La radio dell'evoluzione

Il primo luglio del 1858 Charles Darwin presentava per la prima volta le sue teorie sull'evoluzione della specie davanti ai colleghi della Linnean Society. Ma questo 150esimo anniversario, che nel 2009 sarà seguito dal duecentesimo della nascita e dal 150esimo della pubblicazione di Delle origini, è solo una delle occasioni celebrative di uno scienziato che in quest'epoca di oscurantismi di ritorno (e il guaio è che tornano per restare), andrebbe accuratamente riletto. Alla rilettura provvede un'emittente che Darwin, se gli fosse stato possibile, avrebbe ascoltato nei suoi viaggi nel Pacifico. Radio New Zealand ha registrato per i suoi servizi interni sei lezioni darwiniane di altrettanti docenti di università neozelandesi. e australiane L'accento, lo ammetto, è un po' ostico, ma con un po' di attenzione se conoscete l'inglese potete seguirle bene. Per il download sono già disponibili in formato MP3 e Ogg Vorbis le prime due lezioni, Darwin and the evolution of an idea e The evolution of biological complexity. Per le altre quattro, registrate tra fine agosto e inizio settembre, navigate verso quegli stessi mari.

THE DARWIN LECTURES

150 years ago, Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution were first announced in public - to a meeting of the Linnean Society in London. Oddly, almost no one noticed!
It might not have helped that the joint paper (with Alfred Russell Wallace) was given the ripping title 'On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection'.
A year later when the book came out everyone realised just what a big bang it was in terms of ideas. The paper, the book, and now the radio lecture series…
From Sunday 24 August 2008, Radio New Zealand explores the ideas of Darwin and their impact. This six-part series from the Royal Society plays in our Sunday Feature slot, and features some of New Zealand's most eminent scientists.


Lecture 1. Darwin and the Evolution of an Idea
Professor Lloyd Spencer Davis, University of Otago
In the last 2000 years there has been one idea, above all else, that has altered the way we view the world and our place in it. That idea is evolution by natural selection and the originator of the idea was Charles Darwin.
Recorded 19 August in Napier

Lecture 2. The Evolution of Biological Complexity
Professor Paul Rainey FRSNZ, Massey University
Professor Rainey paints a picture of life's evolution from the perspective of major evolutionary transitions, including that from solitary organisms to societies.
Recorded 28 July in New Plymouth

Lecture 3. The Principle of Evolution: Absolute Simplicity
Professor David Penny CNZM FRSNZ, Research Director, Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Massey University
Can we find anything in biology that is not understandable, or not explainable, by the things we can observe and measure in the present? Evolution is, by far, the simplest possible way of understanding ourselves, our past, and our future.
Recorded 20 August in Palmerston North

Lecture 4. The fossil record
Professor Alan Cooper, Director, Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, The University of Adelaide
How should we interpret what the fossil record tells us about evolution - both in general, and with regard to how New Zealand has ended up as it is today?
Recorded 18 August in Gisborne

5. Evolutionary Psychology
Professor Russell Gray, The University of Auckland
Attempts to explain human behaviour in evolutionary terms have a mixed history. Today, crude social Darwinian and socio-biological explanations are increasingly being replaced by richer, more complex theories.
Recorded 3 September in Hamilton

6. The Storytelling Ape: Evolution, Art, Story, Culture
Professor Brian Boyd, The University of Auckland
Brian Boyd will focus on art, perhaps the feature of human behavior that might seem to have least to do with a struggle for existence. Can biology explain why art (music, dance, visual art, storytelling and verse) is a human universal? Why do we so compulsively invent and engage with stories we know to be untrue?
Recorded 8 September, in Nelson