The world will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, on February 12th, this year, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his most famous book. The Origin of Species. Scientific organisations the world over are holding public events to discuss evolution. The New York Academy of Sciences will have its own events - after all, Darwin was one of its members!

Darwin hit upon the idea of evolution, and natural selection as the mechanism of evolution, whilst he sailed in the H.M.S. Beagle, as the ship’s naturalist and visited Galapagos archipelago In the eastern Pacific Ocean, and there beheld giant tortoises and finches. Then he nurtured, refined, developed and concealed that theory for 20 years, until a younger man, named Alfred Russel Wallace, struck upon the same idea, forcing Darwin to rush to get his work printed in 1859. It became an instant hit.

Five editions of the book was published during Darwin’s life time. It is the most significant single scientific book ever published, although not many people actually read it.

In the United States , a century and half after the publication of this book a "Pew research poll", has revealed roughly 50% of the populace expressed their belief in human evolution, but a large majority of them 40%, however, stated that they believe d a supreme being influenced the process. Only 1 in 4 Americans believe in natural selection, whereby the best adapted individuals of each population survive to bear offspring and others don’t. (Reference: New York Academy of Sciences, Magazine, Winter 2009).

Coincidentally, another bicentennial and another 150 year anniversary, will be celebrated on 12th, February this year; - the birth of Abraham Lincoln, in a log cabin in Kentucky, and his view on humankind and freedom as contained in the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation.

As we approach these two anniversaries of two great men, we find today that some people support evolution; and others deride it. Some acknowledge the equality of all humane: others, use ethnic origin, race, religion and even science (genetic makeup) to assert the superiority of one group over another. How slow evolution of the human mind has been! Only the small victories keep our spirits up: for example, the adoption of the United Nations General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Rights in 1948, the 60th anniversary of which was celebrated last year in Sri Lanka with the issue of a commemorative stamp, a step taken to make the general public aware of their rights; and just recently we noticed the election of an Afro American to the presidency of a nation that only three score years ago practised segregation.

Member, New York Academy of Science