This was a special ticketed exhibition, June 15, 2007 through January 1, 2008.
Highly recommended and thought-provoking. Whatever one’s personal beliefs about the emotional and controversial issue of evolution, this exhibit leaves you feeling very sympathetic towards Darwin and his theory, as you realize how difficult it was for him to publish it.
This new special exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago puts the spotlight on the life of Charles Darwin, the 19th century naturalist who formulated the theory of evolution that linked species through a process of natural selection.
This exhibition gives us a good understanding of this complex man, his work and writings, and his family life. It claims to be the most in-depth exhibition on Darwin ever presented, and it certainly was extensive with many original items from his life, such as his special geological hammer, his magnifying glass (no microscopes in those days!), part of his beetle collection, many pages from his diaries, many of his letters. The displays are presented chronologically, and as I watched the movie about his life, then walked slowly through the rooms, reading, looking at the displays and listening to the excellent audio guide I began to get a sense of this remarkable man, who changed basic thinking about biological sciences. His theory of the origin of the species and of evolution through natural selection (commonly referred to as survival of the fittest for any particular environment) soon became the cornerstone of biology.
Born into a wealthy family (his mother was a Wedgewood, the family of pottery fame), Darwin was obviously very clever, but an indifferent student. His grandfather, Erasmus, also a great thinker, had already proposed a theory about the origin of species. Always a lover of the outdoors and outdoor pursuits, Darwin and his cousin began an extensive study and collection of beetles. He began studying for medicine and for the church, but only found his true métier after the famous 5-year voyage on the “HMS Beagle” around the world---on which he went as the naturalist to study rocks, geography, plants, animals, anything and everything. He suffered from chronic seasickness, so was always fond of going ashore for as long as possible. He filled huge numbers of diaries with notes and observations, drawings, measurements, and also wrote many letters back to England to friends and family about his findings. This formative voyage is well covered in the exhibit, especially the short trip to the Galapagos Islands, where many of his theories first began when he saw the small variations in certain species of birds and animals on the different islands, and even on the same island.
On his return he was accepted into the academic world and spent the rest of his life working on his ideas; partly by analyzing and extending the information he already had, and also by doing more experiments---on orchids, potatoes, pigeons. He married his cousin Emma Wedgewood and had a large family. His family life was happy in the main, except for his chronic ill-health (I surmise that he picked up some type of tropical disease during his voyage around the world) and the death of his oldest daughter, Anna, an event that helped cement his ever-decreasing religious beliefs (much to Emma’s distress, as she was a devout Christian). He was coming to realize more and more that the traditional Christian beliefs about the creation of the earth and its creatures, including mankind, did not hold up to scientific scrutiny.
However, it took him about 20 years to actually publish all his findings. The main reason for the delay was the social climate of the times, where the churches and society would condemn and ridicule these supposedly heretical thoughts. He also did not want to be ridiculed by his academic peers. The threat of another person publishing the same theories before him pushed Darwin into publication, and the scientific world has never been the same since.
The controversy between ‘Evolution’ and ‘Creation’ has raged very strongly at times in the 150 years since Darwin’s book was published, and recently another contender, ‘Intelligent Design’, has entered the fray. People, groups, and organizations have become very vocal in defense of the concept they espouse, at times even instigating legal challenges. It’s an emotional issue still today. The Field Museum apparently supports Evolution, but in this Darwin exhibit the museum is very careful to also present the other ideas and what merits they might have.
This exhibit is very well thought out and carefully presented, with many hands-on exhibits and displays that will hopefully engage all, but especially young people, and get them thinking rationally about this large issue, or “Darwin’s Dangerous Idea”, as some put it. You can also take advantage of the many extra educational resources, talks and programs offered in conjunction with the special exhibit.
Closely related to the material in the Darwin exhibition is one of the museum’s permanent exhibitions, “Evolving Planet”. As you wander through this, you learn about life from the dawn of life, to great inland seas, to towering dinosaurs, to mass extinctions (there have been 5 mass extinctions, and we are currently entering the 6th), to our extended human family. We can explore the processes by which life on Earth evolved and try to understand the science that reveals this in the amazing journey through 4 billion years of evolution. This exhibition is also excellent, with many hands-on displays, which kids seemed to be enjoying, and the journey, along the passages of the displays, seemed very realistic. The highlight, I think, is the wonderful fossil collection featured in the exhibition, notably of dinosaurs and other pre-historic creatures.
IF YOU GO:
The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, Tel: 312-922-9410
Open 9-5 daily, except Christmas day.
Admission to Darwin is $19 for adults, $9 for children 4-11, and $14 for students. However, there are many combination tickets, including other exhibits.
For more information, ticket prices, and to make reservations go to www.fieldmuseum.org
The Darwin Exhibition is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, in collaboration with a number of other museums: Museum of Science, Boston; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; and Natural History Museum, London.
***NOTE: Go to Darwin 2 for an update on this Exhibition
