inelegant design – The Friends of Charles Darwin

Book review: ‘The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being’ by Alice Roberts

The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being

Evolution and the making of us.

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Warning: this site is riddled with junk DNA

The newly relocated Friends of Charles Darwin website is riddled with junk DNA.

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Thanks for the anomalies

Vestigial features in letterboxes and organisms.

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Woodpeckers' toes and woodpeckers' kludges

I've been reading up about woodpeckers.

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The Darwin bicentennial oak, 11 years on
Eleven years ago today, I planted the Darwin Bicentennial Oak in my garden.
An embarrassment of Richards
In which my head appears on a spike (six times).
Hello, Serbia!
I am delighted to announce that the Friends of Charles Darwin have their first member from Serbia.
The Darwin bicentennial oak, 10 years on
Ten years ago today, I planted the Darwin Bicentennial Oak in my garden.
Hello, Azerbaijan!
I am delighted to announce that the Friends of Charles Darwin have their first member from Azerbaijan.

26-Apr-1882: Charles Darwin buried in Westminster Abbey
On 26th April 1882, Charles Darwin was buried in Westminster Abbey. How this honour came about is described by his son Francis Darwin in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin…
03-Dec-1831: Darwin’s first night aboard HMS Beagle
Darwin records his experimentations with a hammock.
29-Jan-1839: Charles Darwin marries Emma Wedgwood
On 29th January 1839, after a short courtship and engagement, Charles Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood at St Peter's Church, Maer, Staffordshire.
14-May-1856: Darwin starts writing his ‘big species book’
On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that, on the advice of his friend Charles Lyell, after almost 20 years exploring the subject, he had finally begun writing a ‘sketch’ of his ideas on species.
If humans evolved from monkeys, how come there are still monkeys?
This is a question frequently posed by creationists—and quite often by perfectly rational people…