Darwin Day screening of "Flock of Dodos" |
|
06 February 2007 ATTENTION: News editors, Science writers, editors, producers |
Contact:
Robert Sanders, Media Relations
|
WHAT
The screening of the movie "Flock of Dodos: The Evolution-Intelligent Design Circus," part of a week-long series of Darwin Day activities at the University of California, Berkeley, in celebration of the 198th birthday of Charles Darwin, originator of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
WHEN
2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11
WHERE
The auditorium of UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science, located at the top of Centennial Drive in Berkeley. The film is free with admission to the hall.
WHO
Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland and a vocal opponent of intelligent design and creationism, will lead a discussion following the screening.
DETAILS
For the fourth year in a row, UC Berkeley will join universities and museums around the world to honor Darwin, whose insights about evolution have profoundly changed science and society. Darwin Day activities typically take place in the weeks around Darwin's birthday, Feb. 12.
In "Flock of Dodos," filmmaker, evolutionary biology and surfer Randy Olson takes a Michael Moore-like look at the proponents of intelligent design and the often befuddled scientists who struggle to explain their side of the evolution debate.
The film, which premiered last April, is being shown nationwide at Darwin Day events and will be released on DVD this spring.
Other Darwin Day events include a Feb. 8 talk by UC Berkeley professors Robert Dudley and Jim McGuire at the monthly East Bay Science Café, which takes place at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza and Brew, 3290 Adeline St. in Berkeley. The conversation, modeled after European Cafés Scientifique gatherings, will be about the evolution of animal flight.
UC Berkeley's Museum of Paleontology also will host a day-long symposium on "The Implications of Evolution: Evidence and Applications," on Saturday, Feb. 10, beginning at 9 a.m. in 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building. Registration is required. See: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/museum/events/shortcourse2007/index.html for details.