Groundbreaking human evolution book launch to kick start Imperial's Darwin bicentenary celebrations

A new book by eminent Darwin historians, which will revolutionise our understanding of Darwin's path to human evolution, will be launched at Imperial College London on Monday 9 February 2009.

'Darwin's Sacred Cause: Race slavery and the quest for human origins', written by Adrian Desmond and James Moore, gives a completely new explanation of how Darwin came to his shattering views on human origins.

Journalists and members of the public are invited to attend the book launch, which takes place at 6pm in the Great Hall on Imperial's South Kensington campus - see ticket details below.

The event will feature a talk by the authors, followed by a discussion session where members of the audience will be invited to put questions both to the authors. The debate will be chaired by Dr Olivia Judson, an Imperial College research fellow and bestselling author of 'Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation'. The book launch is co-hosted by Imperial College London and Penguin Books.

'Darwin's Sacred Cause' restores the moral core of Darwin's work by recovering its lost historical context. The authors say that racial evolution is the key: Darwin abhorred slavery - his 'sacred cause' was abolition - and developed his theories to show that all races are united by descent.

Through massive detective work among unpublished Darwin letters, unplumbed family correspondence and newly discovered Darwin reading lists, as well as diaries, ships' logs, and dozens of official documents and rare contemporary works on race relations and humans origins, the authors back up their claim that Darwin began his career committed to the unity of the human family.

The public event on 9 February kicks off a programme of staff and student celebrations marking Darwin's bicentenary at the College, organised by Imperial evolutionary biologist, author and science television presenter, Professor Armand Leroi.

Professor Leroi says that Imperial has close links with Darwin's work, not least because many of the College's current biologists are carrying out world-leading research in the fields of evolutionary biology and ecology which develops and expands on Darwin's 150 year old ideas.

Previously, the Victorian biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, one of Darwin's peers, collaborators and staunch defenders, was a professor in the Royal School of Mines, one of the founding Colleges of Imperial. Adrian Desmond, one of the authors of 'Darwin's Sacred Cause' has previously written a biography of Huxley, who was known as Darwin's "bulldog."

Professor Leroi said: "I'm delighted that two such renowned Darwin experts are launching 'Darwin's Sacred Cause' at Imperial during the week of international celebrations of his bicentenary. The event promises to be an evening of lively debate, discussion and discovery as the authors, Dr Judson and the audience undertake a groundbreaking re-evaluation of Darwin's science and ideas."

Attendance at the event is by ticket only. Tickets are free and can be booked in advance by contacting Imperial's Events team on: [email protected]