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Be sceptical about Darwin

Steve Jones points out that one day Darwin too may be superseded by a better theory.

An episode of the Darwin Now - Audio podcast, hosted by The Open University, titled "Be sceptical about Darwin" was published on November 4, 2009 and runs 2 minutes.

November 4, 2009 ·2m · Darwin Now - Audio

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Steve Jones points out that one day Darwin too may be superseded by a better theory.

Steve Jones points out that one day Darwin too may be superseded by a better theory.
Darwin in context - Audio The Open University Just how controversial was Charles Darwin? Was he a reluctant revolutionary? And how did he reconcile his religious convictions with his scientific values? When Darwin's theories were first published in the nineteenth century, he initially felt that the whole scientific establishment was against him. It took many years for Darwin to finally pluck up the courage to reveal his revolutionary theories and he only did so when a fellow scientist seemed to be about publish something remarkably, and coincidentally, very similar. This album puts Charles Darwin into context and explores the complex moral environment in which he worked, and in particular the perceived clash between evolutionary theory and traditional creationist beliefs. Jim Moore, Professor of the History of Science at The Open University, leads this exploration of Darwin and his times.The tracks on this album were produced by The Open University in collaboration with the British Council. They form part of Darwin Now, a global Darwin and language diversity - Audio The Open University Can Darwin's theory of evolution be applied to languages? If so what are the analogues for natural selection and species diversification? What truths does this approach reveal and what problems does it throw up? In this album Professor Mark Pagel of Reading University and Quentin Atkinson, an evolutionary biologist at Oxford, discuss the pitfalls and the up-sides to approaching language through a Darwinian model. Focussing on Indo-European languages, they show how mathematical and statistical models can be used to study the development of both particular words and of grammatical terms. Looking to the future they speculate on how language will develop in the new globalised culture. The tracks on this album were produced by The Open University in collaboration with the British Council. They form part of Darwin Now, a global initiative celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin and the impact his ideas about evolution continue to have on today’s world. © British Council 2009. Darwin's world-wide web - Audio The Open University How did Darwin gather data for his work? What do his surviving letters reveal about him, both as a man and as a scientist? He often seems like a solitary figure, but was this really the case? This album looks at the Darwin Correspondence project, an enormous endeavour that has been running for over thirty years. Today the project web site contains over five thousand letters, and there are plans to more than double that number. Shelley Innes, a historian of science and Alison Pearn, the assistant director of the Darwin Correspondence project, talk about the letters and how in particular they offer great insights into Darwin the man and Darwin the collaborator.The tracks on this album were produced by The Open University in collaboration with the British Council. They form part of Darwin Now, a global initiative celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin and the impact his ideas about evolution continue to have on today’s world. © British Council 2009. Global responses to Darwin's ideas - Audio The Open University How was Darwin initially received in Europe, and beyond? Why was he eagerly accepted in some countries and bitterly rejected in others? And how can modern media make him accessible to a much greater audience? History professors Thomas Glick and Peter Kjaergaard reveal the controversies, which occurred when Darwin's ideas were first published around the world. Immediately, they were interpreted through the lens of wider cultural and political debates, which very much affected their reception. Few doubted that Charles Darwin was a great naturalist, but there were many who argued with evolutionary theory and some who only accepted it after significant alterations. Today the Internet has created a vast new audience for Darwin, but this doesn't mean that all the arguments have gone away.The tracks on this album were produced by The Open University in collaboration with the British Council. They form part of Darwin Now, a global initiative celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin an
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