PORT ANGELES — A group of North Olympic Peninsula residents and Peninsula College will celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday by celebrating science.
The events leading up to Darwin Day on Feb. 12 will kick off Saturday.
Charles Darwin, born Feb. 12, 1809, theorized that all life had evolved from a common ancestor.
He wrote his theories in his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
The Pacific Science Center from Seattle on Saturday will bring its hands-on exhibits in the Science on Wheels display.
The exhibits explore everything from a bug’s life to the connection between science and agriculture, said Susie Winters, one of the event coordinators.
Winters said she and a group of friends last year were discussing the possibility of a bicentennial event for Darwin’s birthday.
The group now calls themselves People for Scientific Literacy and coordinated the event with help from Peninsula College Professor Dwight Barry and Port Angeles High School teacher Coke Smith.
“We wanted to make the community at large more aware of science,” Winters said.
The Pacific Science Center’s free events will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Pirate Union Building on the college campus in southeast Port Angeles.
Other events to celebrate the anniversary of Darwin’s birth include lectures and film screenings every evening Monday through Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Peninsula College Little Theater.
The lectures are aimed at high-schoolers and older, Winters said.
Smith will begin the lectures Feb. 9 with an overview of evolution.
Smith said his speech will condense a 20-hour lecture series on evolution.
“We tend to be pretty afraid of science and not aware of what science really says,” Smith said.
“I would like to discuss that and alleviate some of the apprehension.”
He said that the controversy around evolution versus Intelligent Design — the belief that an intelligent force helped create life on Earth — is unnecessary.
“I hope this event continues because the subject is so needlessly controversial,” he said.
“If people will come and listen to what science really has to say, they will see it is nothing to be discounted.”
Lane Wolfley, a Port Angeles lawyer, will discuss several court cases about education, evolution and Intelligent Design at a lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
A documentary titled “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” will be screened on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
The documentary follows the federal case of Kitzmiller v. Dover School District in which the U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania ruled that Intelligent Design could not be separated from creationist beliefs and thus could not be taught in schools.
The final day — and the actual birthday of the scientist on Feb. 12 — Barry and Brian Hague will discuss “Cartoon Biology,” and a birthday cake will be served.
Winters said she isn’t sure whether the event will continue on the 201st anniversary of Darwin’s birth.
“I’ll have membership forms for the People for Scientific Literacy, and if people sign up and this is something they want to continue, we’ll see where it goes from there,” she said.
__________
Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
