Although the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth and the sesquicentennial of the publication of On the Origin of Species take place in 2009, the celebration of Darwin's year begins July 1, 2008.

On that date, On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection, two papers by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace respectively were read at the Linnean Society. The papers were subsequently published in Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology 3: 46-50

See Darwinmania! in The Wild Side column of Olivia Judson Wednesday, June 18, 2008 edition of the NY Times and the article, On the Origin of a Theory by Richard Conniff, Smithsonian, June 2008 issue for brief overviews of the development of the theory and why Darwin deserves the credit.

an exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden is on display April 25 to June 15, 2008.

An article and a slide show about the exhibit were in the April 25 issue of the New York Times.

Read On the Origin of Muffin Pudding by Emma Darwin in the New Scientist.

As well as digitizing all of Charles Darwin's works, The Complete Work of Charles Darwin has included Emma Darwin's Recipe Book.

Dr. David Hillis, Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor at the University of Texas-Austin and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow, will give the talk Teaching Evolution is Vital at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church on Sunday, May 4, 2008, 3:00 pm as part of the Church's 2008 Kilgore Lecture program.

The Church is located at 1900 Bering Dr., 1/2 block north of Westheimer, 1 block west of Chimney Rock. For more information, call 713.782.8250.

Dr. Kenneth Miller, Professor of Biology, Brown University, will be giving a lecture at the University of Texas-Austin, Friday, April 4, 2008 at 7:00 pm.

There will be a Live WEBCASE.

Check out information at http://www.esi.utexas.edu/outreach/ols/lectures/Miller/.

On Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 2:00 pm, Dan Graur, PhD, John and Rebecca Moores Professor, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, will present a lecture titled "Genetic Evidence for Evolution" at The Health Museum, 1515 Hermann Drive.

Dr. Graur's lecture is part of a series of talks, Decoding Genetics, which complements the exhibit GENOME: The Secret of How Life Works.