Exhibition on Darwin`s evolution revolution

London, Nov 15: London`s Natural History Museum opened its doors Friday on an eagerly-awaited exhibition on the life of British naturalist Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution.The show -- which even includes strands of his beard -- is part of events marking the bicentenary of his birth next February, and the 150th anniversary in November 2009 of the publication of his seminal work "On the Origin of Species."

"What is so unique and accessible with this exhibition is that it shows very clearly the way Darwin`s thinking itself evolved," said Johannes Vogel, a scientist at the famous London museum. Darwin produced evidence to show that mankind originated through evolutionary change effected by natural selection and his findings are now considered central to our understanding of biology. The London show opens with a display of fossils and organisms brought back from his famous voyage on the HMS Beagle, a five-year journey which started in 1831 and took Darwin to South America and Australia. Two mocking birds, which triggered Darwin`s world-changing theory, overlook the entrance to the exhibition. The naturalist collected them on two of the Galapogos islands in the Pacific, and their differences set him thinking. A live green-skinned iguana, similar to those seen by Darwin on his travels, looks out at museum-goers alongside models of the various animals he came across and fossils he collected. "Charles Darwin, with his formulation and the evidence he presented in relation with evolution being the governing force of life on Earth, has changed the way humans view themselves," said Vogel. "We might want to see ourselves as being created by or equal to God. "But what Charles Darwin and the research that followed subsequently verifying his theory clearly demonstrate, is that we are part of nature, that we are governed by the same rules that nature is governed by," he added. Bureau Report