his year, we celebrate two hundred years since the birth of Charles Darwin (1809-1882), one of the world's most creative and influential thinkers, and one hundred and fifty years since the publication of his 1859 book On the Origin of Species. Charles Darwin presented compelling evidence that all living species have evolved over millions of years from a few ancestors through the process he termed natural selection. In 1831, Darwin set out on a British scientific expedition around the world. In South America Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that were similar to modern living species. On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. Darwin visited many places around the world collecting specimens to further his studies. and Stanislav Komárek.
Ve Dvořákově síni pražského Rudolfina se 16. června 2015 konal koncert Komorního orchestru Akademie Praha (KOA). Členové orchestru, z nichž někteří jsou či byli pracovníky Akademie věd ČR, jej věnovali 125. výročí vzniku Akademie věd, na jejíž půdě se toto těleso před čtvrt stoletím zrodilo a s jejíž podporou soustavně rozvíjí zájmovou uměleckou činnost. Na programu večera byla dvě vrcholná díla světové hudební tvorby: Beethovenův Klavírní koncert č. 5, Es dur „Císařský“, op. 73, a Dvořákova Symfonie č. 8, G dur „Anglická“, op. 88, k jejichž provedení byl při této slavnostní příležitosti orchestr rozšířen do rozměrů symfonických. and Jan Hrdlička.
An international philosophical conference Jan Patočka 1907-1977 between 22nd-28th April 2007 was dedicated to the most important Czech philosopher of the 20th century. The symposium, honoring this victim of the communist regime and student of Professors Husserl and Heidegger, took place in Karolinum, seat of the Charles University rectorate. Scholars from around the world explored Jan Patočka´s work and the significance of its continuing influence on contemporary philosophy. Simultaneously, the Husserl Circle held its 37th meeting, the first time on European soil. and Jan Frei.
To mark the 40th death anniversary of František Dvorník, one of the eminent twentieth-century experts in Slavic and Byzantine history and in relations between the churches of Rome and Constantinople, the Institute of Slavonic Studies of the CAS organized the international symposium entitled Francis Dvorník: Scholar and His Work at villa Lanna in Prague. The conference was also included in the events celebrating the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts. On September 10, 2015, the Institute of Slavonic studies of the CAS and the editorial board of Byzantinoslavica organized (also on the occasion of the 40th death anniversary of Francis Dvorník) an international workshop Lives, Roles and Actions of the Byzantine Empresses (4th-15th c.). and Martina Čechová.
Questions concerning the 1989 democratic revolutions and the collapse of "real socialism" in East Central Europe were a highlight of an international conference in Prague organized by two AS CR Institutes. The conference’s aim was to historicize the democratic revolutions of 1989, moving beyond the dominant "transitological" understanding of these revolutions in terms of the "End of Communism" and the "Beginning of Democracy." These were questions discussed: "Did these revolutions and the end of "real socialism" signal the end of revolutionary regimes and the beginning of a "restoration," or rather the replacement of worn-out communist revolutions with a new, neoliberal revolution? Or, considering the nonviolent character of the events, did they really constitute a revolution at all?" It was observed that modern political identities and ideological currents are marked by their attitudes toward the pheno-menon of revolution and toward various historical revolutionary models. Other themes were, "Democratic, Liberal, or Neoliberal Revolution? Dissent, Post-Dissent, and the Ideas of 1989. The End of History or the End of the Future? Theories of Soviet-type Society. The Second Life of the 1968 Prague Spring in 1989." Hosting the conference were the Department for the Study of Late Socialism and Post-Socialism of the Institute of Contemporary History ASCR and the Department for the Study of Modern Czech Philosophy of the Philosophy Institute ASCR, held October 2-3, 2014 at the Villa Lana. and Petr Kužel.