Competition brings Darwin to students.

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Charles Darwin | Photo 05

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uploaded by David Cowan

This year marks the celebration of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential people in natural history for many years.

Born on 12th February 1809, Darwin pioneered ‘On the Origin of Species’ book which brought forward the theory of evolution through the process of natural selection. This year also see’s the 150th anniversary of the publication of that seminal work. Darwin worked on his theory for twenty years – collecting evidence, travelling the globe and corresponding with fellow scientists.

After discovering naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace had developed a very similar theory they made a joint announcement in 1858 of their discoveries and in 1859 Darwin published the book.

In recent times the fundamentals of this nevertheless controversial theory have been confirmed with the use of modern genetic analysis. Broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough said “Darwin has shown us that we are not apart from the natural world.”

The Foundation for Genomics and Population Health is running a competition for students in Cambridgeshire, who submit an article or short video about Darwin. The best submissions will win £100 and have their work displayed on the website.

You can find more information at http://www.phgfoundation.org/darwin/

The deadline is 1st April 2009.

David Cowan