Darwin and We

Today it is difficult to find someone who has never heard of Charles Darwin. His name is one of the first among the world's greatest scientists, along with Aristotle, Newton, Einstein. What is the significance of his ideas? How did they influence our worldview? The exhibition "Darwin and We" commemorating the scientist’s 210th anniversary will help to answer these questions.

On November 24, 1859 the main work of Charles Darwin "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life" was published. 160 years ago this book "turned the world upside down", forcing scientists and philosophers to reconsider their views on life itself and all living things. The Darwin Museum collection contains the original first printed edition of “The Origin of Species”. 1250 copies were sold out in one day when the book was first published. The book, which made history, was acquired by the founder of the museum Alexander Kohts for 150 rubles - at the beginning of the 20th century with this money one could buy a thoroughbred horse. The rarest edition will be displayed at the exhibition for the first time in the last 5 years.

The theory of evolution is the foundation for modern biological science. It allows us to decipher our genes and to fight viruses, to interpret the Earth's fossil record and to explain the huge variety of living species. “Darwin and We” focuses on the ways the evolution theory influenced other sciences. For example, Ethology, studying the behavior of animals, has become an independent science. Another science dealing with the origin of men has emerged - Anthropology. Even medicine, the oldest of the sciences, revised its views on the causes of many diseases and methods of their treatment.

Visitors will see the scientific reconstruction of how ancient people looked like - from Australopithecus, who lived 4 million years ago, to Cro-Magnon man of 25 thousand years ago. You will also be able to compare the appearance and structure of distant relatives: the Indian elephant, the Amazonian manatee, the Rock hyrax, and the Aardvark. The exhibition will also show the results of interesting experiments to study the intelligence and behavior of rats, ravens, parrots, octopuses.

After the publication of Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species ...” the discussion about God as the creator of the Universe resumed. This debate continues today. Was the world surrounding us created by the Creator or was it formed in the process of evolution? Is there someone creating and changing the laws of nature from above or is everything subject to the principles of natural selection? Try to answer these questions yourself after visiting the exhibition at the Darwin Museum.

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