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Victoria
| Melbourne Film: Species 10pm, 13 February For three million years the human race has been at the top of the evolutionary ladder. Nothing lasts forever. |
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| Melbourne Film Forum: GATTACA 4:30pm, 7 February GATTACA presents a frightening vision of a future ruled by our DNA. But is this Science Fiction or Fact? |
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Melbourne
2pm February 8, 2009, St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne
At times the interface between science and faith has produced contention and strife. Need this be? Can science and faith be harmonized as different paths to truth? |
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| Melbourne Film Forum: Darwin’s Nightmare 4pm, 8 February When “survival of the fittest” becomes the primary rule of our economy and social systems, what is the cost to humanity? |
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Melbourne
4pm 8 February 2009
This lecture will summarise Darwin’s experiences in Australia through the eyes of his field notes and diary, illustrated with beautiful contemporary Australian paintings by two of Australia’s most famous early artists, Augustus Earle and Conrad Martens, both of whom had been Darwin’s Beagle shipmates earlier in the voyage.
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| Melbourne Public Forum: Big Bang to Big Bust! – Evolution from Start to Finish 6pm Sunday 8 February 2009 Bernie Hobbs (of The New Inventors, ABC TV) will interview three extraordinary scientists who will take us on a journey from the origins of the universe in the big bang, through the evolution of life on earth into the future with climate change |
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| Melbourne Conference: Evolution – the Experience 8 February – 13 February, 2009 Evolution – The Experience will explore Darwin’s ongoing impact in basic biology, agriculture, medicine, psychology, sociology, politics, history and religion. |
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Melbourne
6pm February 9, 2009
DNA sequence data can be used to illustrate the evolutionary history of modern humans over the past 100,000 years, the biological relevance of race, and how natural selection might have acted to produce today's patterns of worldwide genomic variation. |
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| Melbourne Public Lecture: Is Human Evolution Over? 8pm 9 February, 2009 Leading evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Professor Steve Jones, argues that ‘the raw materials for evolution have largely disappeared’ in the world in which we now live. |
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Melbourne
6pm Tuesday 10 February, 2009
In this event Michael Ruse compares the theory of Charles Darwin in his Origin of Species, published 150 years ago in 1859, with the modern theory of evolution, the theory of 2009. He explores those parts of Darwin’s thinking that persist to this day and those that have been changed or discarded. |
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| Melbourne Public lecture: What Can Dogs Teach Us About Evolution? 6pm 10 February, 2009 Charles Darwin used the breeding of domestic animals, such as dogs, pigeons, and horses, to introduce his theory of evolution. In a lively public lecture Bill Ballard and Taz will lead us in Darwin’s footsteps. |
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Melbourne
10 February, 2009
Visiting Australian in 1836, Charles Darwin saw little hope for the Australian people. How wrong he was soon proved to be. Australia, despite its convict beginnings, was one of the most law-abiding societies in the world by the end of the nineteenth century.
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| Melbourne Public Forum: Responding to Global Climate Change 7.30pm Tuesday 10 February 2009 An expert panel lead by Australian of the Year, Tim Flannery, will briefly describe the evidence for climate change, its current and future impact and the things that individual citizens can do to make a difference. An open discussion will follow, so bring your questions |
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| Melbourne Public Forum: Dinosaurs & the Hobbit 5pm Wednesday 11 February 2009 Come along and meet Robert Bakker, one of the world’s leading dinosaur experts and Bert Roberts who was involved in the discovery and dating of the ‘Hobbit’, a new species of tiny human found on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores. |
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Melbourne
6pm Wednesday 11 February, 2009
Evolution explains why the body works so well. The eye is the classic example, but one should equally appreciate heart valves that open and close 2,500,000,000 times without leaking. But evolution also can help us to understand why the body is not better. |
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Melbourne
7pm Wednesday 11 February, 2009
The global economic and environmental crises show that conspicuous consumption is a key problem in the 21st century. The new science of evolutionary psychology offers some unique insights into the origins and nature of runaway consumerism. |
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8pm, 11 February, 2009
Music is generally held to be a universal attribute of humans but what, if any, evolutionary significance did it have? Why do we have this communication system side-by-side with language? Is music still relevant to the welfare of our species today?
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| Melbourne Dinner event: Evolution – the Dinner 7pm 12 February, 2009 Celebrate the 200th Birthday of Charles Darwin with a cocktail dinner at the Melbourne Museum. Enjoy the exhibits, watch IMAX film features and experience the Walking Whale show, all while you eat your way through the evolutionary tree of life. |
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Cranbourne
12 February 2009
What a perfect way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth. Visit the Australian Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens (Cranbourne) and have a slice of birthday cake. |
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| Melbourne Film: Shivers 10pm, 6 February T-E-R-R-O-R beyond the power of priest or scientist to exorcise. The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact. |
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| Melbourne Reader’s Feast – Writers at the Convent 13-15 February, 2009 Melbourne’s summer celebration of reading, writing, books and ideas. |
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Cranbourne
11.00am - 12.30pm 15 February, 2009
Join Professor David Cantrill, Chief Botanist and Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Plant Sciences and Biodiversity Division, on a special walk and talk around the Australian Garden, discovering what makes Australian plants are so unique. |
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| Melbourne Exhibition: Darwin to DNA Permanent Exhibition Darwin to DNA covers three different themes: the historical background on the discovery of evolution; the underlying genetic mechanisms required for evolution to occur; and how our understanding of the evolution of ourselves and other organisms has changed through the study of DNA. |
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Nationwide
Ongoing
ClimateWatch allows you to get hands-on in the science of understanding climate change. By observing and recording natural phenomenon; like when leaves start to fall, the budding of flowers or the appearance of migratory birds; the information you record can help the scientific community to understand the effects of climate change on Australia’s unique biodiversity. |
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| Melbourne Exhibition: Mirror of the World January-September, 2009 This exhibition showcases many of the rare, beautiful and historically significant books held in the Victorian State Library’s collections, including a first edition of Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species. |
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Melbourne
1 January - 31 May, 2009
Find out why Darwin's On the Origin of Species has never been out of print in 150 years.
What did he include on his list of 'pros and cons' of getting married?
Discover the quirky side to Charles Darwin - the gentleman and the scholar - through an eclectic display of Museum Victoria objects and video.
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Melbourne
January-December, 2009
Retreat to the warm, humid tropics inside the Tropical Hothouse. Experience the feeling of walking through dense vegetation and discover the weird and wonderful plants of the tropical rainforests. Take a step back in time and be astonished by early plant life, which has evolved from before dinosaurs roamed the earth. |
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| Melbourne Guided Tour: Australian Adaptations January 22, 2009 - February 5, 2009 Join a guided tour through the Australian Garden & bushland, exploring the evolution of Australian plants and ecosystems, particularly their adaptations to fire. This tour will open your eyes to the incredible complexity of Australian flora and ecosystems. |
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Frankston
December 26, 2008 – April 26, 2009
Sand sculptors from around the world have gathered to re-create dozens of dinosaurs that once roamed the land on which we live.
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| Victoria Exhibition: Travelling Treasures To be confirmed The State Library of Victoria’s collection experts take to the road in 2009 with a selection of their treasures, including a third edition (1861) of On the Origin of Species. |
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Melbourne
Until February 1, 2009
See our evolutionary oddities as they perform amazing aerial acts and acrobatics like never before. Be stunned by fish that walk and gasp at lizards that fly in this spectacular family show.
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