UC Berkeley Extension Lecture Looks at the Personal Evolution of Darwin.

News & Lifestyle Editors/Education Writers

BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 25, 2000

Since the publication of his Origin of the Species changed the course of modern biology in 1859, Charles Darwin has remained one of the most fascinating people in all of science.

Even today, Darwin is a controversial figure whose theories are still debated in some circles. The man behind the science will be the topic of a UC Berkeley Extension public lecture next month.

"A lot of information has come out recently to shed light on the kind of man Darwin was -- his psychology was very complex," says presenter John Dillon, curator of natural science at the Randall Museum in San Francisco. "As an undistinguished student, comfortable country squire, devoted family man and a hypochondriac with dreadful health, Darwin seems an unlikely candidate to become a scientific revolutionary. Yet when he first put forward his argument for natural selection, not only did he alter the course of the biological sciences but he also changed the very way science was approached."

"Before Darwin, the logical, mathematical approach of Newton dominated scientific inquiry -- a world that was certain. Darwin extended science into areas that couldn't be explained -- a world that was probable -- presenting his argument like a lawyer might," continues Dillon.

"Today an emergent evolution is picking up where Darwin left off, integrating notions of biological change with other kinds of change," suggests Dillon. "I think the pace of change today is so rapid that you can see it and feel it, and it makes people wonder about the nature of change itself."

"The Personal Evolution of Charles R. Darwin" will take place Wednesday, June 14, 7-9 pm, at UC Berkeley International Center, 2222 Harold Way, in downtown Berkeley. The fee is $10. To register, call 510/642-4111 or register online at www.unex.berkeley.edu; registration will also be available at the door as space permits.

To enroll, call 510/642-4111 or visit Extension's Web site at www.unex.berkeley.edu for complete course listings or to enroll online. For a free catalog listing 900 courses offered by UC Berkeley Extension this summer call toll-free 1-888-UC-SMART (888/827-6278).