We invite you to join us for a discussion of Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll. Carroll, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin, tells the stories of the most dramatic expeditions and important discoveries of the last two centuries of natural history, from the epic journeys of pioneering naturalists like Charles S. Darwin to the microscopic work of scientists in laboratories who investigate molecular genetics.The publication of Carroll's book marks the anniversaries of several milestones in natural history and evolutionary science: Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his On the Origin of Species, the 150th anniversary of a paper presented by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace to the Linnean Society in London on the theory of natural selection, the 100th anniversary of Charles Walcott's discovery of the remarkable animals of the Burgess Shale, and the 50th anniversary of Mary and Louis Leakey's first ancient hominid find.
In introducing his book, Carroll says, "We will encounter many amazing creatures of the past and present, but the most remarkable creatures in these stories are the men and women. They are, without exception, remarkable people who have experienced and accomplished extraordinary things. . . . The people in these stories followed their dreams--to travel to far-away lands, to see wild and exotic places, to collect beautiful, rare, or strange animals, or to find the remains of extinct beasts or human ancestors. Very few started out with any notion of great achievement or fame. Several lacked formal education or training. Rather, they were driven by a passion to explore nature, and they were willing, sometimes eager, to take great risks to pursue their dreams. Many faced the perils of traveling long distances by sea. Some confronted the extreme climates of deserts, jungles, or the Arctic. Many left behind skeptical and anxious loved ones, and a few endured years of unimaginable loneliness. Their triumphs were much more than survival and the collecting of specimens from around the world. A few pioneers, provoked by a riot of diversity beyond their wildest imaginations, were transformed from collectors into scientists. They posed and pondered the most fundamental questions about Nature. Their answers sparked a revolution that changed, profoundly and forever, our perception of the living world and our place within it." In our discussions, we will consider the qualities and experiences that these remarkable people had or have in common. Was or is their success due, as Malcolm Gladwell suggests in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, to opportunity, to time spent practicing their discipline, and to being born in the right cultural place and time? Is there some other essential quality, such as curiosity or openness to seeing the world in a new way, that underlies their experience?
You can join the conversation Tuesday, June 1, at 6:30 p.m. at Main Library, Thursday, June 17, at 11:00 a.m. at West Ashley Branch Library, or here on the blog.
Read about some species' remarkable adaptive changes in Carroll's monthly feature Remarkable Creatures for the New York Times Science Times.
