“150 Years of The Origin of Species: The Historical Journey from Specimens to Species to Genes” is a digital exhibit based on a physical exhibit mounted in the University of Missouri’s Ellis Library from March 5th to March 31st, 2009 to honor the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species. The exhibition was part of the 2009 MU Life Sciences & Society Symposium sponsored by the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
Charles Darwin’s 57-month voyage on the HMS Beagle provided the biological and geological specimens and the intellectual insight for a critical step forward in explaining one of the most challenging questions of natural history: how and why species change over time. Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle and the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859 was not the final solution to the puzzling phenomenon of species change, but it was a vital step in the ongoing revolution in evolutionary thought.
This exhibition traces the concept of biological variation from the Renaissance through the 20th Century using rare and historical books, illustrations, and biological specimens from the University of Missouri’s Rare Books and Special Collections Department, the Health Sciences Library Rare Book Room, the Enns Entomology Museum, the Glen Smart Collection of Waterfowl and Upland Game, and other university collections. Video of the opening presentation by Philosophy Professor Andre Ariew entitled “Darwinism Old and New” is also included. The exhibit was curated by Michael Holland, Director of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books (SCARaB), with immeasurable help from the staff of the SCARaB Division, Anselm Huelsbergen, Alla Barabtarlo, Karen Witt, and Katie Carr.
The online exhibit is available at http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/darwin/about.htm.
