Sunday Stamps # 74

To celebrate the Transit of Venus, let's share astronomy stamps, or science stamps, or stamps of scientists. I do not have astronomy stamps, at least not handy, but I do have stamps of a famous scientist.

Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) is perhaps most famous for his book the On Origin of Species but he wrote many other works. According to Wikipedia "His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author."..."In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil." Yes earthworms.  He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

A few years ago, during the celebrations of 200 years since Darwin's birth, I was joking with a scientific colleague of mine.  "So, Dr. M., you are almost 50, about when Darwin published On the Origin of Species.  And hey, Barack Obama was under 50 when he became president, and won a Nobel Peace Prize.  What have you done lately?"  "Speak for yourself," he replied. "You are almost 50 too!"

Please join me in this celebration of Science and Scientists.

Theme next week:  Food and drink of all sorts.  Also: keep your eyes open for Olympics stamps, to be featured later in July.

Viridian