UPB to Celebrate Darwin Day
The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin with a musical performance and lecture by a noted Darwin scholar and impersonator, scientific displays and a nature hike.
All events are free and open to the public.
The celebration will begin at 9 a.m. with demonstrations and displays until 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. A birthday cake for Darwin will be served at 11:30 a.m.
At noon, Richard Milner, author of the forthcoming “Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z” with a foreword by Stephen Jay Gould, will give the lecture “Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Naturalist,” which promises to expound on Darwin’s adventures with dinosaur diggers, slave owners, flower-breeders and coral reefs. The lecture will also take place in the University Room.
Isabelle Champlin, assistant professor of anthropology and Darwin Day organizer, said Milner’s afternoon lecture will provide his audience with some little-known facts and information about the personal life of the influential scientist.
At 2 p.m., Dr. Dessie Severson, retired professor of biology, will lead a nature walk along the Richard E. McDowell Community Trail. Hikers should assemble at the University Room in the Commons. Hot cocoa will be available upon their return.
At 7:30 p.m., Milner will take on the persona of Darwin to present “Charles Darwin: Live & in Concert,” a one-man musical, at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater in Blaisdell Hall.
Darwin was the author of “On the Origin of Species,” which was the first publication to present the scientific theory that populations evolve over generations through natural selection. This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the book, first published in 1859.
The theory of evolution was controversial in Darwin’s time and remains controversial in the United States today, although it is accepted by the majority of scientists from many disciplines around the world, and also by the majority of Christians, according to Champlin.
“I think it’s extraordinary that Pitt-Bradford has him for Darwin Day itself – he was in demand in London and Miami. We’re extremely fortunate to have him.”
The evening performance will be a one-man musical in which Milner portrays Darwin singing “very funny songs,” Champlin said. “They’re very clever.”
Milner’s songs from the show have been featured on National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on Nova TV programs and on Discovery, History and Animal Planet channels, and his show has been performed in England, Germany, Australia, Scotland and on board a cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands.
The musical includes a cast of historical figures, including zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley; high school teacher John T. Scopes, who was tried for teaching evolution; romantic French singer Maurice Chevalier (singing the evolutionary love song “When You Were a Tadpole (and I Was a Fish)”; and renowned Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould.
When he’s not portraying Darwin on the road, Milner is an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He is the author of “The Encyclopedia of Evolution” as well as many articles in Scientific American and Natural History Magazine.
Darwin Day was started by the Albany, N.Y.-based Institute for Humanist Studies in 1995, and this year will be celebrated in 38 countries. It is the third year Pitt-Bradford has participated in this “celebration of science and scientific discoveries.”
Photo of Richard Milner as Charles Darwin courtesy of Pitt-Bradford
All events are free and open to the public.
The celebration will begin at 9 a.m. with demonstrations and displays until 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. A birthday cake for Darwin will be served at 11:30 a.m.
At noon, Richard Milner, author of the forthcoming “Darwin’s Universe: Evolution from A to Z” with a foreword by Stephen Jay Gould, will give the lecture “Charles Darwin: Evolution of a Naturalist,” which promises to expound on Darwin’s adventures with dinosaur diggers, slave owners, flower-breeders and coral reefs. The lecture will also take place in the University Room.
Isabelle Champlin, assistant professor of anthropology and Darwin Day organizer, said Milner’s afternoon lecture will provide his audience with some little-known facts and information about the personal life of the influential scientist.
At 2 p.m., Dr. Dessie Severson, retired professor of biology, will lead a nature walk along the Richard E. McDowell Community Trail. Hikers should assemble at the University Room in the Commons. Hot cocoa will be available upon their return.
At 7:30 p.m., Milner will take on the persona of Darwin to present “Charles Darwin: Live & in Concert,” a one-man musical, at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theater in Blaisdell Hall.
Darwin was the author of “On the Origin of Species,” which was the first publication to present the scientific theory that populations evolve over generations through natural selection. This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the book, first published in 1859.
The theory of evolution was controversial in Darwin’s time and remains controversial in the United States today, although it is accepted by the majority of scientists from many disciplines around the world, and also by the majority of Christians, according to Champlin.
“I think it’s extraordinary that Pitt-Bradford has him for Darwin Day itself – he was in demand in London and Miami. We’re extremely fortunate to have him.”
The evening performance will be a one-man musical in which Milner portrays Darwin singing “very funny songs,” Champlin said. “They’re very clever.”
Milner’s songs from the show have been featured on National Public Radio and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on Nova TV programs and on Discovery, History and Animal Planet channels, and his show has been performed in England, Germany, Australia, Scotland and on board a cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands.
The musical includes a cast of historical figures, including zoologist Thomas Henry Huxley; high school teacher John T. Scopes, who was tried for teaching evolution; romantic French singer Maurice Chevalier (singing the evolutionary love song “When You Were a Tadpole (and I Was a Fish)”; and renowned Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould.
When he’s not portraying Darwin on the road, Milner is an anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He is the author of “The Encyclopedia of Evolution” as well as many articles in Scientific American and Natural History Magazine.
Darwin Day was started by the Albany, N.Y.-based Institute for Humanist Studies in 1995, and this year will be celebrated in 38 countries. It is the third year Pitt-Bradford has participated in this “celebration of science and scientific discoveries.”
Photo of Richard Milner as Charles Darwin courtesy of Pitt-Bradford
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