I recently attended a talk entitled “Darwin in the Garden” in honor of the 150-year anniversary of Darwin’s seminal book The Origin of the Species. While the talk didn’t turn out to be anything newsworthy from a reporting standpoint, it was certainly interesting.
The talk was part of a series put on by the Research Scholars and Residents Program. The members of this group, made up of retired physicists, biologists, engineers and mathematicians, have an active interest in education and volunteer their time to Cal Poly, almost for free; in return, they get a place to research and students to work with. They oversee senior projects, run experiments and give lectures.
One of those members, Bob Field, a retired aerospace engineer who previously designed missile defense systems, was giving the talk on Darwin. This might seem odd, and indeed it is. But Field quickly put out any doubts about a lack of biological knowledge.
As Susan Opava, the dean of research and graduate programs put it, “I think he knows more about (general) biology than I do, and I’m a biologist.”
Field is a quintessential science character with his small stature, large glasses and thinning comb-over, not to mention his strong, curious scientific demeanor. As soon as be began going through his slides it was clear he had done his homework and then some. He ranged from the difference between euphorbia and succulents to the difference between moss and lichens and back again.
But Field was never afraid to ask a question to the audience when he felt his knowledge lacked. Many times he asked the audience if someone knew more detail about a theory or a species. When someone brought up another idea, he would entertain it, discuss it and then elaborate upon it.
Multiple times he joked, “Now, again, I can make this hypothesis here because I’m not a real biologist.”
Field joked throughout the presentation, keeping the audience laughing and involved in between detailed scientific explanations. He said he once gave a evolution presentation on Valentine’s Day once because “biology is all about relationships.”
His jokes and theories kept the standing-room only audience in the small room on the fifth floor of the library entertained and informed.
I’ll be attending a Research Scholars and Residents Program lecture in the future.