- This event has passed.
Friends Presentation – “Darwin Down Under”
August 13, 2022 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
by Associate Professor Ian Hesketh of Queensland University
When Charles Darwin circumnavigated the globe on the H.M.S. Beagle (1831–1836), collecting and observing a wealth of information and specimens that formed the basis for his subsequent evolutionary theorizing, he stayed for several months in Australia, spending time in New South Wales, Tasmania, and King George Sound.
Interestingly, his time in Australia has been typically written about in one of two ways. In one version, Darwin was so exhausted after such a long voyage that he did not have the energy to appreciate Australia’s unique flora and fauna and was grateful when the Beagle finally departed from Australia’s shores. In a completely different version, however, not only does Darwin make a series of compelling observations, it is claimed that his key “evolutionary revelation” was made while exploring the Blue Mountains.
In this talk, Associate Professor Hesketh, will consider the merits of both of these narratives alongside Darwin’s own claims about what he observed during his Australian visit and how those observations came to inform his theory of evolution.
Ian Hesketh is an Associate Professor of History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry at the University of Queensland. He is the author of Victorian Jesus: J. R. Seeley, Religion, and the Cultural Significance of Anonymity (2017), The Science of History in Victorian Britain (2011), and Of Apes and Ancestors: Evolution, Christianity, and the Oxford Debate (2009). He is also the editor of the recently published Imagining the Darwinian Revolution: Historical Narratives of Evolution from the Nineteenth Century to the Present (2022).
IMPORTANT COVIDSAFE INFORMATION
Our facilities and staff will be well equipped to create the safest possible environment to minimise any possible risk of Covid-19 transmission. Please see COVIDSAFE information below.
Please stay at home if you are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19; such as a headache, fever, coughing or a sore throat.
If you are a close contact or have been diagnosed with Covid-19, please stay home until you have completed your 7-day isolation period and are no longer experiencing symptoms.
Social distancing must be maintained at all times. Please keep a distance of 1.5m from others.
Please use the hand sanitiser stations provided or wash your hands with soap and water regularly.
Please practise good hygiene, this includes coughing and sneezing into your elbow, away from others.
If at any point during the event you begin to feel unwell, please immediately advise the closest staff member.