A Shared Walk over the Quantock Hills in Somerset. Saturday 19 June 2010
Charles Darwin and the tree of life
Charles Darwin opened a notebook in 1837 and began to record his emerging ideas on ‘the species question’. He labeled this notebook, Transmutation of Species. On page 36 he sketched a Tree of Life with ‘I think ’ written above it: Twenty-two years later, he set out his theory of evolution by natural selection to the public in On the Origin of Species which has become regarded ...
About the trail.
The Ancestor's Trail (Saturday 19 June) will trace the course of Evolution by following footpaths representing the branches of Charles Darwin's Tree of Life. This "pilgrimage" is a shared experience organised by humanists to celebrate the simple and ingenious truth that all life on Earth is related through evolution. Although we claim this as a shared experience for non-religious people; becaus...
The Ancestor’s Tale
Richard Dawkins' 2004 popular science book, The Ancestor's Tale, is loosely modelled on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Instead of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury, Dawkin's protagonists are living species, journeying back through evolutionary time. In real time, individual species diverged and speciated. But in the backwards time of The Ancestor's Tale, separate species start the jou...
Feedback and photos 2010
Whether you came on the day, or were just interested in the event, please fill in our feedback questionnaire. Some folks asked us to repeat the venture next year and we have been encouraged to go for a grant. Our initial grant enquiries recommend feedback from participants, so please open this link, fill in the questionnaire and press submit: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGd1...
Our thinking…
Imagine, if you will, the evolutionary tree of life, its branches bristling resplendent with countless leaves, each representing a single species of life on earth. A simple enough analogy, but there is no denying the potent truth sparkling within Darwin’s original  sketchbook scribble. A truth that has changed forever our perception of who we are. Our ‘human leaf’ flutters beside all the...

Charles Darwin and the tree of life

Charles Darwin opened a notebook in 1837 and began to record his emerging ideas on ‘the species question’. He labeled this notebook, Transmutation of Species. On page 36 he ske ...Read More

About the trail.

The Ancestor's Trail (Saturday 19 June) will trace the course of Evolution by following footpaths representing the branches of Charles Darwin's Tree of Life. This "pilgrimage" is a shared ...Read More

The Ancestor’s Tale

Richard Dawkins' 2004 popular science book, The Ancestor's Tale, is loosely modelled on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Instead of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury, Dawkin's protagonists are ...Read More

Feedback and photos 2010

Whether you came on the day, or were just interested in the event, please fill in our feedback questionnaire. Some folks asked us to repeat the venture next year and we have been encouraged ...Read More

Support


“A wonderfully imaginative, inspired idea!”
– Professor Richard Dawkins


“A brisk walk to the origin of life - who could hope for a better destination?”
– Professor Steve Jones

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Ancestor’s Trail

This event is a project by members of Taunton Humanists and has been supported by the British Humanist Association.
Ancestor's Trail
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