Episode 18 — The Evolution of the Theory of Evolution, Part 1 of 2
Today, the 12th of February, 2008, is the 199th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Since this has been dubbed “Darwin Day,” and all sorts of events are planned for the upcoming year commemorating Darwin’s turning the “big 2-0-0″ (as well as the 150th anniversary of the publication of his “Origin of Species”) in 2009, I thought it’d be a good time to discuss how evolutionary theory became what it is today, and what Darwin’s unique contributions to the theory really were.
In part one, we’ll talk about the development of evolutionary theory leading up to Darwin and his contemporaries.
If you’re not subscribed to the podcast, you can listen to the episode (25:54) via an inline player (Flash required) here:
You can also directly download the episode using this link (23.7 MBytes). For links to sources, as well as for those who’d just like to follow along, the episode’s show notes are here….
Kaa wrote,
I cringe when you try to say French words.
In French, the “j” is pronounced as a “zh” like the “s” in the word “treasure.”
So “jardin” (garden) is pronounced “zhar DAN,” not “harden” or “har DEEN,” which is more Spanish. (The ‘in’ is actually more of a nasalized sound halfway between a schwa and a short ‘a’, but if you say it as “an” you’re fairly close.)
Similarly, in the French name “Georges,” the ’s’ is silent, and both “g”s are pronounced as “zh”: “zhorzh”
Link | February 23rd, 2008 at 03:53
Sam Wise wrote,
Sorry — I freely acknowledge that my pronunciation of French words is still lacking (and as you probably suspected, I’m better at Spanish)! At least I’m trying (likely in both senses of the word)…
Thanks for the pronunciation help, I’ll keep it handy the next time I have a podcast using French names.
Link | February 23rd, 2008 at 15:01
I am evolution » Names@Work » Blog Archive wrote,
[...] a longer view on Darwin, his legacy, and evolution, I also recommend The Theory of the Theory of Evolution Part I and Part II, episodes from Sam Wise’s extraordinary podcast and web site Sorting Out Science. [...]
Link | August 29th, 2008 at 17:44
Hank wrote,
If you are doing anything for Darwin Day again this year, let us know so we can get the word out. http://www.scientificblogging.com/darwin_day_2009
Link | February 11th, 2009 at 00:22