure in the industry. I’m proud to be part of it.”
Just being Down Under has been an experience, adds the former Victoria video store clerk.
“I’m amazed by all the beer-drinking. Pub life is alive and well in Sydney,” he jokes, still reeling from another unforgettable experience — seeing a rugby game with a crowd of 75,000.
Darwin’s Brave New World is an ambitious departure for Bourque, who recently directed the thriller Fatal Kiss starring Blanchard Ryan and Sonja Bennet. He is also in post-production on a feature he shot in India.
“Considering last year I was directing The 2 Coreys, it’s a good example of the curveballs you can be thrown in the film industry.”
Shooting starts next month in Vancouver and Victoria. Meanwhile, the company’s first feature, a supernatural thriller The Dark Ones, is in development, with filming slated for next spring in and around Victoria.
mreid@tc.canwest.com
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008
Who’s Mark Steel?
A 6 part video of Richard Dawkins discussing Charles Darwin (June 4, 2008):
From BBC’s Press Office:
February 12 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and 24 November 2009 is the 150th of the publication of his book On the Origin of Species, which laid out the theory of evolution by natural selection.
David Attenborough, Andrew Marr and Jimmy Doherty are just some of the well-known names who will be helping the BBC and the nation to mark the life and work of Charles Darwin on the BBC Winter 08/09.
The BBC announcement dovetails with the anniversary of the first public reading of Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace’s papers on evolution to the Linnean Society on 1st July 1858.
The season sets out to explore evolution, regarded as one of the most far-reaching and influential scientific ideas ever.
It is an idea which has robustly stood the test of time.
George Entwistle, Controller Knowledge Commissioning, BBC Vision said: “The key Darwin anniversaries provide an excellent opportunity for the BBC to explore in real depth this revolutionary idea, and the man behind it.
“The season will stretch across the BBC landscape and we’re delighted to have content from across television, radio and online.
“We hope it will connect our audiences to Darwin the man, as well as Darwin the scientific revolutionary.
“I hope this season will inspire our audiences and deliver real insight into his ideas and what they mean for contemporary society.”
Andrew Caspari, Commissioning Editor, Radio 4 said: “Radio 4 is commissioning a range of documentaries and short features to mark the anniversaries of Charles Darwin.
“We will look at his work and his life and assess his significant legacy for science and for society.”
John Lynch, Head of Science, BBC Vision said: “2009 and 2010 are years of great significance for science and will see a major push from the BBC in the public understanding of science.
“The BBC has commissioned some of the biggest science landmarks we have ever done, covering some of the most important fundamentals of scientific literacy.
“The Darwin Season is a good example of this focus on science.”
A range of BBC content from BBC Science, Natural History Unit, Religion and Ethics and CBBC will deliver across television, radio and online an array of stories and voices about this mould-breaking scientific theory.
Tree of Life (working title, 1 x 60-minute) explores the origin of Darwin’s great idea. David Attenborough makes a powerful case for the importance of the science of evolution.
Andrew Marr On Darwin’s Legacy (working title) is a landmark new 3 x 60-minute series for BBC Two.
Marr will explore the radical impact of Darwin’s theory not only in science, but also society, political movements (capitalist, Marxist and fascist) and religion.
It will also show how that impact continues today, underpinning much of our modern understanding of human life. Co-funded by the Open University (OU).
BBC Four will present two specially commissioned one-off documentaries: What Darwin Didn’t Know and Darwin: In His Own Words.
What Darwin Didn’t Know is a new 1 x 90-minute film exploring a new field of genetics, ‘evo devo’ – the combined study of evolution and development in the womb – which is allowing us to solve some of Darwin’s unanswered questions.
Darwin: In His Own Words will use newly-released documents from Cambridge University to chart Darwin’s thoughts during the long period before he made his theory known to the public.
Entomologist and farmer Jimmy Doherty recreates many of Darwin’s ground-breaking plant experiments at Down House, the Darwin family home in Kent, in Darwin’s Garden (3 x 60-minute) for BBC Two. Co-funded by the OU.
BBC One has also commissioned Life (10 x 60-minute) from the NHU, a natural history spectacular which captures the most extraordinary and awe-inspiring animal survival behaviours ever shown on TV.
Four years in the making, Life is filmed in the most extreme environments across the globe. Co-funded by the OU. A co-production with BBC Worldwide and Discovery.
