2009 is the Year of Evolution. It has been 200 years since
Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of On
the Origin of Species. There have been many celebrations,
events, and lectures all in his name with more to come
throughout the year. February 12 is even considered “Darwin
Day,” and celebrated every year. All these celebrations beg the
question: Why do we celebrate Darwin? We don’t celebrate other
great scientists or thinkers. Where is Einstein Day? Or Newton
Day? Even among the history of evolutionary theory, he was not
the first or only person to propose the idea. So what is the
deal? I don’t really have the answer, but I do have a few ideas.
The first is that he is the figurehead for a scientific
understanding of where we came from. This has profound
philosophical implications for humans and their relationship
with other animals. In fact, I think these implications are why
so many people are willing to make every excuse in the book to
deny the reality of evolution (for example, The D