Silver Spring, MD — Written and presented by bestselling author and Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins, The Genius of Charles Darwin debuts on home video on November 3, 2009. Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species’s publication and the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, this brilliant three-part series examines evolution and its legacy. Dawkins confronts Darwin’s doubters head-on, explaining natural selection in clear, straightforward terms and exploring its implications for human behavior. Winner of the “Best Documentary Series” at the British Broadcast Awards 2009, the series is available to U.S. audiences for the first time with its DVD release. Bonus features include a bonus disc with four hours of expert interviews, three Tales from the Galápagos Islands bonus specials, a 16-page viewer’s guide, and much more (www.athenalearning.com, $49.99).

Shaking western culture to its very core after its publication 150 years ago, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species changed everything—science, religion, and even humanity’s image of itself. Join Professor Richard Dawkins as he explains exactly how Darwin developed his revolutionary theory of evolution and why it’s still relevant today.

How do species evolve? What does “natural selection” mean in biology, politics, sociology, and philosophy? With passionate certainty, Dawkins provides answers, positing evolution as a matter of fact, not faith. In addition to interviewing world-renowned scientists such as geneticist Craig Venter and paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey, Dawkins speaks with Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other religious leaders about the existence of a Creator. Provocative, informative, and irresistibly watchable, this award-winning documentary offers lively new insights on an idea that still meets stubborn resistance. The series debuted on Channel 4 in the U.K. in August 2008. BONUS FEATURES

• Bonus disc containing four hours of interviews with experts featured in the program
• Three Tales from the Galápagos Islands bonus specials about the Lava Lizard, the Giant Tortoise, and the Sea Turtle. (26 min.)
• 16-page viewer’s guide includes highlights, questions to consider, avenues for further learning, Evolution’s Biggest Losers, Milestones in the Evolution-Creationism Controversy, Evolution’s Dark Side, and more.
• The Evolution of an Idea, contributors to Darwin’s theory, and biography of Charles Darwin

Evolutionary biologist and fellow of the Royal Society, Richard Dawkins has served as professor of public understanding of science at Oxford University. He has written dozens of scholarly and popular works, including the controversial best seller The God Delusion as well as The Selfish Gene and September’s The Greatest Show on Earth.

Athena is Acorn Media Group’s new home video brand for consumers interested in lifelong learning through documentary programming. Each Athena release provides an authoritative and entertaining learning experience through high quality, informative, non-fiction programming, along with a host of extras to extend the learning experience beyond the screen. Athena’s releases include Playing Shakespeare, The Shape of the World with Patrick Stewart, The Adventure of English, The Christians, Ancient Lives, among others. Special web content and clips are available at www.athenalearning.com. Athena’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.