October 14, 2008
What Can Lucy Teach Us?
The west coast premiere of Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia is at Pacific Science Center now through March 8, 2009. Come face-to-face with the world’s most famous fossil Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis (say that three times fast), an ancestor to humans in the course of evolution. Through the display of over 100 artifacts spanning over 200,000 years, visitors can experience Ethiopia, Lucy's homeland.
The Burke Museum is hosting a series of lectures that take an in-depth look at human evolution, forensic anthropology and the challenges of fossil conservation. The series culminates in a not-to-be-missed lecture to be given by Dr. Donald Johanson, the scientist who discovered Lucy in 1974.The first lecture is this coming Thursday, October 16 at 7 pm. Dr. Mark Collard’s talk titled “From Lucy to lactose: The Evolution of Human Adaptation” will discuss how humans have evolved and adapted to a changing world from the emergence of the hominid lineage to the present day.
Tickets are still available for this and other talks in this series. All lectures are held at the Pacific Science Center, Eames Auditorium, with the exception of Dr. Johanson’s lecture, which will be held at UW’s Kane Hall. You can purchase tickets through the Pacific Science Center in person, by calling 1-888-772-8491, or online. Burke Member prices range from free to $10 (plus service charges). For more information visit our Web site.
Here’s a little tease for upcoming lectures:
November 13, 2008: Dr. Katherine Taylor – “Looking Through Time: How modern methods are shedding new light on old bones”
December 11, 2008: Drs. Nancy Odegaard and Vicki Cassman – “Travels with Lucy-or how to pack when you’re over 3 million years old”
January 8, 2009: Dr. Patricia Kramer – “Lucy Walks: Functional morphology and the evolution of bipedalism”
February 5, 2009: Dr. Donald Johanson – “Lucy’s Legacy”