#  Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **September 27, 2017** 

 06:00PM - 06:00PM EDT 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street**  



 

 



 

   ![Photo of Jonathan Losos](/sites/g/files/omnuum4986/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/hmnh/files/loso_improbable_destinies.jpg?itok=xZAkYxDM) 

 

 **Free Public Lecture and Book Signing**

 **Jonathan Losos, Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America; Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; Curator in Herpetology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University**

 Nature abounds with instances of convergence: structures or adaptations that have evolved independently, multiple times. But evolutionary biologists, most notably Harvard’s Stephen Jay Gould, also point out examples of contingency, cases where the tiniest change—a random mutation or an ancient butterfly sneeze—caused evolution to take a different course. What role does each force play in the natural world? Are today’s plants, animals and humans, inevitabilities or evolutionary flukes? Jonathan Losos will discuss these questions and more as he presents content from his new book *Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution.*

 The *Evolution Matters* Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.

 Free parking is available at the [52 Oxford Street Garage](https://www.google.com/maps/place/52%20Oxford%20St,%20Harvard%20University,%20Cambridge,%20MA%2002138/@42.3801645,-71.1153057,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e37740a3c56959:0xe17bf20973449411).

 Related Online Exhibit: *[Islands Evolving in Isolation](http://islands.hmnh.harvard.edu/)*



 

 



 

 See also:- [ Public Lectures ](/programs-audience/lectures)
- [ Evolution Matters Lecture Series ](/lecture-series/evolution-matters-lecture-series)
 
 

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