Sean Redmond

Immediately upon entering the Field Museum’s "Darwin" exhibit, a number of all-too-important and all-too-easy-to-forget truths are brought to the visitor’s attention. Guests are reminded that "Before Darwin’s time, humans were not considered part of the natural world"—a bizarre notion in our post-theory of evolution society. And yet, the significance of Darwin’s discoveries is as relevant today as it was one hundred fifty years ago, when "The Origin of Species" was first published. And thus it’s fitting that the Field Museum has brought together the largest-ever assortment of Darwin memorabilia for its comprehensive new exhibit, on display until January 2008. The walls are posted with the story of the young man’s rise from relatively unspectacular beginnings to becoming the father of natural selection, while the exhibit gathers together letters, model animal specimens, daguerrotypes, skeletons, notebooks and even a recreated model of his home workspace in an attempt to portray the world both pre- and post-Darwin—and to illustrate just how radical a break between those worlds there is. Other notable features include a live green iguana, a manuscript of "On the Origin of Species," various family belongings, logs from the HMS Beagle and a "condensed time" video of the Sandwalk, the famous footpath he would use when in search of quiet time alone to think.

"Darwin" runs at the Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore, (312)922-9410, through January 1.

(2007-07-31)

Also by Sean Redmond

Filibusting
"This is what we call a rapid response action," explains MoveOn.org volunteer Sylvia Wilkerson as a handful of middle- to older-aged women mill about the tiny memorial situated at the intersection of Belmont, Ashland and Lincoln. The protest is about to start, and the group expects a good fifty to sixty participants to show up for the "counter-filibuster," organized in response to a filibuster Republican senators held to prevent a vote on the Levin-Reed amendment
(2007-07-24)

Tip of the Week
In 1965, off in that exotic tropical realm of South America that is Brazil, the brothers Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio Dias joined with Rita Lee to create what would become the legendary psychedelic group Os Mutantes
(2007-07-02)

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