Alfred Russel Wallace
The brilliant, globe-trotting naturalist who independently discovered natural selection, forcing Darwin to finally publish his life's work.
1823–1913 (age 90)·English naturalist·Birthday: January 8
Biography
Alfred Russel Wallace was the quintessential Victorian adventurer-scientist, a man of modest means who funded his obsession by collecting specimens in the Amazon and the Malay Archipelago. While mapping the distribution of animals, he had a feverish insight on the island of Ternate: species evolved through a struggle for existence where the fittest survived. He mailed this theory to Charles Darwin in 1858, sending the established naturalist into a panic. Darwin had been sitting on the same idea for decades. The result was a joint presentation that credited Wallace, but history has since crowned Darwin. Wallace, however, was no mere footnote. He continued pioneering work in biogeography, became a vocal social reformer, and investigated spiritualism with the same rigor he applied to beetles and birds, remaining one of science's most fascinating and original minds.
#1 When Alfred Was Born
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Alfred's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1823Born
1828Started school
1836Became a teenager
1839Could drive
1841Could vote
1844Turned 21
1853Turned 30
1863Turned 40
President: Abraham Lincoln
1873Turned 50
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1883Turned 60
President: Chester A. Arthur
1893Turned 70
World's Columbian Exposition dazzles Chicago
President: Grover Cleveland
1903Turned 80
Wright brothers achieve first powered flight
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1913Died at 90
The Federal Reserve is established
President: Woodrow Wilson
Key Achievements
- Co-published the first paper introducing the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin in 1858.
- Identified the faunal boundary line between Asian and Australian species in the Malay Archipelago, now called the Wallace Line.
- Wrote 'The Malay Archipelago,' a foundational text in biogeography and one of the greatest scientific travel books of the 19th century.
- Was a leading figure in the development of the field of evolutionary biogeography.
Did You Know?
He lost almost his entire collection from his four-year Amazon expedition when his ship caught fire and sank on the voyage home.
He supported himself entirely by selling duplicate specimens he collected during his travels.
He was a staunch socialist and wrote extensively on land reform and social justice.
He later in life became a proponent of spiritualism, which strained his relationships with some scientific colleagues.
“Truth is born into this world only with pangs and tribulations, and every fresh truth is received unwillingly.”
