Perspective: The greatest story rarely told

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English naturalist Charles Darwin, seen in a Granger Collection photo from 1878. (THE GRANGER COLLECTION / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WHO will give Darwin his due?

For months, Neil Schipper has been asking schools, organizations and agencies in Manitoba to celebrate Darwin Day Feb. 12, 2009, the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth.

"They're not doing honour to the legacy of the great (scientists) who came before them," said Schipper, a Red River College instructor.

Aside from a smattering of university workshops and in-services and a little display at the Manitoba Museum, Feb. 12 will be just another day in the minds of many.

And that's a shame, said Schipper.

Darwin discovered that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection.

During his five-year, globe-trekking voyage on HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836, Darwin was fascinated by the wildlife and fossils he collected. When he got home, he investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838.

In 1859, his book On the Origin of Species details the British naturalist's theory that all organisms gradually evolve through the process of natural selection.

His scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology.

Darwin's views challenged creationism, the belief that a more powerful being or a deity created life. His theory of evolution has been scientifically proven and spawned more fields of discovery such as genetics.

Still, the word evolution raises the hackles of some who believe in a literal translation of the Bible: that humanity is only about 6,000 years old and hasn't evolved but was created in the image of God.

The virtual Creation Science Museum of Canada refutes Darwin's findings, calling them propaganda. Darwin was "a man with severe mental problems," blogs the museum's founder Ian Juby, who was on the road in North Dakota in late January and referred the Free Press to his website blog.

"He was hardly a genius, though SciAm (Scientific American magazine) would like to portray him as such," writes the Ontario-based "creation museum consultant." Juby warns that schools will knowingly teach Darwin's "falsehoods, as long as it brings them to a belief in evolution."

Now is not the time for scientists to keep quiet, says Darwin crusader Schipper.

"I don't feel every plant scientist has to be a cultural warrior," Schipper said, but far too few are stepping up to the plate to demand Darwin be given his due.

"They're letting the community down and standing in the way of the great stories that need to be told," said Schipper, a humanist who does not believe in God. Kids who have been raised with organized religion hear Bible, Torah and Qur'an stories over and over as they're growing up, he said.

Kids raised in families that worship shopping and materialism are indoctrinated in consumerism. Schipper thinks children who learn about Darwin and evolution from a young age will grow into responsible adults with a natural awe and respect for life and their environment.

Manitoba students learn about Darwin in Grade 6 and Grade 12 biology. However, provincial curriculum does not explicitly require a formal, detailed look at the theory of evolution and its impact on understanding natural history, an Education Department spokeswoman said.

This represents a huge gap in children's education about how the world works, said Schipper, who teaches electronics engineering technology at RRC.

"Notice the huge hole from grades 7 to 11, not to mention the larger hole from Grade 7 right until the end of one's formal education for non-science-oriented students," Schipper said.

"To me, this is like having the sphericity of the Earth studied only by students specializing in navigation."

Schipper said places such as the zoo and museum, which also have a role to play in educating children, aren't doing enough, either.

The zoo didn't have the time or staff to celebrate Darwin Day, said Scott Gray, education director of the Zoological Society of Manitoba. If they did have the time and staff, zoo curator Bob Wrigley said he would have prepared a Darwin Tour of the zoo, celebrating the adaptation of the species and how we -- zoo animals and humans -- are all connected. (See sidebar)

"Every living species is related," said Wrigley. "This is why it is so tragic when we cause the extinction of other species."

The Manitoba Museum will acknowledge the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species, but not in a big way, said Randy Mooi, curator of zoology.

"We will be producing a single, relatively small case," Mooi explained in an email. The exhibit will be set up in the main lobby so it will be free to the public.

"It will include text, images and specimens that provide a brief introduction to Darwin's life and outline his fundamental contribution to the understanding of evolution, as well as his many other accomplishments in biology, geology, botany and biogeography.

"There is also a brief introduction to the relevance of the theory of evolution in our everyday lives and its role in agriculture, medicine and conservation."

The exhibit will be on display from the date of the anniversary, Feb. 12, until Nov. 2.

Biology students at the University of Winnipeg have planned a fun day of Darwin-themed events Feb. 13, and the University of Manitoba is hosting two public lectures. (See info boxes.)

Last year in Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum couldn't find a corporate sponsor for a Darwin exhibit. No businesses were willing to support or attach their name to a widely-acclaimed display that earned rave reviews in New York. The Humanist Association of Canada eventually stepped in as a sponsor.

Schipper said at the time of Darwin's discoveries, the population reacted with a kind of mourning, similar to when a child discovers the truth about Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Some still have a hard time accepting evolution because they grow up hearing creation stories over and over. Waiting till Grade 12 biology or university post-graduate studies to teach people the truth is too little, too late, he said.

"It's difficult to internalize. It requires repetition."

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Charles Robert Darwin

(Feb. 12, 1809 - April, 19, 1882)

Darwin was an English naturalist who realized and demonstrated that all species evolved over time from common ancestors through the process of natural selection. Evolution became accepted as a fact by the scientific community and much of the general public in his lifetime. His theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory.

In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.

At Edinburgh University, Darwin neglected medical studies to investigate marine invertebrates. Then, at the University of Cambridge, he developed a passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle, from 1831 to 1836, established him as an eminent geologist and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.

Darwin was fascinated by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage. He investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838.

In 1859 book, On the Origin of Species set out evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.

In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th-century U.K. non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral and was buried in Westminster Abbey close to John Herschel, a scientist who did valuable botanical work, and the physicist Sir Isaac Newton.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 8, 2009 B1