I really appreciated Dale’s talk. I learned a lot of interesting details related to paleontology that I had previously not known. For example, that mastodon were more common in Ohio than mammoths, or that Peale, who painted many portraits of George Washington, was also a paleontologist. His advice on where to see various important paleontological specimens in Paris and London, and in the US, was very interesting to me, and I will likely be taking his advice when we go abroad in March. I am especially looking forward to seeing all of the the hall of fossil mounts in the Paris Museum of Comparative Anatomy & Paleontology.

Last week, when Jan Weisenberger came in and talked about different all the different faculty with their accomplishments, blew me away. No matter how big or small an innovation was, Ohio States’ accomplishments have really shaped the way life is today. From its very origin to even today. The two stories that stood out to me were first the women’s research trip to Antarctica. I never knew about that and the fact that there was so much pressure on the women to succeed was insane. If they messed up then this could have hurt women scientists and researchers’ reputations and could have lost respect due to women being looked down on. I also was surprised by the fact that students and faculty from Ohio State came up with the way drum sticks are able to keep their ice cream from leaking through the cone. By adding hard shell chocolate in the inside to create a seal, it tremendously helped the drum stick company.

I found Dr. Anelli’s discussion of the historical context of Darwin’s work very interesting. I was somewhat aware of the background, but there was a lot I didn’t know or hadn’t really considered seriously before. For example, I was aware generally of the “Great Chain of Being” idea, but had assumed that it was some sort of Medieval Christian idea. I wasn’t aware that it was an idea that traced its roots all the way back to Aristotle. Also, I was not familiar with John Ray or Rev. William Paley, especially how many modern creationist arguments trace their roots back to these two. It was interesting to me that Darwin was initially a follower of Paley’s, but makes sense in that looking for “God’s hand” in nature seems very compatible with a more general awe of, and fascination with, nature.

Prior to watching the movie and attending Dr. Anelli’s lecture, I was familiar with Darwin’s work with “On the Origin of Species”; however, I did not realize the societal implications his work had until Dr. Anelli’s very informative talk. I really appreciated that she took the time to explain Darwin’s history and early influences, such as Hutton and Paley. This allowed me to have more context regarding Darwin’s work and why his findings were so controversial during that time. I also liked that we discussed Darwin’s home and personal life and how that was impacted by his research. After Dr. Anelli’s lecture, I have a much deeper appreciation for Darwin and the sacrifices he made for his work.

Dr. Anelli’s talk was very insightful into the “inter-workings of Darwin”. I feel that we most often learn about Darwin in the context of his book “On The Origin of the Species”. Before watching starting this class, to me Darwin was the guy who developed the theory of evolution based on his observations of finches while traveling aboard the HMS Beagle. Both the movie and Dr. Anelli added more context the world Darwin was living in as well as how much work went into writing his famous book. A lot of Darwin’s work was based on some of the revolutionary ideas of the period, including the work on the rock cycle and the old age of Earth done by Hutton. This work was expanded upon by Lyell, a contemporary of Darwin. I also enjoyed learning about Darwin’s relationship with his wife and children. To me, it seems like he loved his children and encouraged them to think for themselves and to be as curious about the world as he was.