MICHAEL RUSE: ACCIDENTAL ENCOUNTERS AND SYDNEY IDEAS
BY TRISCHELLE ROBERTS
We have many reasons to appreciate, or resent, Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution by natural selection defines the way we think about ourselves and our world, whether we accept or oppose it. ‘Survival of the fittest’ ‘ a term coined by Herbert Spencer, who drew heavily from Darwin’s work ‘ has become a cliché, and notions of social darwinism and eugenics are at the forefront of contemporary social and political concern.
To mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, the University of Sydney will be holding a series of events ‘ beginning this month with leading Darwin expert Michael Ruse. Professor Ruse is certainly the right man for the job: he has published more than 20 books concerned with Darwin’s life and work, and is a notoriously outspoken philosopher and contributer to the ‘creation vs. evolution’ debate.
On Monday evening, Ruse will open Macleay Museum’s Accidental Encounters exhibition, followed by a musical soiree in the Victorian surrounds. The following night, Ruse asks ‘Is Darwinism past its sell-by date” and kicks off the Sydney Ideas 2009 series of public lectures at the Seymour Centre.
For more information see www.usyd.edu.au/museums or www.seymour.usyd.edu.au/ideas
