eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
Alfred Russel Wallace Centenary Issue
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v7i3.183
Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Alfred Russel Wallace and the Wallacea
Organised by the Indonesian Academy of Sciences
Wakatobi – Indonesia (10–13 November 2013)
J. Supriatna, A.A.T. Amarasinghe, and C. Margules (Editors)
Published date: 30 July 2015
Pp. 120–125.
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE AND NATURAL SELECTION: THE REAL STORY
George W. Beccaloni*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: g.beccaloni@nhm.ac.uk
Abstract
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a largely self-educated British naturalist, who co-published the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin in 1858, fifteen months before Darwin’s book Origin of species was released. Some have suggested that Wallace’s independent discovery of natural selection in Indonesia in February of that year was merely fortuitous, but in fact it was the culmination of a concerted 10 year personal quest to understand how evolutionary change takes place. Although Wallace was showered with prestigious honours and awards for his great discovery, and in spite of the fact that he became one of the most famous people in the world towards the end of his life, his intellectual legacy was rapidly overshadowed by Charles Darwin’s after his death.
Key words : Charles Lyell, Joseph Hooker, Linnean Society, Malay Archipelago
