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The Rat
SFN Regular
Canada
1370 Posts |
 Posted - 03/18/2008 : 18:26:19
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It's Toronto's turn for this traveling exhibit, so we took the kids down to see it on the weekend. I think that anyone who is interested in the subject and the history of evolutionary thought will enjoy it, especially when one can view at close range some of Darwin's own instruments and collections. Even those of us who put no stock in the supernatural will feel the presence of the gentleman, humans seem to easily feel connections through such things.
A couple of minor gripes and one major; one of the audio-visual displays is in need of sub-titles, as it is overpowered by the sounds around it and by another film running continuously nearby. Also, if I had seen the phrase "The H.M.S. Beagle" once more I would have had a fit, glad I was army and not navy. Puttin "the" in front of H.M.S. is grammatically incorrect because when read out in full it becomes "The Her Majesty's Ship", an auditory abomination.
The major gripe is about the ROM dropping the ball when they displayed the lineage of the dog. While convergent evolution is briefly mentioned elsewhere in the exhibit, here was an opportunity to put their best foot forward and they didn't. I know for sure that the museum possesses a skull of Thylacinus cynocephalus, a marsupial which has an uncanny resemblance to the placental Canid group, and it could have made for a powerful display of the concept. Maybe I'll contact the curator and put a word in his ear.
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Bailey's second law; There is no relationship between the three virtues of intelligence, education, and wisdom.
You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church? - The Bishop of Bath and Wells, Blackadder II
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Darwin at the Royal Ontario Museum
