Wallace, Alfred R
ACHIEVEMENTS: Theory of evolution, possibly before Darwin.
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: January 8, 1823, Usk, Monmouthshire, England
DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH: November 7, 1913, Broadstone, Dorset, England. Aged 90
DISCIPLINE: Naturalist
FIELD: Biology
LANGUAGE: English
EDUCATION: Grammar School, Hertford
MAJOR WORK: "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type", "The Malay Archipelago"; "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection", "The Geographical Distribution of Animals"
LIFE AND TIMES:
As a boy, Wallace was influenced by the views of utopian socialist Robert Owen*. At 16, he took an interest in botany and the classification of botanical specimens. At 21, he became interested in hypnotism and carried out experiments.
He was also fascinated by phrenology, the study of the skull and its relevance to character and intellect (a pseudo-science developed at the end the 18th century by Gall* & Spurzheim*).
He read Malthus*': "On Population" and met naturalist Henry Walter Bates, who introduced him to entomology, the study of insects.
In 1848, when he was 25, Wallace joined Bates on a four-year expedition to the Amazon to collect botanical and entomological specimens. Wallace had already read Charles Darwin*'s "Journal" (1839), which outlined a voyage to South America, and "Personal Narratives" by German naturalist/explorer Alexander von Humboldt*.
His first contact with primitive man in South America made a profound impression on him. On the return voyage, his ship caught fire and sank, and he spent 10 days in a lifeboat. He lost a collection of livestock (parrots, parakeets, monkeys and a wild dog), notes, and dozens of specimens.
Back in London, Wallace began to frequent scientific circles. He met biologist T.H. Huxley* in 1852. In 1853, he published "A Narrative of Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro". In 1854, he lived in the Malay archipelago for eight years and visited every large group of islands.
He discovered the area was divided zoologically into two distinct parts (Oriental and Australiasian) by the strait between Bali and Lombok, either side of what is now known as Wallace's Line.
In 1858, recovering from an illness in the Molucca Islands, Wallace began thinking about Malthus's ideas on population and came up with a theory that evolution proceeded on the basis of natural selection.
His theory, which he immediately mailed it to Darwin, stated that a species survived by virtue of having an existing structure which gave it the best chance in a particular environment. Over generations, a surviving organism passed on to its descendants the characteristics which worked best. New species arose through the struggle to adapt. Non-adapting members of a species became extinct. British philosopher Spencer* later coined the phrase "survival of the fittest" for this process.
Darwin received Wallace's paper in June, 1858, by which time he had already worked out his own theory of natural selection. He acknowledged that Wallace had arrived at his theory independently and at a meeting of the Linnean Society a month later, under the sponsorship of Joseph Hooker* and Lyell*, Wallace's essay, "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type", was presented as a joint paper with Darwin's work.
In spite of being the first to produce a paper outlining evolution and natural selection, Wallace always deferred to Darwin's pre-eminence and never asked to be regarded as the prime discoverer of evolution.
Wallace returned to England in 1863. In 1866, he published "The Malay Archipelago", in which he reported the difference between indigenous mammals on either side of a narrow divide of sea which separated two land masses, showing that each zoological type had adapted to its own environment.
In 1870, he published "Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection", in which he pointed out some disagreements he now had with Darwin. Most of these stemmed from Wallace's view that natural selection could not account for the whole development of the human race.
Wallace believed that supernatural intervention must have created the higher intelligence and spirituality of humans. In this, he was going against the scientific flow, manifested in the work of anthropologist Tylor* and others. In 1872, he helped Lyell publish "Antiquity of Man". In 1876, he published "The Geographical Distribution of Animals".
A theoretical socialist, Wallace admired Owen's schemes for co-operative communes. He campaigned for the protection of tenants from eviction and believed in the nationalization of land.
In 1889, he published "Darwinism", a semi-popular synthesis of Darwin's work. Two years later, he wrote a review of the 19th century called "The Wonderful Century", in which he expounded many of his own theories about society. He pointed out the various improvements in public health and how they had helped to eliminate some diseases and improve the general health of the population.
ASSESSMENT: Wallace is remembered for his theory of natural selection, which he developed about the same time as Darwin, but let Darwin take the credit. His work on the geographical distribution of species was of significance for later advances in that field
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: Was a member of the Society for Psychic Research, as were authors Carroll* , Tennyson*, Conan Doyle*, and physicists Crookes* and Lodge* and JJ Thomson*
Knew politician Balfour*.
Philosopher William James* wrote a review of his work.
He gave Galton’s* “Hereditary Genius” a good review.
Naturalist Richard Owen* was a big fan
ONELINER: Alfred Russel Wallace, co-founder of Theory of Evolution
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Clements, Harry, Alfred Russel Wallace, Hutchinson & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., London, 1983
PARENTS: Thomas Vere Wallace; Mary Anne Greenell
SIBLINGS: William; John; Herbert; Frances
SPOUSE: Mary Mitten
CHILDREN: 1 son, 1 daughter