Which 15 computer whizzes have now been putting back together at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. From Constance Gustke at New York Times:
A chronic reorganizer, Darwin arranged his notes according to topics that interested him at the time. One page, for example, might be observations made about bees visiting flowers in 1840, originally placed in a portfolio on the behavior of bees. Perhaps 10 years later, he tore or cut that page, moving some of the observations into a portfolio on the pollination of flowers. By reassembling the original pages, researchers hope to understand fully the long arc of Darwin’s research and the gradual maturation of his thinking.
Before the manuscripts project began 10 years ago, Dr. Kohn tried to crack the code of Darwin’s handwriting.More.
Instantly explosive when it was published in 1859, the book is still viewed as the keystone of evolutionary biology. Legions of scientists remain devoted to its text and to the observations that went into its preparation.
Is the sacred text yet covered by anti-blasphemy laws?
Note:
“We love cool problem-solving under the dinosaur tail,” said Jin Chung, a software engineer at eBay. “You’re looking at a piece of history. We’re even touching the Darwin artifacts themselves.”
Sort of like a first-class relic, one guesses.
See also: And they say Darwinism isn’t a religion
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Hagiography: