[Hac-announce] Darwin Double-header

[David E Schafer]

Following up on Manny's announcement of tonight's Friday night Potluck 
Dinner and Cinema at USNH, here's an announcement that stresses the 
CONNECTION between tonight's movie and my talk on Monday, February 20.  Even 
if you saw the film "What Darwin Never Knew" a couple of years ago at our 
February Humanist meeting, you may remember that it contained a wealth of 
information, and you may want to refresh your memory of it tonight in 
advance of my talk in 17 days.  You're warmly invited to come at 6:30 and 
bring friends for the potluck before the movie.

I think all the new research about the genome AND THE EPIGENOME is powerful 
stuff, and I can't get enough of it.  And the neatest part is that this is 
surely just the beginning--the best is undoubtedly beyond our imagination in 
the years to come!

David

DARWIN DOUBLE-HEADER - FEBRUARY 3 (FRIDAY) AND 20 (MONDAY)

As yet very few of us can fully grasp the incredible magnitude of what 
Charles Darwin accomplished with a bare minimum of basic scientific 
information at his disposal.  In his lifetime (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 
1882), Darwin had absolutely no way to anticipate more than an infinitesimal 
fraction of the profound knowledge that would ultimately flow from his acute 
observations of plant and animal species, living and dead, and his brilliant 
insights.into their interpretation.  Today, nearly 130 years after his 
death, we are just beginning to fill in the countless billions of blanks 
among the puzzles his keenly observant and fertile brain bequeathed to an 
astonished posterity.

This Friday evening at 6:30 p.m. at USNH, the February offering in the 
potluck dinner/Spiritual Cinema series will feature the amazing NOVA film 
"What Darwin Never Knew," a beautiful introduction to an understanding of 
how spiritual animals evolved from more primitive forms.  Then, on Monday, 
February 20, at 7:30 p.m., the Humanists will present David Schafer further 
highlighting key ideas briefly touched on in the film, in a talk entitled 
"Charles Darwin and the Meaning of Life."  Positioning Darwin in the 
scientific milieu of the mid-19th century, David will trace just how far, up 
to this moment, the concept of Evolution has helped us to understand our own 
position in the universe and thereby to recognize what and who we are.  Don't 
miss this two-part series!  Bring a friend and join us for both events, with 
lively discussions after each one.