The 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin is this Thursday, February 12th, and the National Geographic Channel has another interesting show tonight that retraces Darwin’s famous expedition to the Galapagos archipelago in the eastern Pacific Ocean, using his diary and field notes as a travel guide: Darwin’s Secret Notebooks.
Here’s a video excerpt, on Darwin’s observations of flightless birds:
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NYCHardhat Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:33:40am |
I really can't discuss anything evolutionary since we just de-evolved today.
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IslandLibertarian Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:33:57am |
Flightless bird...........there's the metaphor.
"0" would have the bald eagle evolve into a grounded shadow of its former self.
/happy b'day D.........
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jcm Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:34:39am |
Galapagos Islands... Tortoises.... Turtles!
Darwin confirmed the Turtle Stack!
/ at least as good as the logic that Darwin caused Hitler!
| 7 |
Nevergiveup Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:35:47am |
Darwin--" 2 Hundred years since I was born and the best evolution can do is Obama? Shit maybe I better go back and check my figures. And look at my G-D dam portfolio?"
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OldLineTexan Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:40:00am |
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mean Gene Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:40:26am |
What a sweet bird!
We see similar ones around here, in our wetlands.
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Jetpilot1101 Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:40:29am |
National Geographic has done an excellent job with their series "Morphed" and I expect they'll do another bang up job with this show. I just love the idea that I am eating the distant cousin of a Velociraptor every Thanksgiving.
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marty1499 Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:40:35am |
Darwin and Lincoln were born on the same day!
Just realized it.
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Ford_Prefect Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:43:59am |
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mean Gene Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:44:52am |
Last night there was a show on the local ''science'' channel about ''mummies'' in Rome.
It was so filled with conjecture-as-fact it sickened me.
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Sharmuta Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:50:15am |
Fascinating, and just another reason to be depressed I canceled my cable. But as much as I'm sure I'd enjoy these shows, I can't justify the cost to my pocketbook.
I'd like to learn more about Darwin's adventure though. Are there any good books on the subject anyone could recommend?
| 19 |
quickjustice Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:50:46am |
I saw the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History several years ago. It included his original notes from his journey on the Beagle, and many of the bird and other samples he collected. The exhibit was painstakingly organized to show how Darwin assembled the scientific evidence he collected to put together his theory of evolution.
It was awesome.
| 23 |
Achilles Tang Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:57:03am |
re: #18 Sharmuta
Fascinating, and just another reason to be depressed I canceled my cable. But as much as I'm sure I'd enjoy these shows, I can't justify the cost to my pocketbook.
I'd like to learn more about Darwin's adventure though. Are there any good books on the subject anyone could recommend?
You can get most of these shows, although Morphed isn't there yet, on Hulu.com.
Connect your PC to the TV with an S-Video cable, if you want a bigger screen, and off you go.
| 24 |
OldLineTexan Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:57:49am |
I was in Arlington over the weekend at the convention center, and they had a big reptile convention going on. I could have gotten my own stack of turtles.
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OldLineTexan Tue, Feb 10, 2009 11:58:25am |
re: #15 buzzsawmonkey
BTW, the fascinating information that can be contained in these sorts of specials notwithstanding, I for one am heartily sick of the haunting Andean flutes and digeridoos which typically whoomp in the background of nature programs, as well as the dreary "evocative" shots of people silhouetted against sunsets and the like.
Twice as much information could be put into programs such as these if the filmmakers would do us all a favor and club these programming conventions to death.
Peruvian pan flute bands keep the Guinea monsters at bay.
| 27 |
Achilles Tang Tue, Feb 10, 2009 12:01:17pm |
To be honest though, I watched the first in the Morphed series and was little disappointed. Mainly too much fluff wasting time and really nothing new, but as a basic primer it was fine.
/ Even a creationist would enjoy it because they (GASP) actually mention several times that certain things are not known or just a speculation (as in creationists theories).
| 28 |
VioletTiger Tue, Feb 10, 2009 12:05:39pm |
re: #19 quickjustice
I saw the Darwin exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History several years ago. It included his original notes from his journey on the Beagle, and many of the bird and other samples he collected. The exhibit was painstakingly organized to show how Darwin assembled the scientific evidence he collected to put together his theory of evolution.
It was awesome.
