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Up to Blog Posts in Wallace100

Wallace100

4 Posts tagged with the wallace100_lecture_series tag
George Beccaloni
0

Flett Lecture Theatre

7 November 2013 (the 100th anniversary of Wallace's death)

17.30-18.30

 

To commemorate the centenary of Wallace's death, Sir David Attenborough will be giving a lecture at the Museum about Wallace's passion for birds of paradise. Wallace studied the birds during his travels in the Malay Archipelago between 1854 and 1862 and you can win one of 25 pairs of tickets to the lecture by entering our free prize draw.

 

To enter, visit the competition page (please be sure to read the Terms and Conditions before entering).

 

The closing date for entries is midnight, 27 October 2013. Winners will be notified on Monday 28 October 2013.

Please note you need to be a UK resident aged 18 and over to enter the Wallace100 lecture free prize draw.

 

For information about other events which are taking place at the Museum on the anniversary day visit the Wallace website.

4402 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: evolution, alfred_russel_wallace, malay_archipelago, evolution_by_natural_selection, wallace100, on_the_origin_of_species, 100th_anniversary, wallace100_lecture_series, wallace_statue_david_attenborough, wallace100_lecture_free_prize_draw
George Beccaloni
0

WallaceConference.jpgAlfred Russel Wallace and his Legacy - Wallace100 conference

 

A free one day conference about Wallace will be held at the Museum on Wednesday 23 October 2013. This event is aimed at people who are interested in Wallace's natural history collections and want to find out more about the Wallace-related material kept in the Museum.

 

In the afternoon there will be a unique chance to join an exclusive tour of the Museum Library's Rare Books Room, showcasing manuscripts, artwork, publications and specimens collected by Wallace. Places are limited, so it is essential to book your place in advance. For more information and to register go to the Museum's Wallace conference webpage.

 

Note that the Museum's conference follows on from a two day discussion meeting about Wallace's legacy at The Royal Society, London, which is being held on Monday 21 and Tuesday 22 October. This meeting will discuss Wallace's major scientific interests, including evolution, natural history, biogeography, animal colouration, sexual selection and astronomy. It will also examine current thinking on issues that preoccupied him, including his contributions to the social sciences. This event is intended for researchers in relevant fields. It is free to attend but places are limited.

 

Visit the Royal Society website for registration and more details.

1828 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: evolution, royal_society, alfred_russel_wallace, wallace100, wallace_letters_online, 100th_anniversary, wallace100_lecture_series
George Beccaloni
0

Wallace_and_the_bible_1 Large.jpg

*PLEASE NOTE (29/01/2013): All tickets for this talk have now been reserved*

 

As part of the Wallace100 celebrations taking part in 2013, the Museum will be hosting a monthly lecture series. These lectures are part of an international programme of projects and events celebrating the centenary of Wallace’s death on 7 November 2013.

 

At these monthly events, leading biologists and historians will discuss different aspects of Wallace’s life and work. The series also highlights the significance of the Museum as a focal point for Wallace collections and studies.

 

Tickets for the first of the Wallace100 lecture series are free and available to the public and Museum staff via the Museum website. The details are as follows:

 

Prof. Steve Jones, UCL - ‘Wallace and the Joy of Sects: Rewriting the Bible as a scientific text’.

 

17:00-18:00, 7 February 2013 in the the Natural History Museum's Flett Lecture Theatre

 

Join us for the first in the Museum's series of Wallace100 lectures celebrating the life and legacy of naturalist, and collector, Alfred Russel Wallace.

 

At this event, world-renowned geneticist Professor Steve Jones re-evaluates important biblical thinking from the perspective of Wallace's spiritually-based scientific interpretation.

 

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) co-discovered the process of evolution by natural selection along with Charles Darwin, but he always felt there was something beyond evolution itself. Professor Jones explores the dilemmas raised by Wallace's evolutionary theories of natural selection in the light of Wallace's spiritual beliefs and examines how these questions align with science today and current religious precepts. In spite of the parallels drawn, Professor Jones surmises that in the end it may be that Darwin was closer to the truth than Wallace.


Wallace was certain that Homo sapiens had 'something which he has not derived from his animal progenitors - a spiritual essence or nature... (that) can only find an explanation in the unseen universe of Spirit.' However, Charles Darwin was dubious about such use of his ideas. Jones says: 'On balance, I go with Darwin, but Wallace still tells us something useful about ourselves.'


About Steve Jones


Steve Jones is Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College London, and has 30,000 pickled snails locked away in the Museum. He describes himself as a serial plagiarist, having tried to rewrite (or at least update) all the works of Charles Darwin for a modern audience. He has now embarked on the ultimate plagiarism: to rewrite the Bible as a scientific text, from the Big Bang to the heat death of the Universe (not to mention the whole of evolution and brain science)

 

Free tickets need to be booked in advance
Find out more and book your free tickets online
Doors open 16.30

 

Notes:

There will be no cloakroom facilities for this event and all items left in the NHM cloakrooms should be retrieved prior to the event. There are currently no lift facilities to the Flett Theatre. If you have any questions regarding access please contact m.rose@nhm.ac.uk

2605 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: alfred_russel_wallace, flett_theatre, ucl, 100th_anniversary, wallace100_lecture_series, professor_steve_jones
George Beccaloni
0

Happy Wallace Year 2013 - Welcome to Wallace100!w100_black.SMALL.jpg

 

Museum Wallace News

 

  • The 8th of this month sees Wallace's 190th birthday and on the 24 January the Museum will launch its Wallace100 events programme at an invitation-only evening function. During the event the Wallace Correspondence Project's digital archive of Wallace's correspondence, Wallace Letters Online, will be officially launched by comedian and natural historian Bill Bailey.

    Bill will also unveil a magnificent oil painting of Wallace which will hang on the wall to the right of the Darwin statue on the main stairs of the Museum's Central Hall. This portrait was actually donated to the Museum in 1923 to commemorate Wallace's 100th birthday, and it hung in that exact location for 50 years until it was put into storage.
  • The first public Wallace100 event of the year will take place on the 25 January. It will be a Nature Live talk by myself and Caroline Catchpole about the Museum's unrivalled archive of Wallace's manuscripts.
  • The next of the Museum's Wallace100 events will be a public lecture by the well-known geneticist and science writer Steve Jones on the 7 February. His talk is entitled "Wallace and the Joy of Sects: Rewriting the Bible as a scientific text"  and, although it is free, you will need to book a ticket to attend. Steve's talk is the first of 10 monthly talks in the Museum's Wallace100 Lecture Series.
  • The campaign to raise funds for a life-size bronze statue of Wallace for the Museum unfortunately has to close at the end of this month. So far about £19,000 has been contributed by about 45 generous donors, which is enough to commission a twice-life-size portrait bust of Wallace *IF* the campaign fails to reach its £50,000 target. So, please consider donating (any sum large or small) and entering the Free Prize Draw

 

Other News

 

  • Richard Dawkins suggests we should celebrate Wallace's birth in the same way that we celebrate Christmas.
  • The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society has a FREE 'virtual' issue dedicated to Wallace - very appropriate given that the seminal paper by Darwin and Wallace on evolution by natural selection was published by the Society in 1858.
And Finally ...

 

1754 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: nature_live, charles_darwin, wallace_correspondence_project, bill_bailey, wallace_statue, 100th_anniversary, statue, free_prize_draw, wallace100_events_programme, oil_painting, caroline_catchpole, steve_jones, wallace100_lecture_series, richard_dawkins, wallace100_events_diary


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