Darwin birthday celebrated at museum with cake, a tortoise and coloring books

Fun fact: Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, and Abraham Lincoln were both born on the same day, Feb. 12, 1809.

But at the Natural History Museum Sunday, it was all about Darwin, from the birthday sheet cake to a live tortoise and dead beetles.

Two brothers from Palm Springs pondered who was more important, Lincoln or Darwin.

“For the U.S., I think Lincoln was probably more important,” said Anthony Nelson, 11.

But he and his brother, Thomas, 8, agreed that on a global basis, Darwin probably is No. 1, because he found evidence of evolution in the fossils he found, species he studied and the writings he published before he died in 1882.

A steady stream of families wandered about the museum’s atrium looking at artifacts and collections that recalled Darwin’s work. Some preschoolers kept busy coloring drawings of Darwin and his discoveries.

Included in one glass display case a 20-inch-tall replica of the HMS Beagle. Darwin sailed in the British survey vessel from 1831 to 1836, collecting specimens from South America to Australia to South Africa. He sent them back to England, along with copies of his log and observations, which fellow naturalists studied.

And by the time he returned, he had become a scientific celebrity, even though he had not studied the subject in a university. He was the epitome of the age’s “gentleman scientist,” who had enough independent sources of income to pursue his obsessions without having to make money from the results.

Docent Marilyn Miles said children ask the best questions, which she has to research to answer correctly. She had a copy of Darwin’s book, “The Voyage of the Beagle,” at the ready.

At another table, docent Maureen Lewis showed off her pet desert tortoise, Capt. Jack Sparrow, who’d lost his right eye. She said she hadn’t found a proper eye patch to match that worn by the “Pirates of the Caribbean” character in the Disney movies.

On his voyage, Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, where the presence of giant tortoises helped him develop his theory of natural selection. Shells of such giant tortoises were sitting next to Lewis’ pet for the kids to touch and examine.

Next to Lewis was Kathy Radinovsky, another docent, who explained a collection of stuffed but varied examples of finches. Darwin found a similar diversity on the islands and concluded that they and other animals adapt physically to deal with different climate conditions and food sources.This differentiation came to be called natural selection.

Another case included 64 types of beetles — Darwin collected beetles as a youth, stoking his interest in the natural world.

At the coloring book table were photos of a brown lacewing, a bug that Darwin collected on his expedition. It made its way into the museum’s collection some years ago as part of an acquisition of some of another museum’s materials. Today it’s kept in a vault at the institution.

Docent Bill D’Ablaing, a Montgomery High School teacher until he retired after 33 years in 2002, manned a table with books and photographs related to Darwin. He kept covered the birthday cake, complete with a picture of the bearded Darwin, until cutting time.

When he was in high school in the 1950s, D’Ablaing recalled that evolution wasn’t even mentioned in biology textbooks until the last chapters and teachers routinely never got to that subject. Current textbooks, of course, put evolution front and center.

He and docent coordinator Carol Wilson organized the first Darwin birthday celebration in 2014 and add new items of interest each year. On the second floor, a seven-minute video, also available online, runs continuously in one of the alcoves, “What is the Evidence for Evolution.”

“This is a way of giving the dragon of ignorance a good whack,” D’Ablaing said.

David Archibald, retired biology professor at San Diego State University and former Natural History Museum trustee, said Darwin’s book, “Origin of Species,” remains the most important book of its kind in the 19th century, if not for all time.

“Nothing in biology makes sense in the light of evolution,” he said. “There is zero controversy about evolution among scientists.”

But while a leader in his day, Darwin was not faultless in some of his beliefs, Archibald said. He vigorously opposed slavery but had what today would be considered racist views when it came to the undeveloped world.

“By Victorian standards, he was not the worst of the worst,” he said. “By modern perspectives he would be more liberal than some of his colleagues.”

The two boys from Palm Springs had known about Darwin before their father, John Nelson, brought them for a visit. They said they probably learned about him via YouTube.

As for their hopes and dreams, Andrew said he’d like to study medicine, law or astrophysics. Thomas said he’d like to be a programmer — but what kind he has not yet decided.

roger.showley@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-1286; Twitter: @rogershowley

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