About Us

Evolve 2009 honors Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. Programming and events will commemorate and investigate arguably the most important scientific concept of our time. All year, participating organizations will celebrate Darwin and evolution with lectures, performances and educational programs from the world’s foremost scientists, writers, thinkers and artists.

Darwin was the first to identify natural selection as a primary mechanism driving evolution, noting that some life forms thrive, reproduce and adapt as conditions change, whereas others disappear. Supported by the 20th century discoveries of DNA and molecular inheritance, evolution is a central concept in modern science, including biology, geology and astronomy.

Programs will include lectures and presentations on Darwin, plant and animal diversity, sustainability of life on earth, and the application of evolutionary theory to such wide and disparate subjects as psychology and education. Join us as we ask: We’ve had the theory of natural selection for 150 years: what have we done with it? Throughout San Francisco, 2009 will be the year we reflect on what it means to evolve!