Galton or Weismann first to continuity of the germ-plasm?
While researching the previous post, my curiosity was piqued over a comment by Frank Darwin about his relative Francis Galton (who BTW was apprenticed here in Birmingham). While researching The Rough...
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Mary Anning: Fossil hunter extraordinaire
Anyone off to Lyme Regis for their holidays should spare a thought for Mary Anning (1799-1847), who hailed from this English coastal town. Geologist and historian of science Hugh Torrens describes her...
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Some Darwinian poetry to make you smile
Charles Darwin's grandfather Eramus Darwin was a brilliant but seriously bonkers chap--a kind of 18th Century English Rasta. You can read all about his interests on the relevant Wikipedia page, but I...
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The evolution of biblical manuscripts
In an ironic twist of fate that might infuriate creationist fundamentalist Christians, evolutionary thinking dominates scholarly studies of biblical manuscripts, particularly attempts to reconstruct...
View ArticleRough Guide to Evolution now available on Kindle and as eBook
Great news! The Rough Guide to Evolution is now available to buy as a Kindle eBook...
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Great Read at Birmingham
This week, all the new undergraduates at the University of Birmingham (~6000 students) will receive a copy of the same book in their Welcome Packs and be asked to read it before arriving to encourage...
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Adam Tickell on Thomas Henry Huxley at Great Read at Birmingham event
Professor Adam Tickell, PVC for Research and Knowledge Transfer, University of Birmingham, speaking at the launch of the Great Read at Birmingham initiative, September 22nd 2011 Video and text of the...
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Ken Miller at the opening Great Read at Birmingham event
The Evolution Wars: Why they continue, Why they matter, by Ken MillerKen Miller speaking at the opening event of the Great Read at Birmingham initiative, in the Barber Institute, University of...
View ArticleVisiting Down House with Randal Keynes
I have now received two VIP tours of Down House with Randal Keynes (Darwin's great-great-grandson) as tour guide. Randal's mellifluous voice, sharp intellect and wide-ranging knowledge of Darwin's...
View ArticleDarwin's Shrewsbury
Brief tour of Darwin sights in Shrewsbury for speakers at Great Read at Birmingham initiative. Sights include Darwin shopping centre, stained glass window of Darwin in McDonalds, Unitarian chapel,...
View ArticleLive tweets from Great Read at Birmingham opening event
Here are the live tweets from Great Read at Birmingham opening event, sorted from earliest to latest66. mjpallen: @mjpallen @greatreadatbham @unibirmingham live tweet under #GRAB2011 hashtag65....
View ArticleGreat Read at Birmingham: Captain Kirkup and Chris Stringer
AV material associated with this week's Great Read at Birmingham events.Captain Kirkup on Evolution and Game TheoryVideo of the talk and subsequent Q&A :...
View ArticleOpen Education and Bio380 lecture on Neanderthals
This academic year I have set myself the goal of making all my lecture available for all, in the public domain, via YouTube and maybe also Slideshare. The technical side of doing this is fairly...
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Wallace: Darwin’s Rival or Ambassador?
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was born in Llanbadoc, near the Welsh town of Usk and grew up in Hertfordshire. He worked as an apprentice surveyor for the six years. During a brief spell as...
View ArticleThe Rough Guide to Darwin
As part of my attempt to put all my talks, whether for teaching or research online, I have put these two talks I gave yesterday in Oxford on to YouTube.The Rough Guide to...
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Darwin and Mendel: The Great What If?
Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel were contemporaries. One of the great “what ifs” in the history of science is “what if Darwin and Mendel had met to discuss each other’s work, or, at least, had...
View ArticleBio380 Human Evolution Genes and Genomes Bioinformatics Practical
I have a bioinformatics practical class tomorrow and rather than hide it away, I thought I might as well share it with the world via this blog. Happy to receive comments on any mistakes or suggestions...
View ArticleDon’t want to believe in evolution?
Is it possible to be a rationalist (a believer in the laws of logic) but not believe in evolution? Just about! But only just!There are several philosophical show stoppers that bring rational argument...
View ArticleDarwin's Pilgrims: The Video
In February 2009, I hosted 'Darwin's Pilgrims": a visit to England by two Americans with links to the Dover Pennsylvania trial, Cynthia Sneath and Lauri Lebo, and Canadian Lit Hop artist Baba Brinkman...
View ArticleEvolutionary Chemistry: from Darwinism to drugs
Most therapeutic drugs work by binding to proteins and interfering with their function. A key challenge for chemists working in the pharmaceutical industry is to discover new medicinal chemicals that...
View ArticleRap Guide to Evolution: new "I'm a African" video
Back in the run-up to the Darwin bicentenary year, I persuaded Canadian Lit-Hop artist Baba Brinkman (creator of the Rap Canterbury Tales) to "do for for Darwin what he had done for Chaucer". He rose...
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The ‘Annie Hypothesis’: Did the Death of His Daughter Cause Darwin to ‘Give...
The paper that I wrote with John van Wyhe on what we call "the Annie Hypothesis" is now out here:http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1600-0498.2012.00256.xHere is the abstract:This article examines one of...
View ArticleInteresting video and paper from Nature
From the Nature video feed:A few million years ago, our ancestors stopped climbing trees and started walking upright, on two feet. To work out how and when this happened, researchers look for fossils...
View ArticleVisit of Randal Keynes to University of Birmingham
On July 4th 2012, it was my pleasure to host a visit by honorary graduand Randal Keynes, with his wife Zelfa and mother Anne, to the University of Birmingham. Their day here included lunch with the...
View ArticleVisit of Randal Keynes part two
Following on from the previous post, Randal has now sent me the speech he gave while receiving his honorary doctorate. Here it is: Deputy Pro-Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, my fellow Graduates, Graduands...
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