The show will offer an overview of human evolution through the rich fossil record. It will also demonstrate how Darwin's work gave rise to modern biology with displays on genomic research, DNA research and evidence of the latest scientific update of the taxonomic tree of life.
Also on view will be some of Darwin's most famous notebooks, written from 1837 to 1839, especially Page 36 in "Notebook B," where he famously sketched the world's first evolutionary tree of life. "That's the equivalent of seeing E = mc2 in Einstein's papers," Eldredge said.
Also on display is the original text from "Notebook D" that shows the eureka moment when Darwin first described natural selection. From the Beagle voyage, the exhibition offers Darwin's original pistol, his telescope and his Bible. There are also 33 of the beetles, butterflies, moths and flies Darwin collected, and his rock hammer, used on geological excursions. The museum also offers a meticulous recreation of the room at Down House where he wrote Origin, presenting Darwin's original cane, work table and specimen boxes.
The significance of Darwin's ideas "has grown," Bloomfield said. "For example, at this moment we're looking at Asian bird flu and where it's going. If not for Darwinism, we would be ignorant of the mechanism of that flu, and how it changes over time."
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