Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going? Today, few expressions in the culture of human thought have the iconic stature, as well as the emptive power, as the word ôevolutionö has. Though commonly regarded as a by-product solely of modern-day science, the concept of evolution is an ingrained feature of representations of life and nature in the visual arts. Both the work of the artist and the work or the scientist have come to bear on the meaning or human origin, of human existence, and of human fate. The worldwide celebration simultaneously of the 200th anniversary, of Charles DarwinÆs birth and of the 150th anniversary of the publication, of his grand opus. On the Origin of Species, provides the motivation for renewed dialogue between artists and scientists on the significance of the idea of evolution. The present volume documents an online symposium, Visual Culture and Evolution, which was moderated by Kevin Finneran and hosted by the Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences, Johns Hopkins University's Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program, and the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A distinguished panel of artists, curators, scientists, historians, educators, media theorists, and critics participated in a lively, informative, and synergistic discourse at the interface of art and science. Opening interviews by famed bio-artist Eduardo Kac and Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist E.O. Wilson set the stage for the symposium. If every there was a subject of controversy today that is in need of communication and unification across the disciplines, it is ôevolution.ö The virtual symposium recorded here stands as a wonderfully engaging conversation on this timeless topic. Book jacket.