Darwin debate rages on 150 years after 'Origin'

PARIS/LONDON: Even 150 years after it first appeared in print, Charles Darwin's On The Origin of Species still fuels clashes between scientists convinced of its truth and critics who reject its view of life without a creator.

This "Darwin Year" - so named because Feb 12 was the 200th anniversary of the British naturalist's birth and Nov 24 the 150th anniversary of his book - has seen a flood of books, articles and conferences debating his theory of evolution. Chinese television is currently airing a documentary series.

While many covered well-trodden ground, some have taken new paths. But no consensus is in sight, probably because Darwinian evolution is both a powerful scientific theory describing how life forms develop through natural selection and a basis for philosophies and social views that often include atheism.