2009 was a great year for the promotion of science. It happened to be a culmination of several major scientific anniversaries, each with there own celebration of sorts. It was the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and 150th anniversary of his publication of the On the Origin of Species. There has been Darwin Day celebrations around Darwin’s birthday for several years but last years unique milestone resulted in a much wider celebration then usual. Sacramento did its part by hosting its 12th annual Darwin Day event with featured speaker Michael Shermer of the Skeptics Society. 2009 was labeled as the International Year of Astronomy by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 2009 was marked to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s observations of the moons of Jupiter though a telescope, the first documented astronomical use of a telescope; furthermore, it was 400th anniversary the publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia Nova, the seminal work documenting planetary motion.

It is important that we keep the momentum of science promotion from 2009 into this year. There are efforts in the astronomy community to keep many of the celebrations alive and well through 2010. A great example of this is the 365 Days of Astronomy project, which had an astronomy podcast for each day of 2009. It was so popular that it has been extended through this year as well!

On February 7, 2010 many Sacramento groups are coming together for the Charles Darwin’s 201st birthday and Sacramento’s 13th annual celebration of it. This years Darwin Day guest speaker will be Dr. Andrew J. Marshall who will give a presentation on “How Conservation Depends on Evolutionary Biology: Examples from Borneo’s Rain Forest”.

2009 also saw the creation of Carl Sagan Day, celebrating the late astronomer and science popularizer’s birthday. The plan is that this will become an annual event, much like Darwin Day. The Sacramento Area Skeptics want to see this event succeed and may host its own Carl Sagan Day this November.