A Birthday Toast!

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A Toast to Darwin

 

The good folk of Shrewsbury are rightly proud of their most famous son, Charles Darwin.

Our annual festival has been established to celebrate his life, work and continuing influence in the world of science. Now we have begun an annual ceremony which takes place at noon each year on his birthday, 12th of February.

 

The location for the ceremony is the Bellstone in the courtyard of the Morris Hall in Shrewsbury.

DW10

The Bellstone is mentioned in Darwin’s autobiography.

This granite boulder was Darwin’s first introduction to the science of geology.

According to Darwin it was Mr Cotton who pointed out this curiosity to him, remarking that it is a type of stone only found much further north in Cumbria or Scotland. Cotton went on to assure Darwin that “the world would come to an end before anyone would be able to explain how this stone came where it now lay”

During his studies at Edinburgh, Darwin learned that it was almost certainly brought down with the encroaching glaciers of the Ice Age.

The stone is symbolic of two attitudes that still flourish today, namely that “what we do not understand we will never understand” and conversely, “what we do not understand we can use our wits, observation and imagination to understand”. The latter being a decidedly Darwinian standpoint.

 

If you would like to join us and drink a toast in your town or city at noon each Darwin Day, we would like to hear from you. 

Email your toasts to darwinfest@aol.com

 

Darwin Day 2007

Darwin Festival Director Jon King was invited to speak at Stanford University's Darwin Day organised by Prof Bill Durham. Jon was a guest of the Darwin Day Celebration initiative founded by Bob Stephens.

Stanford Group

Prof Robert Siegel, Jon King, Bob Stephens, Prof Bill Durham 

 

Darwin Day 2006

 

Staff and friends at Newquay Zoo gathered to celebrate Darwin Day and fake beards were the order of the day!

DD Kids DD Newquay

Mark Norris, Education Officer at Newquay Zoo emailed us with the following greeting:

'At Newquay Zoo and on behalf of zookeepers worldwide we wish you, the Darwin Festival Team and the citizens of Shrewsbury all the best for the 2006 Darwin Festival . We send you greeting from Cornwall.'

 

We also received greetings from the Indian sub continent.

Battini Rao is a member of a study group based in Kurnool City, Andrapradesh State.

'I wish you great success in your endevour.'