Linnean Society of London Celebrates 150 Years of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

The 150th anniversary will be celebrated at the Linnean Society on 1st July 2008 with a meeting to look at how far evolutionary theory has advanced with the help or modern techniques and research.

Darwin and Wallace introduced the radical idea that evolutionary change within any lineage is largely driven by natural selection.  Darwin, in the Origin of Species, further argued that natural selection causes the splitting of species.  The latter idea proved controversial and it has often been noted that Darwin’s book solved virtually every problem in evolutionary biology except the origin of species.  Recent research on molecular evolution and speciation, however, has vindicated both the Darwin-Wallace view that natural selection drives much evolution and the corollary view that natural selection often drives the splitting of species.  Professor Allen Orr from the University of Rochester, New York, will review these findings from the point of view of molecular evolution and speciation.

Through his long life Wallace was an active public defender of the theory of natural selection.  Late in life he reverted to an older philosophy, by adding an element of final cause through Intelligent Design.  While he was collecting natural history specimens in the Malay Archipelago (1854-1862), Wallace discovered a faunal boundary, later termed “Wallace’s Line” by T.H. Huxley.  Today, Wallace’s Line is seen as the result of Plate tectonics (continental drift).  Professor Gareth Nelson FMLS of the University of Melbourne will review this modern interpretation which breaks with that of the past in dimensions unforeseen by Wallace,  and the science of biogeography that he helped found and inspire.

The Council of the Linnean Society of London has awarded 13 Darwin-Wallace Medals 2008 for “major advances in evolutionary biology since 1958” when it was last presented.  The award is given every 50 years and commemorates the 150th reading of the joint Darwin - Wallace paper.  The President of the Society, Professor David F Cutler, will award medals on Thursday 12th February 2009, the 200th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin, to: Professor Nick Barton FRS,  Professor M W Chase FRS, FLS, Professor B C Clarke FRS, FLS, Professor Joseph Felsenstein, the late Professor Stephen Jay Gould, Professor P R Grant FRS, FLS, Dr Rosemary Grant FRS, Professor J L B Mallet FLS, Professor Lynn Margulis FLS, the late Professor John Maynard-Smith FRS, FLS, Professor Mohamed Noor, Professor H Allen Orr and Professor Linda Partridge FRS.

In recognition of the continuing importance of research on evolutionary biology, the Society has also announced that it will now award the medal annually from May 2009.

The anniversary on 1st July will be followed on 3rd and 4th July by a two day conference entitled “The Driving Forces of Evolution: From Darwin to the modern age“ which will explore the future of evolutionary theory. Over the last decade or so, a new and growing understanding of additional mechanisms of genetic, and indeed whole genomic, change has expanded understanding of the genetic underpinning of natural selection.  While mutation remains of great importance, it is now understood that symbiosis, which involves genetic change arising from the interaction of different life forms, hybridisation, the sexual interaction between different species, and epigenetics, which involves genetic change arising from non-genetic mechanisms, are of vital importance to evolution.  Over the last decade these emerging disciplines have grown in importance, amounting to a new flowering of evolutionary biology for the twenty first century.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Elaine Shaughnessy, Head of Development, Linnean Society of London or Kate Longhurst, Communications Manager on 020 7434 4479.   www.linnean.org

Notes for Editors:

The Linnean Society of London is the world’s oldest active biological society. Founded in 1788, the Society takes its name from the great Swedish naturalist, Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) who developed the system of binominal nomenclature. This system today provides the fundamental framework for knowledge of the biota of the Earth, supporting effective conservation measures and the sustainable use of biodiversity. The Society is the custodian of Linnaeus’ original library and collections and is creating a digital archive, enabling full global access. It encourages and communicates scientific advances through its three world-class journals, open meetings and website. The Society’s Fellowship is international and its Fellows are drawn from all walks of life including professional scientists and amateur naturalists. The Society welcomes anyone interested in natural history, in all its forms. www.linnean.org

Gareth Nelson is Professorial Associate, School of Botany, University of Melbourne, and Curator Emeritus, American Museum of Natural History, New York, where he was employed 1967-1998 in the Department of Ichthyology.  His research on fishes, their systematics, and their biogeography, was recognized by the Gibbs Award (1992), American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, and the Linnean Medal (2001), Linnean Society of London.  Born in 1937 in Chicago, Illinois, Professor Nelson attended the Universities of Chicago, New Mexico, and Paris in the 1950s, with degrees from Roosevelt University (BS, 1962) and the University of Hawaii (PhD, 1966).

H. Allen Orr is University Professor and Shirley Cox Kearns Chair of Biology at the University of Rochester, New York.  He is an evolutionary biologist and the author of Speciation (with J. A. Coyne).  Professor Orr has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a David and Lucile Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship; he was also awarded the Dobzhansky Prize and the Young Investigator Prize and will receive a 2008 Darwin-Wallace medal in 2009 .  He is a frequent contributor of book reviews and essays to the New Yorker and The New York Review of Books. 

Darwin-Wallace Medal 2008 The Council of the Linnean Society of London awards 13 Darwin-Wallace Medals 2008 for “major advances in evolutionary biology since 1958”.  The award is presented every 50 years and commemorates the 150th reading of the joint Darwin - Wallace paper “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection” at the Linnean Society of London in 1858.  The President of the Society, Professor David F Cutler, will award medals on Thursday 12th February 2009, the 200th birthday of Charles Robert Darwin, to: Professor Nick Barton FRS,  Professor M W Chase FRS, FLS, Professor B C Clarke FRS, FLS, Professor Joseph Felsenstein, the late Professor Stephen Jay Gould, Professor P R Grant FRS, FLS, Dr Rosemary Grant FRS, Professor J L B Mallet FLS, Professor Lynn Margulis FLS, the late Professor John Maynard-Smith FRS, FLS, Professor Mohamed Noor, Professor H Allen Orr and Professor Linda Partridge FRS. The medals will be presented on Darwin’s 200th birthday, 12th February 2009. 

In recognition of the continuing importance of research on evolutionary biology, the Society is pleased to announce that it will now award the medal annually from May 2009.

Pictures: Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace © The Linnean Society of London