HENRY

A great list from Swarthmore College:

Here is the exhibit I want my zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo, to feature at the entrance:

Bronze replicas of a fish (in artificial pond), an early amphibian, an early mammal, an early primate, and several lineages of hominids, all arranged on top of bronze phylogentic “tree” inlaid into the sidewalk. Humans are not displayed, but their proper phylogenetic position is denoted by bronze footprints next to a plaque that says, “Stand here for photo op.” Such an exhibit would attract national attention, and would be loved by all. Of course, most visitors would stand next to the Neanderthal statue, looking dumb, but it would initiate “conversations” about human origins by every single visitor to the zoo, which means millions of people (especially school kids on field trips). The exhibit would help persuade people that humans are, indeed, evolved from non-human ancestors, a fact that is currently accepted by only 12% of U.S. adults. Sure, the exhibit would probably cost $120,000, but I bet it would pay for itself in 3 years.

Posted on July 30th, 2008 by Simon Greenhill