Darwin and the galaxies

About the lecture

Darwin was one of the greatest revolutionaries of human thought. His theory on the origin of species was a genuine intellectual shock, the culmination of Enlightenment thought, with consequences we still feel today. He lived for 80 years during the 19th century, a privileged witness to the Victorian era and to the remarkable scientific progress in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom. He saw astronomy turn into astrophysics and admired great astronomers of his time. But what was Darwin's relationship with this science? And beyond that, can there be any parallel between the evolution of species and that of celestial objects?

This talk offers a fascinating stroll through the “evolutionary science” of the universe, exploring the idea of astronomical species.

Text of the official description published by IAA-CSIC on YouTube.