Darwin 1809 - 2009
Curated by Niles Eldredge, Ian Tattersall and Telmo Pievani

Two hundred years after the birth of the great English naturalist, whose theory is still at the centre of cultural debate, this will be the largest exhibition on Charles Darwin ever designed for the general public. Following in a tradition developed for over a century at American Museum of Natural History in New York, the exhibition interweaves the languages of history, narrative, naturalism, philosophy of science and contemporary experimental research. The adventurous life of the young Darwin, his complex family relations, his involvement in the English culture of the time and its conflicts, and the celebrated five-year journey round the world are fascinating stages in the birth of a revolutionary idea, from the initial questions, thrilling discoveries, first inklings, initial uncertainties and fears to the long silence and finally the publication of The Origin of Species, which caused such outcry, in 1859. Including previously unexhibited material and organized in collaboration with Codice Cultura, the Italian version will be curated by Niles Eldredge, head of the invertebrates division of the American Museum of Natural History in New York and one of the greatest contemporary evolutionists, with the aid of Ian Tattersall, one of the world's leading experts on human evolution and director of the Hall of Human Evolution at the American Museum of Natural History. The American scholars will be assisted in their work by Telmo Pievani, associate professor of philosophy of science at the Milan Bicocca University, philosopher of biology and expert on evolutionary theory.

"Darwin 1809 - 2009" is based on an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with Museum of Science, Boston, The Field Museum, Chicago, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Natural History Museum, London.

For information regarding the events for the 2009 Darwin Year, please visit the web site www.darwin2009.it