BBC Radio highlights
BBC Radio 4 will be marking the Darwin anniversaries next year with a range of features and programmes delving into the world before On the Origin of Species was published, as well as the legacy it left behind. More details to be announced.
BBC Radio 3 is presenting a series of programmes which explore the roots of Darwin’s ideas and their subsequent influence across the intellectual spectrum, in the sciences, arts and philosophy.
In The Origins of the Origins, historian Andrew Cunningham investigates how Darwin’s thinking was a product of the scientific ideas of his time.
And in Darwin’s Conundrum, the Reverend Angela Tilby looks at how Darwin wrestled with religion through his letters to scientists, clergy, friends and family.
Five essays from a wide range of different contemporary professions, from psychologists to economists, explore the unexpected – and often still growing – impact of Darwinism on their subject.
BBC Multiplatform
bbc.co.uk will be a key destination for a wealth of content about Darwin – his life and work. More details to be announced at a later date.
The BBC Darwin season will transmit from Winter 2008/09.
All titles may be subject to change.
Feel free to add your thoughts on any embellishments or inaccuracies in Darwin’s life in PBS’s Evolution: Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (2001) in the comments.
First, thank you so very much to Karen James (not nunatak) of The HMS Beagle Project for sending me the catalogue and map accompanying the “Darwin’s Garden” exhibit she got during her visit as a graduation gift. Second, Gloria Park of Thirteen/WNET New York informed me that tonight, “NEW YORK VOICES, Thirteen/WNET’s award-winning weekly public affairs series, will air a special half-hour documentary on the current Charles Darwin exhibit at The New York Botanical Garden.” The press release:
THIRTEEN/WNET’S NEW YORK VOICES EXPLORES THE UNTOLD STORY OF CHARLES DARWIN TUESDAY, MAY 20 AT 10:30 P.M.
30-Minute Special Features Exhibit Presented By The New York Botanical Garden
Thirteen/WNET’s NEW YORK VOICES captures the multifaceted exhibition chronicling Darwin’s lifelong fascination with plants and flowers currently on display at The New York Botanical Garden.
The NEW YORK VOICES special premieres Tuesday, May 20 at 10:30 p.m.
Using Darwin’s original manuscripts and writings, The Botanical Garden demonstrates his contribution and impact to science, highlighting our understanding of natural selection and evolution today. Using the plants and flowers that appeared in his drawings such as primroses, climbing plants and orchids, the exhibit also recreates Darwin’s garden and greenhouse where he conducted many of his bontanical experiments.
NEW YORK VOICES host Rafael Pi Roman speaks with biologist and author Dr. Edward O. Wilson about Darwin’s legacy. The program will also examine the latest perspectives on Darwin’s theories from scientists, environmentalists and scholars who presented at a symposium earlier this month as a part of The Botanical Garden’s exhibit.
The program concludes with a tour of The Botanical Garden’s children’s exhibit featuring their hands-on, interactive displays introducing young visitors to Darwin’s theories and adventures around the world.Visit www.thirteen.org/nyvoices to watch the most recent episode or search our archives.
May 6th – NOVA: First Flower (repeat, but I believe Darwin is mentioned, “an abominable mystery”)
May 20th – NOVA: Lord of the Ants (about E.O. Wilson and sociobiology)
Charlie Rose Science Series: The Imperative of Science
Monday, April 7, 2008
Charlie Rose Science Series: The Imperative of Science [video] with Paul Nurse, President of Rockefeller University, Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Bruce Alberts, Editor-In-Chief of Science and Lisa Randall of Harvard University.
Be sure to check with your local PBS affiliate to see when Charlie Rose will be airing in your city.
http://www.charlierose.com/
Previous episodes in the Science Series
At The Observer (Hat-tip to Richard Carter, FCD).
If you can catch World News Tonight on ABC this evening, there will be a story on evolution/creation…
Airing tomorrow evening on PBS’s Nature: “The Seedy Side of Plants”:
They’re cunning and manipulative, and will do anything to get what they want. No, it’s not the cast of your favorite daytime soap. We’re speaking of the ubiquitous plant life that covers our planet, relentlessly evolving elaborate schemes to disperse its seeds and ensure the continuation of its almost limitless species.
I guess this is a documentary from 1999, but I haven’t seen it, and am curious to see if Darwin’s seed dispersal experiments (see 1, 2, and 3) are mentioned in the program.
And head over to NPR to listen to a podcast about “History’s Strangest Science Experiments” (12/28/2007).
