NCAS's monthly free talk will take place this Saturday, February 14,
1:30 PM at the National Science Foundation, room 110.  The NSF address
is 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.  As always, full info can be
found at www.ncas.org .

This talk, presented by Dr. Dennis McBride, first reviews some of the
least known but important elements of Charles Darwin’s portfolio as he
published “Origins” in 1859, and “Descent of Man” in 1871. (For
example, Darwin was, fortunately for us, very prone to sea sickness.)
Focusing on the evolution of humanity and on natural selection’s
counterpart, sexual selection, Darwin’s 1871 book re-fueled a
firestorm, one that still burns today. Poll numbers show that a
significant proportion of today’s population does not accept Darwinism
as applied to humans. Darwin foresaw and actually embraced this
resistance. More importantly, a significant proportion of adults,
including academics, accept human evolution but eschew the idea of a
DNA-supported (i.e., not genetically determined) “human nature.” At
least three evolved characteristics of human evolution make the species
very different from its closest relatives: the opposable thumb,
bipedalism, and the encephalized brain (which increased in size by a
factor of 3 over the past few million years). Dr. McBride will touch on
interesting examples of evolved human nature, including pregnancy
sickness and male preference for mates with certain waist/hip ratios.
With these, we will examine the way in which the realities of
bipedalism and encephalization explain birth-related injury, and how
this consideration undermines one of the most troublesome socio-legal
myths of our time: the myth of shaken baby syndrome.

Dennis K.
McBride, Ph.D. is Academic President of the Potomac Institute for
Policy Studies, a Washington area think tank dedicated to the provision
of science and technology policy expertise to the administration,
congress, and the judiciary. Members of the Institute remain actively
engaged in the scientific disciplines for which they provide expertise.
McBride is an evolutionary psychologist with an extensive background in
the science of human evolution. His most recent book, Quantifying Human
Information Processing (Rowman & Littlefield) is followed by a soon
to be released, co-authored treatment of Best Available Science. As an
active adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University’s medical school
and Public Policy Institute, he has also held appointments as professor
in colleges of engineering and arts and sciences.

The NSF is one
block south of the Ballston-Marymount University metro stop on the
Orange Line. For most drivers the easiest route is to exit Route 66
onto Fairfax Dr. eastbound to N. Stuart Street. Enter the NSF building
at the corner of N. Stuart Street and 9th St. N. Parking is available
in the Ballston Common mall, in the NSF building, and at other area
parking lots and garages. Metered parking is also available on the
surrounding streets.