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Announcing the release of
The Evolutionary Epic
Science's Story and Humanity's Response

Contact: Jocelyn Godfrey
Spiritus Communications, Inc.
(919)732-554
info@spirituscommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 1, 2009 

47 Physical and Social Scientists, Interdisciplinary Scholars, Storytellers, and Artists Collaborate to Update and Respond to the Evolutionary Epic—Science’s Story of Our Origins 

Santa Margarita, CA – The year 2009 has been called “The Year of Darwin,” as it brings the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and the 150th anniversary of the release of On the Origin of Species.  

As a contribution to this milestone, a 2008 conference held in Hawaii to discuss science’s story of the origins of the universe has led to a new book, The Evolutionary Epic: Science’s Story and Humanity’s Response, providing a collaborative update and response to the science-driven “story” of our origins.  

The Evolutionary Epic pulls from diverse disciplines, providing essays by 47 pioneering scholars that update and respond to the evolutionary story and are written for the specialist and lay person alike. The text varies from narrative, to research, to poetry, with such renowned contributors as Brian Swimme, Russ Genet, Loyal Rue, and Ursula Goodenough, famed pioneers in the development of the epic of evolution. 

“As a scientist, I had never attended a conference which merged science: astronomy, geology, anthropology, and materials, with the humanities and the arts: history, poetry, songs, and paintings,” states Stephen L. Sass, Professor Emeritus, Materials Science and Engineering, at Cornell University. “Exploring the history of the universe, the place of Earth and humans in it, and humanity’s multi-dimensional responses, ultimately speaks to some of today’s biggest problems, among them, sustainability and global climate change.” 

Creation stories are known to have been essential to all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history, providing a context for mankind's existence, and a “map” upon which humans view themselves. Sweeping new research in the past century has, however, fueled a need to “update” the story. In the 1950s, new dating methods shifted the evolutionary timeline. What once was thought to have taken a few thousand years, or as many as countless billions of years, is now known to have taken 4.5 billion years. Increased dating accuracy has provided not only more detail to the story, but also a need to collaborate across disciplines to compile a more comprehensive account. 

 “A conference like this would not have been necessary if the evolutionary epic had been widely known,” states world historian David Christian, who introduces the book. 

Such a discussion provokes both answers and additional questions, which are tackled in The Evolutionary Epic. As Christian asks, “How can it best be told? How can we link the science with the spirit? How can the story be acted out, re-told, and taught so that this power is palpable? What meaning does the story contain for humans today? How can we link the science that underpins so much in our society with our personal experience of life as felt and experienced?”

The Evolutionary Epic is published by Collins Foundation Press, which seeks to provide leadership in humanity’s efforts to live sustainably on earth. Their future Humanity Participants’ Conferences,  inspired by Russ Genet’s latest book, Humanity: The Chimpanzees Who Would Be Ants, will expand upon this discussion, with the next event, “Science, Wisdom, and the Future,” to be held June 24-28, 2009, in San Luis Obispo, California. See www.collinsfoundationpress.com or www.ScienceandWisdom09.org for more information, or to purchase this or another related books, or, sign up for a conference.

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