Sonoma State University Geology Professor Matt James sent this message last night about his plans to walk in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of natural selection, whose 200th birthday is being celebrated today.
He writes from Quito, Ecuador:
"Darwin's big 200th is tomorrow (2/12), I will be here on the continent, off to Galapagos on 2/13 for 15 days on a boat the Tip Top IV, going ashore at all the places Darwin went ashore in 1835 and where the California Academy of Sciences expedition went ashore in 1905-06.
I am going to have all the 16 passengers on the Tip Top IV make "snow angels" in the white sand on a beach where Darwin went ashore to wish him a happy 200th, and we will toast to the great man right on the equatorwith the famous constellation the Southern Cross clearly visible - itwill be very festive.
Having studied Darwin's life an work since 1982 when I first went to Galapagos to study paleontology of the islands, and when I studied hislife and work at Oxford University in summer 1982, this trip is a great opportunity to celebrate his 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of publication of the "Origin of Species" in 1859.
I will be giving a few lectures on the Tip Top IV on Darwin, and evolution and the 1905-06 expedition, similar to what I do in my popular SSU course on the Hawaiian Islands.
There is a saying, 'once a landing spot, always a landing spot' and that is true in Galapagos, everyone goes ashore at the same places, from Buccaneers to Whalers to Darwin to scientific expeditions -- So I will literally and figuratively be walking in the footsteps of Darwin and others, and standing on the shoulders of giants."
