Alfred Russel Wallace, 1823-1913, was a British naturalist, geographer, and social critic who was known in the public eye for his bold views scientific, social, and spiritual subjects. During his travels, Wallace noted that the geographical divides came to imply species boundaries; a concept that would later be termed the Wallace Line. However what may perhaps be his greatest contribution to science arose from his observations in the Malay Archipelago. Here he collected and observed thousands of specimens. He went onto developed his own theory of evolution through natural selection.
Wallace asserted “every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a pre-existing closely allied species.” Expanding on this idea he went on to assert that these species evolved as a result of the continued progression and divergence of traits that outlived the parent species in the struggle to survive. In 1858, Wallace went on to send a copy of his paper to Darwin, who noticed striking similarities that supported Darwin's own ideas on evolution. Together they published a paper entitled “On the Tendency of Species to Form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection.” Darwin went on to use Wallaces research to build upon and expand his ideas before publishing "The Origin of Species."
While both men developed their own independent theories on evolution roughly around the same time Darwin still needed Wallace. While Darwin most likely could have developed his theory on his own Wallace’s research was crucial in expanding his concept of evolution through natural selection as well as providing evidence to support this idea. This is why the paper was submitted with both their names on it. Therefore Darwin may not have been able to get this far without the help of Wallace.
Like any scientist or philosopher during and before Darwin’s time, there was always a fear of their ideas being termed blasphemous having severe repercussions from the Church. This was a big reason as to why it took Darwin so many years to publish his work. The idea of evolution would go against one of the core beliefs of Christianity and ultimately act as a means of questioning the idea of a God. The theory of evolution through natural selection would contradict the religious beliefs held by the Church and those around him. It took him many years to build up the courage to finally publish his work.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Russel-Wallace
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ReplyDeleteIn general, good information in your opening section, but since we are trying to understand Wallace's influence on Darwin's work, it would have been helpful to provide more information on that topic specifically. Help draw the connections between Darwin and Wallace.
The second section asks that you choose the bullet points from the guidelines that best apply to Wallace's contribution to Darwin's work. Since Wallace essentially developed the same mechanism, it can be argued that ALL of the bullet points apply to Wallace, but at least one bullet point needed to be identified here.
While I see your point in the third section, I think you are missing a key issue here: Yes, Darwin developed his theory without Wallace, but would he have ever *published* without Wallace? Darwin had been working on his idea for two decades when he became award of Wallace's theory, so Wallace's impact isn't with regard to shaping Darwin's work. Where Wallace's influence is important is as the driving factor that finally convinced Darwin to publish after delaying for more than 20 years. So while Darwin certainly developed his theory without Wallace (as you point out), he may never have *published* without him.
"...having severe repercussions from the Church."
Such as? This gets thrown out there by students, but let's really think about what Darwin risked here. He delayed publishing for more than 20 years so it is worthwhile to try to understand the reason for this extensive delay. What were Darwin's concerns? And was he only worried about himself or was he also worried about how his family might be impacted by publishing? Remember that his wife was very devout. How might she have been impacted if the church responded negatively to Darwin? Remember that scientists don't work in a vacuum. They can be influenced not just by academics but also by social, cultural and personal issues.
I disagree with Wallace being a major influence on Darwin, as Darwin had already been formulating and writing many of the theories that Wallace had come up with hence the said collaboration. I do not dispute that Wallace pushed Darwin to finally publish some of his work, if only to avoid being beaten to the punch. Wallace though was obviously a very brilliant hands on field research scientist as he had little schooling or formal training. I believe Darwin would have still published without the Wallace influence because as a more formally trained/educated scientist he tried to wait until he had more definitive proof, aside from not wanting to upset the church and his wife of course.
ReplyDeleteYou bring good points with Wallace being the biggest influence on Darwin's work, but I am going to have to disagree with the fact that he is the greatest influence on Darwin's theory of evolution. I ended up choosing Thomas Malthus because of how both him and Darwin studied human population and their growth rate. Another reason why Wallace is the incorrect choice is because he feared expressing his ideas with the church having other beliefs.
ReplyDeleteHello Jimmy, although I did not pick Alfred Russel Wallace I really liked your post. I agree with you that both Darwin and Wallace developed their own independent theories on evolution roughly around the same time, and that Darwin needed Wallace's help to finish his theory 100 percent. Overall I really liked your post.
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