Thursdays

3:30 - 5:00 p.m. EST

In-person, St. James Place, Great Barrington, MA

4/13, 4/20, 4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18

Six Sessions 

Limit: 25

More powerful than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose hour has come; evolution is one of the greatest of ideas. After an introduction to the Darwinian idea, as expressed in The Origin of Species, the course will examine its roots and ramifications, its glories and corruptions, its promises and passions. We’ll consider, among Darwin’s intellectual predecessors, the contributions of Carl Linnaeus, Thomas Malthus, Georges Cuvier, Charles Lyell; and among the modern contributors Gregor Johann Mendel, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin. The only prerequisite is an open mind and the willingness to give it voice amongst your fellow students.

Steven Somkin is a retired physician who has ever been fascinated by The Theory of Evolution and its relevance to the contemporary world. This led him to become a docent at the American Museum of Natural History, with a special interest in the fossil evidence for evolution. Somkin has taught OLLI courses on the Greek tragedians, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; he has also taught a course on the Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. He is an award-winning, published playwright; his work has been produced in New York City and, occasionally, in the Berkshires. Last degree: M.D., from Tufts University School of Medicine.

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