farmdoc's blog post number 298

Over the last decade or two, it’s become de rigeur for touring entertainers to give names to their tours [1,2,3]. In 1998 Sweetheart Vivienne and I travelled by cargo ship from Australia to California, then flew to England where we rode our tandem bicycle from Lands End to John O’Groats. We didn’t give our tour a name, but if we had, ‘The Charles Darwin Tour’ would’ve been apposite. On the 3-week voyage I read Janet Browne’s superb 1995 biography Charles Darwin – Voyaging. Then as we pedalled up the map, we passed through Shrewsbury in Shropshire, stopping to photograph the statue of Darwin (pictured) in the front courtyard of the school he attended (now a library). Of the billions of people who’ve ever lived on earth, Darwin’s among the tiny number – I estimate 10 or fewer – who’ve advanced human knowledge and understanding, not only in an extremely major manner, but in a new direction rather than an incremental progression of what pre-existed. I think the world will never again see a one-person contribution to science like Darwin’s. Thus he’ll be permanently known as one of the greatest scientists ever – despite the bizarre creationism and intelligent design theories propounded by the lunatic evangelical right. Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 – 200 years ago today. Which is a fine reason to pause a moment, remember him and acknowledge his genius and contribution.