Today is Charles Darwin's 199th birthday. Aussie blogger John Wilkins provides an eloquent summation of Darwin's significance:
So remember Darwin not as the discoverer of anything, but as the guy who set off a fruitful, active, complex and ultimately explanatory research program in biology, which continues to become ever more active. Don't make him a saint, an authority, or a hero. He's just a damned good scientist.
Other Darwin miscellanea on the web: For the celebration-minded, Darwinday.org lists local Darwin-related events. The Beagle Project aims to recreate the Voyage of the Beagle, in 2009. And, the complete works of Darwin are available at Darwin-Online.
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