It is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin today. I wanted to write a post honouring him and his accomplishments, which are unequaled in the Natural Sciences. But I'm feeling a little like a dullard today and don't think I could do a better job than the homage I wrote three years ago.
On the Origin of Species is a seminal work, and when it was published 150 years ago it started a revolution in the way we view how our world works. Like any revolution it was met with a great deal of resistance. That it still finds forces resisting it continually amazes me. It may be 150 years old (actually about twenty years older than that for Darwin resisted publishing for a long time) but it is still completely relevant today.
Heck most of his work is. I recently had an Professor of Oceanography tell me that his work on Coral atolls is even more relevant today now that the technology has caught up to his work.
Pull down that copy of On the Origin of Species off your shelf and have a read, or pick one up if you don't already own a copy. If you don't want to leap right into I recommend the travelogue The Voyage of the Beagle, but then you need to read On the Origin of Species.
As for me, I recently re-read it so I'm going to celebrate by starting Adrian Desmond and James Moore's excellent biography on the man. I've not read that in awhile, and I look forward to spending some time with Mr. Darwin. How I wish I could have gone for a walk with him.