University of Cambridge

The 'International Cafe Scientifique' will be presented by the University, The British Council, and the Natural History Museum, Rijeka.

The event will take place at The Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Cambridge, where the audience will be joined by audiences from Zagreb and Rijeka in Croatia where the British Council's 'Darwin Now' Project is currently touring.

Dr Paul White, an editor of The Darwin Correspondence Project will be speaking on the topic of 'Darwin and Wallace' and the relationship between the two men.

The Darwin Correspondence Project, founded in 1974, includes published transcripts of letters written from and to Darwin. UK researchers are based in Cambridge University Library.

The Café Scientifique will look closely at the relationship between Darwin and Wallace and explain how Darwin won the 'evolution race'.

Both men were noted to have developed a similar theory to each other, with many believing that Wallace's discovery of natural selection was overshadowed by his contemporary, Darwin.

The facilitator will be Dr Helen Scales, writer, broadcaster and conservation biologist.

She is a presenter on the BBC radio show 'The Naked Scientists' and panelist on BBC Radio 4's Home Planet.

The Wallace Exhibition: 'The forgotten Evolutionist', is being held at the Museum of Zoology and runs until 8th February 2010, it brings together Wallace's surviving collections from the 19th century.

The International Café Scientifique will begin at 6:30pm, admission is free and booking is not required.

Refreshments will be provided.

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For more information please contact the Event Manager, Michael Murphy at: Michael.murphy@britishcouncil.org

Reproduced courtesy University of Cambridge Office of Communications