Class News

Sam Francis ’64 on “Evolution ... from Soup to Nuts”

March 5, 2024

Sam Francis ’64 writes:

Here’s an 84-minute presentation I created on a subject which recently interested me, the history of life and the story of evolution. It’s a narrated slideshow with videos, the same genre I used when I gave Kaleidoscope talks at our 50th and 55th reunions. I will give an abbreviated version of this talk at our 60th reunion on May 25, 2024.

The first of these reunion talks described the history of the universe, starting with the Big Bang. That talk was titled “A Universe From Nothing.”

The second reunion talk was on the nature of objective truth, the fallacies of common sense, the illusions of pseudoscience and alternative medicine, and the importance of skepticism and evidence. That talk, inspired by Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign for the presidency, was titled “Facts Matter.”

Now here's a talk about what I know (or think I know) about the evolution of life on Earth, from its origin to its extinction. This talk is titled “Evolution ... from Soup to Nuts.” I suggest that you watch in full-screen mode. To do so, after you’ve started the video, click the icon at the lower right shaped like an interrupted square.