Darwin Big Idea Big Exhibition at the Natural History Museum

Be transported around the world and back in time as the Natural History Museum celebrates Charles Darwin's revolutionary ideas and their impact.

2009: Celebrating Charles Darwin
2009 marks Darwin's 200th birthday, and the Natural History Museum is celebrating his life and work with a series of events throughout the year.

Darwin at the Natural History Museum explores Darwin's life, the development of his ideas and his legacy. Featuring live animals, original manuscripts, reconstructions, videos and interactive exhibits, this show is a treat.

A visit to Darwin sends you on a six stage voyage of discovery.

Aboard the Beagle with Charles Darwin
Start your journey by following the clues that helped Darwin develop his big idea.

As a young man Darwin took the ultimate gap year a round-the-world voyage on the Beagle and his discoveries and accounts of his experiences are collected here.

You'll see personal items such as Darwin's pistol alongside specimens that he collected on the trip, live iguanas and Argentinian horned frogs!

Darwin in London and Down House
The next part of the exhibition explores Darwin's return to London.

Notebooks, fossils, specimens and even love letters to the cousin he ultimately married illustrate Darwin's life at this time.

A centrepiece of the exhibition is a reconstruction of Darwin's study at Down House, the place where he did much of his writing and experimentation.

It was here in 1859 that Darwin completed On the Origin of Species the book that took the world by storm. Treasures on show include original handwritten notes from the book.

The World Before Darwin
Darwin's theories shook the foundations of the world and they still inspire debate in some quarters today.

A video biography of Darwin narrated by his great-great-grandson explains the political, social and scientific climate in which Darwin worked.

When Darwin began his studies, the general belief was that organisms were unchanged since their divine creation a few thousand years ago.

See how Darwin's contemporaries arranged specimens via an antique display case filled with exceptional mammal, reptile and bird skeletons.

Darwin and the Future
Evolution is by no means a static concept. Work continues in the fields of palaeontology, genetics and molecular biology. You can see examples of ongoing work in the Evolution, Today section of the exhibition.

Video and interactive displays explain the key concepts of Darwin's theory, while leading scientists discuss Darwin's continuing impact on modern society and science.

With the world's climate in flux, ideas about adaptation to environment and natural selection could help us understand the future as much as they explain our past.

A visit to Darwin at the Natural History Museum shows that Darwin's theories have as much resonance today as they did more than a century ago.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Charles Darwin
• Darwin
• Evolution
• Natural History Museum
• Kensington
• Science
• Attractions
• London

[GowanBray]

Oh dear. I would hope that the spokesman for this august institution, or the person who checks these things, could get the title of Darwin's magnum opus correct ! It's "On the Origin of Species", not "Origin of The Species" ! Also I hate the style of this clip, show us an important specimen then quickly flick to something else or jump about so it cannot be clearly seen. It's not a music video for people with the attention span of a goldfish. I wish I could see this, will there be DVD to buy ?