In the continuing battles between creationists and evolutionists, DNA expert Sean Carroll is strengthening the case that evolution is a natural law, as unassailable as the theory of gravity. Carroll will speak Thursday, March 29, at Ingram Hall on the Vanderbilt University campus.
Carroll helped develop the science of “evo devo” – or evolutionary developmental biology – which examines the relationships between embryonic development and evolutionary changes.
His groundbreaking book, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, was published in 2005 to rave reviews. In it and his new book, Making of the Fittest, Carroll makes his case for how the transformation from embryo to adult and the evolution from worm to man can be explained through the biology of genes.
Carroll is professor of molecular biology and genetics and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Wisconsin. His research has centered on the genes that control animal body patterns and play major roles in the evolution of animal diversity. Major discoveries from his laboratory have been featured in TIME, US News & World Report, The New York Times, Discover and Natural History.
Carroll has received the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award, the Shaw Scientist Award of the Milwaukee Foundation, numerous honorary lectureships and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was named as one of America’s most promising leaders under 40 by TIME Magazine in 1994.
The event will begin at 6 p.m., preceded by a complimentary reception at 5 p.m. in Ingram Hall at the Blair School of Music. This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required, but seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-seated basis. Parking will be available in South Garage at 24th Avenue South and Children’s Way.
Video of the lecture will be Webcast from VUCast, Vanderbilt’s news network, www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
The speech is part of the 2006-2007 Chancellor’s Lecture Series. The Chancellor’s Lecture Series serves to bring to Vanderbilt and the wider Nashville community intellectuals who are shaping the world today. For more information about the Chancellor’s Lecture Series, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/chancellor/cls.
Media Contact: Melissa Pankake, (615) 322-NEWS
melissa.r.pankake@vanderbilt.edu