Happy Birthday, Charles!

NOVA salutes Charles Darwin on his 200th birthday

Evolution determines who lives, who dies, and who passes traits onto the next generation. The process plays an essential role in our daily lives, yet 200 years after Darwin's birth, and 150 years after the debut of The Origin of Species, evolution is still among the least understood of all scientific theories.

NOVA has traveled the world to examine evolutionary science. In 2001, our eight-hour television miniseries Evolution, made in collaboration with Vulcan Productions, delved into Darwin's life and the profound effect his theory had on our society and our understanding of the natural world. Then, in 2007, NOVA captured the turmoil that tore the community of Dover, Pennsylvania apart in the Peabody Award-winning Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial.

In the fall of 2009, to celebrate Darwin's 200th birthday, NOVA will kick off seven new hours of programming over five weeks—highlighting the past, present, and future of evolution. The series will offer a radically fresh approach by focusing on the key questions of what makes us human. The result will be a uniquely exciting glimpse of a field in the midst of unprecedented discoveries and revolutionary new conclusions.