Come Join the Free “Evolution Revolution” At Secret Science Club

July 13, 2009 by Jeffrey L. Wilson

It’s not very often that one can claim to have to chatted with with a living embodiment of history – - unless you’re Snoop Dogg or Talib Kweli, of course. So when the opportunity emerges, you have to reach out, grab it firmly (yet gently), and pull it close to bosom. This Tuesday you can encounter living, breathing history at the Bell House, where Donald Johansen, discovery of world-changing Lucy skeleton, will lecture about human evolution. On the agenda:

In 1974 paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered the bones of Lucy—a 3.2-million-year-old early hominid—in the Afar region of Ethiopia. With about 40 percent of Lucy’s skeleton intact, she represented a new species, Australopithecus afarensis.

The founding director of the Institute for Human Origins, professor of paleoanthropology at Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and author of the just-published Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins, Dr. Johanson joins the Secret Science Club to discuss his historic find and the latest discoveries in human evolution:

–How many hominid species existed prior to humans—or even co-existed with humans? What were their habitats and behaviors?

–When did hominids begin to walk? When did big brains develop?

–Have fossil hunters located the common ancestor of humans and chimps?

–Why is Homo sapiens the only hominid species that survives?

After the lecture there will be music, drinks, and all around merriment. The Evolution Revolution kicks off on Tuesday, July 14, 8 p.m. at the Bell House (149 7th St., between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

Subway: F to 4th Ave; R to 9th St; F or G to Smith/9th

Catchya there, nerds!

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