[Pollinator] Darwin as a Pollination Biologist

[Jennifer Tsang]

Thanks to Peter Bernhardt for the below message.

 

  _____  

From: Peter Bernhardt [mailto:bernhap2 at slu.edu] 
Subject: Darwin as a Pollination Biologist

 

Dear NAPPC Colleagues:

 

Please consider a point I brought up in my last communication.  

 

1) The scientific community and science press are celebrating Charles
Darwin's 200th birthday and the 150th anniversary of the publication of "On
the Origin of Species..."

 

2) Charles Darwin's publications on insect-pollination and plant breeding
systems are the foundation of several sub-disciplines in Biology.  

 

3)  Can you recite the title of the first book Darwin published after "On
the Origin of Species" and how this book, published in 1862,  proved and
defended hypotheses Darwin made in "On the Origin of Species?"  

 

4)  Why is this book (now reprinted several times) so important to both
plant and pollinator conservation?

 

Shouldn't NAPPC be contributing to and riding the coattails of the 2009
Darwin celebrations?  Have you considered discussing Darwin's work on
pollination when writing articles or giving public talks?  Institutions like
the Morton Arboretum (Illinois) are planning a year of guest speakers who
will lecture on the books Darwin wrote after OOS. The Morton Arboretum plans
to record and tape a number of these lectures and interviews.  NAPPC
members, Peter Bernhardt and Retha Meier will be speaking on March 10 and we
intend to include something about NAPPC in our power point and/or in our
interview.  Of course, we have the option of raping and pillaging the famous
library at the Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis) but lots of
"Darwiniana" can be down loaded these days.  It should be easy for NAPPC
members to incorporate aspects of Darwin's research (and his charming yet
accurate pen and ink illustrations) into your own presentations.  

 

For more information on the program at Morton please contact Leslie Goddard
<LGoddard at mortonarb.org> or Michael Stieber <mstleber at mortonarb.org>.   So
many NAPPC members are affiliated with museums, gardens, arboreta, zoos etc.
it shouldn't be too difficult to write or speak on this subject between now
and December, right?

 

Peter Bernhardt

Department of Biology

3507 Laclede Ave.

Saint Louis University

Saint Louis,Missouri 63103

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