Birthday Celebration at the Linda Hall Library

On Thursday evening, February 12, Linda Hall Library hosted a birthday party for Charles Darwin, complete with cake, an introductory talk by Professor William Ashworth, and a One Book discussion of Janet Browne's Darwin's Origin of Species : A Biography.

More than 120 people attended the event, and over half stayed for the book discussion that concluded the evening. The participants divided into three groups, with discussions facilitated by LHL reference librarians Christine Taft, Michelle Lahey, and Scott Curtis.

While Dr. Browne has written an expansive two-volume biography of Darwin, she wrote this slim 150-page book to serve as an introduction to Darwin's voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle, his thought leading to the formulation of the process of evolution through natural selection, the reception of Origin of Species after its publication, and the book's legacy.