Spring Break
Brandeis Humanists celebrate Darwin day
by Gina Gotthilf
News | 3/4/08
Posted online at 5:44 AM EST on 3/4/08
Charles Darwin died in 1882. One hundred and twenty-six years later, Brandeis students celebrated his birthday for the first time.
Darwin Day, an international celebration of science and humanity, has been an official holiday since the early '90s when it was first celebrated at Stanford University. Brandeis students, however, only celebrated it this year with the announcement of the Brandeis Humanists' event.
Darwin Day "expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity," according to its official Web site. Two science lectures commemorated these values at the event, which was attended by approximately 20 students. The lectures centered on the evolutionary novelty of the pursuit of scientific inquiry from the days of Darwin to time hereafter.
Prof. David Roberts (PHYS) spoke about what is known regarding the expanding universe. Providing those without much scientific knowledge with a brief survey of the history of astronomical discoveries, Roberts' lecture moved quickly through history from Galileo Galilei to string theory, "the ultimate theory of everything."
In an attempt to condense almost 500 years of science into a mere 60 minutes, Roberts' words resonated with two main messages: with every answer, science brings about at least one new question, and that even the most miniscule of errors can generate colossal misalignments, even regarding the mysterious inception of a universe.
"A universe is born and dies in a millionth of a second," Roberts said. Put into this perspective, American astronomer Edwin Hubble's miscalculation of the Earth's age by 1 billion years due to a tiny factor of 10 seems almost forgivable.
Prof. Paul Miller (BIOL) then took the stage to talk about the science of the brain.
Miller outlined parallels that reminded his audience of the hidden ways in which the phenomenon of selection and variation act within different contexts, such as neural processes. Darwinian evolution, in its most basic state, occurs as genes get selected for or against across generations. In the mind, however, "our reward system based on dopamine allows an individual to change behavior well before the ultimate selectivity of death," he said. Neural evolution, then, allows us to better avoid our own death, rather than just the destruction of our genes.
The organizers of the event, co-founders of the Brandeis Humanists Joyce Wang '10 and Tom Charging Hawk '10, had scheduled Tufts University physicist Ellery Chempp as a third guest speaker to close the program. Chempp would have lectured about his role in the 1963 Supreme Court trial against Abington School District, the landmark case that declared public school-sanctioned Bible readings unconstitutional. Due to a miscommunication, Chempp failed to attend the event and the organizers were forced to conclude abruptly.
Darwin Day, an international celebration of science and humanity, has been an official holiday since the early '90s when it was first celebrated at Stanford University. Brandeis students, however, only celebrated it this year with the announcement of the Brandeis Humanists' event.
Darwin Day "expresses gratitude for the enormous benefits that scientific knowledge, acquired through human curiosity and ingenuity, has contributed to the advancement of humanity," according to its official Web site. Two science lectures commemorated these values at the event, which was attended by approximately 20 students. The lectures centered on the evolutionary novelty of the pursuit of scientific inquiry from the days of Darwin to time hereafter.
Prof. David Roberts (PHYS) spoke about what is known regarding the expanding universe. Providing those without much scientific knowledge with a brief survey of the history of astronomical discoveries, Roberts' lecture moved quickly through history from Galileo Galilei to string theory, "the ultimate theory of everything."
In an attempt to condense almost 500 years of science into a mere 60 minutes, Roberts' words resonated with two main messages: with every answer, science brings about at least one new question, and that even the most miniscule of errors can generate colossal misalignments, even regarding the mysterious inception of a universe.
"A universe is born and dies in a millionth of a second," Roberts said. Put into this perspective, American astronomer Edwin Hubble's miscalculation of the Earth's age by 1 billion years due to a tiny factor of 10 seems almost forgivable.
Prof. Paul Miller (BIOL) then took the stage to talk about the science of the brain.
Miller outlined parallels that reminded his audience of the hidden ways in which the phenomenon of selection and variation act within different contexts, such as neural processes. Darwinian evolution, in its most basic state, occurs as genes get selected for or against across generations. In the mind, however, "our reward system based on dopamine allows an individual to change behavior well before the ultimate selectivity of death," he said. Neural evolution, then, allows us to better avoid our own death, rather than just the destruction of our genes.
The organizers of the event, co-founders of the Brandeis Humanists Joyce Wang '10 and Tom Charging Hawk '10, had scheduled Tufts University physicist Ellery Chempp as a third guest speaker to close the program. Chempp would have lectured about his role in the 1963 Supreme Court trial against Abington School District, the landmark case that declared public school-sanctioned Bible readings unconstitutional. Due to a miscommunication, Chempp failed to attend the event and the organizers were forced to conclude abruptly.
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