I saw this too, and I agree it was great. Actually, we went twice, as my husband is a Darwin fanatic. I especially liked seeing the bits of notes he wrote in observation.
| 29 |
VioletTiger Tue, Feb 10, 2009 12:07:01pm |
re: #18 Sharmuta
I'm not home right now, but I will post a list for you. Hubby has an extensive collection of books and video, many of which he bought at the exhibit a few years ago.
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srmoss Tue, Feb 10, 2009 12:44:21pm |
“In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces, and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” Richard Dawkins
Darwins' efforts seem to be a little self defeating if science and more importantly, humans have no intrinsic value.
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Charles Johnson Tue, Feb 10, 2009 1:12:54pm |
re: #31 srmoss
Darwins' efforts seem to be a little self defeating if science and more importantly, humans have no intrinsic value.
And your point is?
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Achilles Tang Tue, Feb 10, 2009 1:47:24pm |
One never hears back from people who don't know how to see value in anything, they can only go by what they are told.
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notutopia Tue, Feb 10, 2009 1:56:06pm |
This week we celebrate and give due homage and tribute for our good fortune, for the rare gift of the unique inquisitive man, Charles Darwin, born into this world. His scientific approach and abilities to see life so clearly, and to recognize and intently study and question all facets of life and all living things, has given us the basis for continued gifts of Charles Darwin, long after his death, today. Without him, we would have little documented on the scientific basis of life forms on the Galapagos Islands and on the continent of South America. His intellect, keen steadfast ability to patiently observe and catalog his scientific observations, and his love of the wonders of biology of plant, animal and man, have inspired countless other scientists and scientific fields, to use his theories and methods, for the betterment of all mankind.
What a testament to his accomplishments and his life!
Thank you Charles Darwin for all you have given us.
| 35 |
Salamantis Tue, Feb 10, 2009 3:24:45pm |
re: #31 srmoss
“In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces, and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” Richard Dawkins
Darwins' efforts seem to be a little self defeating if science and more importantly, humans have no intrinsic value.
We create our own human values, which means we are free to choose those values for ourselves, rather than have cosmic values chosen for and imposed upon us. Of course, we have the obligation (to ourselves) to choose our values responsibly and wisely.
I do not regret possessing such freedom of choice, and have no desire to flee from it.
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Picayune Tue, Feb 10, 2009 4:07:08pm |
Here's an avatar in search of a Lizard: [Link: www.telegraph.co.uk...]
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Picayune Tue, Feb 10, 2009 4:16:30pm |
And.. here's a link to Creation, the Movie:[Link: www.creationthemovie.com...]
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seerak Tue, Feb 10, 2009 4:37:10pm |
#31 srmoss:
Darwins' efforts seem to be a little self defeating if science and more importantly, humans have no intrinsic value.
Darwin’s Humanity, Fight With Rival, Shaped Hatred of Slavery .
Oops.
There is no such thing as "intrinsic value"; that is one of the basic errors underlying religious morality. "Value" does not exist in and of itself, but presumes a context -- that is, answers to the questions "Of value to whom, and for what?"
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Euler Tue, Feb 10, 2009 4:55:23pm |
re: #31 srmoss
How much of that dualism between what we call Good and and what we call Evil is contingent on our particular nature, and through it, upon our particular natural history as part of life on earth, and how much is absolute? By absolute, I mean a universal principle that imposes constraints on the moral sense of any living thing, arising in any possible world.
I don't mean to suggest anything supernatural by this absoluteness. What I have in mind is something more like the constraints that Maxwell's equations impose upon any sensory organ that forms an image of the electromagnetic field. Eyes have independently evolved many times in various phyla, but with an architecture constrained by an underlying principle, an "absolute".
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2-Drink Minimum Tue, Feb 10, 2009 5:33:10pm |
Flightless birds? I was thinking Penguins . . . what a dodo to come up with such a cuckoo idea.
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VioletTiger Tue, Feb 10, 2009 6:35:01pm |
re: #30 Sharmuta
Thanks! I'll check back later.
I had forgotten what a nice collection he has. Here are some of the best on DVD.....
The 8 hour PBS special, Evolution. There are 4 DVDs in the set:
Darwin’s Dangerous Idea
Great Transformations - Extinctions!
The Mind’s Big Bang – What About God
The Evolutionary Arms Race – Why Sex?
Genius – Charles Darwin, on DVD from Kultur [Link: www.Kultur.com...]
Biography Charles Darwin, Evolution’s Voice DVD from AETV.com
Also, the 8 hour PBS special Evolution, with Liam Nelson. This may be hard to find.
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