UA News

The celebration includes look-alike contest, music, poetry readings and science displays.

There may not be enough candles for the cake at this birthday party.

A celebration to mark the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin will be held on The University of Arizona campus on Thursday, Feb. 12. Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection sparked new ideas about the origins of life and has fueled a revolution in the natural sciences that continues to this day.

The event will begin with a Darwin look-alike contest and a band on the UA Mall at noon followed by numerous other activities in the Student Union Memorial Center South Ballroom from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Darwin studied plants, animals and fossils but is most remembered for his book, "The Origins of Species," which explained how different plant and animal species originate, said Anna Dornhaus, a UA assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

"Without evolutionary theory, biology is not science," Dornhaus said. "Evolutionary theory is as important to biology as Einstein's theory of relativity was to physics."

Darwin's evolutionary theory explained that species gradually change through natural selection, she said. Natural selection works on the traits that can be passed on through generations and requires variation among individuals, she added.

"Before (Darwin), we were just kind of stamp collecting - collecting lots of little facts and making them into catalogs but not understanding how they all link together," said Dornhaus, who chairs the event's organizing committee.

"He made biology into a science and made us understand how everything is linked together and understand patterns and processes that occur in nature."

The celebration kicks off with the look-alike contest and music from a local string band, Charles Darwin and His Natural Selections. The best impersonator will win a $100 gift card to the UA Bookstore.

Darwin hopefuls will read a quote from Charles Darwin's writings. Contestants can bring their own or use a Darwin quote provided by the celebration organizers.

Contestants can come in costume or don a beard, hat and trench coat provided by the ecology and evolutionary biology department.

From 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., the celebration will move to the Student Union Memorial Center South Ballroom for readings from local poets, more music and science displays.

There will be more than 20 science displays and activities. They include displays on fossils and on insect and bird diversity. Guests can also look inside of a live bumble bee colony, see the original books Darwin wrote or try their hand at Spore, an evolution video game.

A 3-D Tree of Life will be on display that illustrates Darwin's idea that all organisms are related, from humans to dogs to "the yeast in your beer," Dornhaus said.

The event is free and open to the public. Cake and coffee will be served.