Human Origins
Whitehead Spring Lecture Series for High School Students
April 18-20, 2006
"The great insight of Charles Darwin was that
all organisms are related in a great chain of being
extending from the distant past to the present. The
Darwinian principle that organisms vary randomly and
the fittest are then selected by the forces of their
environment guides biological thinking to this day."—Harvey Lodish et al, Molecular Cell Biology
The process of evolution is responsible for both the
remarkable similarities and amazing diversities we see
across all life—but how exactly does it work,
and what does it say about what makes us human?
During the 2006 Whitehead Spring Lecture Series for
High School Students, participants learned how Whitehead
researchers and other experts are exploring the science
of human origins.
Speakers included Whitehead Institute’s Jennifer
Hughes, Broad Institute’s Tarjei Mikkelsen and
Harvard University's Richard Wrangham. The event also
included a panel discussion on the controversy of teaching
Darwinism in public schools, laboratory tours (Whitehead
and off-site labs), and lunch with young Whitehead scientists.
