How the world saw Darwin's big idea

This week, Nature has launched what looks like a fascinating series of Opinion articles looking at how different people around the world reacted to Darwin's theory of evolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

An accompanying editorial in this week's issue set's out some of the interesting ideas:

"In England... the Church reacted badly to Darwin's theory, going so far as to say that to believe it was to imperil your soul. But the notion that Darwin's ideas 'killed' God and were a threat to religion was by no means the universal response in the nineteenth century.

Darwin's theory reached the world at a time when many people were looking for explanations for social, political and racial inequalities, and in many parts of the world were wondering how to improve their lot in the face of Europe's global imperialism.

So from Egypt to India, China and Japan, many religious scholars embraced Darwin's ideas, often showing how their own schools of thought had anticipated the notion of evolution. Against the threat of Western imperialism and Western charges of 'backwardness', it was to their advantage to highlight the rationality of their creed."

The first article by Marwa Elshakryis discusses how people from Egypt to Japan used Darwin's ideas to reinvent and reignite their core philosophies and religions.

You can find all of Nature's Darwin200 coverage here.

(Not sure if all the articles are free -- I can't tell from where I'm typing this. Apologies if they are behind a paywall)

Darwin 200 Photography Competition

Unfortunately not an opportunity to submit your finest beards for review, but a proper photography competition on 'Exploring and Investigating Nature'.

The judges are looking for photographs inspired by this theme. It’s a pretty wide remit, encompassing photos from far off countries to your own back garden, animals, plants, the local park, or museum. Some examples can be seen here.

Launched by The Horniman Museum, the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL, the Institute of Biology, and the Wellcome Trust, the competition hopes to inspire the same spirit of curiosity that motivated Darwin throughout his life.

Charles Darwin's career was founded on his childhood fascination with the plants and animals on his own doorstep. This fascination took him around the world and led to an understanding of life that has shaped the modern world.

The winners from each category and a 'Best in Show' will be exhibited at the Horniman Museum in London. Deadline for entries is 11 October 2009 and more details can be found at the competition’s webpage.