When Alan Walker was a student at Cambridge University in England, his mentor taught him a trick to test eye reflexes.

Walker, now a professor of anthropology at Penn State, returned to Cambridge to give a lecture and performed the same trick -- forgetting that his mentor had taught it to him years ago.

Forgetting ideas previously learned was one of Walker's themes at Wednesday's Research Unplugged lecture, "Long After Darwin: Evolution and Our Place in Nature." Running since October, the lecture series has enjoyed a good turnout, organizers said.

Darwin weighed heavily in the presentation, but much of the speech was about how society has forgotten about what he learned.

Walker related his own experiences to how a man named Patrick Matthew once claimed Darwin stole his theory of evolution. Darwin responded with, "I'm sorry, but no one has heard of Matthew. I apologize for my ignorance of his publication."

We don't think about Darwin nearly as much anymore, Walker said, and ideas are forgotten.

"The world is adapting very quickly, and those who survive can adapt to change itself," he said.

After discussing Darwin, Walker invited questions from the audience. One man asked him about rumors of a hobbit species found on an island. Walker explained there is no definite answer, but dwarfing of the human species is very common.

Others asked him questions about the migration of eyes on flounders after they are born.

"If my life had gone the right way, I'd be a retired fish paleontologist," Walker joked.

Another attendee asked him what it was like to receive inflammatory letters from religious people who doubt Walker's studies in evolution. Walker said the mail is certainly unpleasant, but it doesn't open a dialogue -- the writers do not wish to be persuaded.

Dave Smith (junior-nutrition) said the event was informative but "a little boring" to someone already well versed on the subject of evolution.

Melissa Beatty-Moss, manager of research publications and coordinator of the series, said the lecture was the best attended so far -- with about a 100-person audience -- and she enjoyed the lively discussion.