For Immediate Release Contact: Nancy O'Shea (312) 665-7103 (For Media Use Only) Darwin's Voyage of Discovery In Darwin, visitors will join Charles Darwin on his voyage of discovery and see how his revolutionary theory took shape. Introduction Darwin’s iconic bearded image marks the entry into this extraordinary life, where visitors will first encounter the naturalist’s original magnifying glass, the lens through which Darwin observed nature in minute detail. The simple tool highlights the important place of observation in science. In a short video, scientists from the exhibition’s organizing museums explore their own roles in building on Darwin’s work. The World before Darwin In Darwin’s time, most people, even scientists, believed that species had existed in their current form since the world began. Only recently had geologists begun to understand that the earth was millions (in fact, we now know, billions) of years old. The evolution of species had been suggested by only a handful of thinkers—Darwin’s grandfather among them. Visitors will see classic illustrations and mounted animal skeletons representing the well-ordered but unchanging Victorian view of nature. Early Life Born into a wealthy family, Darwin had little interest in school, but he was an avid naturalist, a collector and observer of plants, insects, and rocks. Visitors will see artifacts and photos from Darwin’s prominent family—the Darwins on his father’s side, the Wedgwoods on his mother’s—the book his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, wrote on his own idea of evolution, and some of the beetles and other insects Darwin joyfully collected in his youth, along with his jottings about them. A film on Darwin’s life and work is narrated by the scientist’s great-great-grandson, Randal Keynes. Drawing on archival photographs and new images of Darwin’s journals, manuscripts, and homes, the film introduces visitors to Darwin’s life, including his early observations of nature, his journey on the HMS Beagle, his subsequent years of research, and the impact of his theory on science and culture. Continue>>