What would Charles Darwin think about his own evolution into a 1 lb., 7-inch tall bobblehead?

That’s a question you can ponder tomorrow as people around the world celebrate Darwin Day (Feb. 12), which marks his 200th birthday this year.

The zoology department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale started selling Darwin bobbleheads a few years ago to help fund its annual Darwin Day speaker. Since then, the orders have come in from all over the world — from Italy to the Netherlands to all the way from Darwin, Australia.

“Every Darwin fan and every biology lab needs one of these — what better way to assure the success of your experiments (and thought processes) than to have Charles Darwin overseeing everything?” the zoology department’s website advertises.

By the way, the eyes that the bobblehead “oversees” with are gray-blue in color. Getting that detail right was no easy feat, according to Frank “Andy” Anderson, a zoology professor who is the force behind the Darwin bobbleheads.

“There are photos of Darwin as an elderly gentleman, but they are all in black and white,” Anderson explained.

So a colleague who is a bit of  Darwin buff dug up an account of the scientific pioneer that mentioned he had grayish-blue eyes. Crisis averted.

SIUC sells them for $17 apiece, plus shipping. The department has sold more than 900 of the bobbleheads since 2006. But it has less than 100 left from its initial order. Anderson is unsure if he will order more.

“We have to figure out if the market is saturated enough,” he said.

Most times of the year, he sells just one or two bobbleheads a week. But there has been a big burst of sales in the last couple of weeks leading up to Darwin’s 200th birthday. Anderson has sent shipments to the University of Iowa and Ohio State University, to name a few customers. The University of Hawaii is also interested in buying 250 of them, but they are trying to work out how to ship such a large order.

The bobbleheads are kind of heavy. So shipping Darwin half-way around the world can get to be quite pricey.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.