Image of a marble sculpture depicting a woman receiving a kiss from a winged man

Detail of the sculpture "Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss" by Canova • Photo by Jean-Pol Grandmont (CC BY 4.0)

Mouths. I want to write about mouths. These lips I caress with my fingertip. These teeth I bare. This tongue, curled and soft like a bear in its den. This throat, strung with the instruments of speech.

Statue honoring Charles Darwin at the Natural History Museum, London • Photo by Hulki Okan Tabak on Unsplash

Evolution was, and is, a great notion

By Chet Raymo

In Evolution

Tuesday, 18 October 2022Thursday, 13 October 2022

What was the greatest scientific idea of all time?

Black-and-white photographs of Annie Darwin and Charles Darwin

Annie and Charles Darwin

Darwin and his daughter

By Chet Raymo

In Evolution

Wednesday, 21 September 2022Friday, 2 September 2022

Perhaps no other scientist has attracted more biographers than Charles Darwin. And deservedly so. No other scientist has had a more profound effect on how we understand ourselves and our place in nature.

Photo by Raphael Wild on Unsplash

Plants that eat animals: They’re out there

By Chet Raymo

In Evolution

Friday, 26 August 2022Friday, 19 August 2022

Animals eat plants. So, why don’t plants eat animals?

Image of a large group of conical snail shells

Shells of the snail genus Cerion---an intense subject of study for Gould • Photo by James St. John (CC BY2.0)

Gould’s last book is fitting epitaph

By Chet Raymo

In Evolution

Monday, 8 August 2022Thursday, 4 August 2022

As it turned out, I was reading Stephen Jay Gould’s monumental new tome, “The Structure of Evolutionary Theory,” when I heard of his death from cancer last week at age 60.

Image of a human anatomical model with the inner organs exposed

Photo by Kevin Kandlbinder on Unsplash

Intelligent design happens naturally

By Chet Raymo

In Evolution

Thursday, 4 August 2022Friday, 21 October 2022

What a jumble! I’m sitting in a doctor’s examining room waiting for a checkup. On the wall is a poster chart of the human digestive system. The first thing I’m reminded of is my sock and underwear drawer.