A busy couple of days...
the Beagle Project went to London to meet the other participants in the Darwin 200 celebrations at the Natural History Museum, then on to meet the treasurer of the Charles Darwin Trust and the Nuffield Foundation's Nuffield Curriculum Centre.
A quick round up of the plans from the Darwin 200 meeting:
The Charles Darwin Trust want to make Down House a world heritage site.
Shrewsbury Council want to wrest The Mount (Charles Darwin's childhood home) from the grip of the district valuer and open it to the public.
Cambridge University are completing their project to put all of Darwin' writings online.
The British Council want to use Darwin 200 as an opportunity to underpin ambassadorial work abroad showcasing the best of British science and technology and talked about a scheme for twinning young scientists from other countries with British counterparts.
Most advanced seem to be Bristol-based Darwin in the South West, fresh from their successful celebrations of the life and works of Isembard Kingdom Brunel.
This was the Beagle Projects first appearance at the Darwin 200 meeting, our slot was the just-before-the-coffee break slot and people were flagging so I gave our presentation at something of a gallop, but afterwards both David Lort Phillips and I were fairly mobbed with people wanting to find out more, to offer support. I made the point strongly that we do not want the replica Beagle to be just another museum square rigger, she is to be used to spread the story and legacy of Darwin's work, to help in the teaching of the importance of evolution in modern society, to help involve and inspire a new generation of scientists through both sailing on the boat and participating virtually through an interactive website.
Our aim is to provide the boat that will be an iconic symbol of Darwin and his work, a platform on which his intellectual descendents can continue his work and a means to spread the word. Everyone likes the idea, now we need a first funder to break cover and pledge a chunk of pounds, dollars or euros towards the build. A soon as our company registration number is confirmed, the virtual begging bowl will be posted.
A quick round up of the plans from the Darwin 200 meeting:
The Charles Darwin Trust want to make Down House a world heritage site.
Shrewsbury Council want to wrest The Mount (Charles Darwin's childhood home) from the grip of the district valuer and open it to the public.
Cambridge University are completing their project to put all of Darwin' writings online.
The British Council want to use Darwin 200 as an opportunity to underpin ambassadorial work abroad showcasing the best of British science and technology and talked about a scheme for twinning young scientists from other countries with British counterparts.
Most advanced seem to be Bristol-based Darwin in the South West, fresh from their successful celebrations of the life and works of Isembard Kingdom Brunel.
This was the Beagle Projects first appearance at the Darwin 200 meeting, our slot was the just-before-the-coffee break slot and people were flagging so I gave our presentation at something of a gallop, but afterwards both David Lort Phillips and I were fairly mobbed with people wanting to find out more, to offer support. I made the point strongly that we do not want the replica Beagle to be just another museum square rigger, she is to be used to spread the story and legacy of Darwin's work, to help in the teaching of the importance of evolution in modern society, to help involve and inspire a new generation of scientists through both sailing on the boat and participating virtually through an interactive website.
Our aim is to provide the boat that will be an iconic symbol of Darwin and his work, a platform on which his intellectual descendents can continue his work and a means to spread the word. Everyone likes the idea, now we need a first funder to break cover and pledge a chunk of pounds, dollars or euros towards the build. A soon as our company registration number is confirmed, the virtual begging bowl will be posted.
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