ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
- Alfred Russel Wallace had the most influence over Darwin’s development of his theory Natural Selection.
- Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was born into a family of modest means. He went to work at the age of 14 and, with little formal education, moved from one job to the next. Eventually he became interested in collecting plants and animals and joined expeditions to the Amazon and Southeast Asia, where he acquired firsthand knowledge of many natural phenomena. He also sailed to the Malay Archipelago (now Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) where he spent nearly eight years collecting and studying the local wildlife. He made very significant contributions, not just to biology, but also to subjects as diverse as glaciology, land reform, anthropology, ethnography, epidemiology, and astrobiology. His pioneering work on evolutionary biogeography (the study of how plants and animals are distributed) led to him becoming recognised as that subject’s ‘father’
- Wallace’s theory was that current species were descended from other species and that the appearance of new ones was influenced by environmental factors. He also described evolution as a process driven by competition and natural selection. Darwin and Wallace agree that in order for natural selection occur, reproduction must occur and that plants and animals have to adapt to environmental changes to survive.
- Darwin and Wallace were working on the natural selection theory each one on their own. Darwin began formulating his theory in the late 1830s and worked on it for almost twenty years. He wanted to have lots of evidence before making public his idea. Wallace supplied Darwin with birds for his studies and decided to seek Darwin's help in publishing his own ideas on evolution. When he sent Darwin his theory in 1858, Darwin was in shock realizing that Wallace theory was nearly replicated Darwin's own. So I don’t think Darwin needed of Wallace to have his own theory but, I do believe with Wallace’s report, Darwin felt he was right.
- By that time any ideas of evolution were associated with atheism and political subversion, this kept him from publishing, also the thought that if these ideas were accepted, “the Church would crash, the moral fabric of society would be torn apart, and civilized man would return to savagery” (Desmond and Moore, 1991, p. 34) was enough for him to stay quiet. He also wanted enough data to support his theory.
That is a great point I hadn't taken into account- that Wallace's influence manifested itself in confirmation of the theory of evolution. There was plenty of work to be made in order to complete the theory, but for Darwin to have the confidence to tell the world he definitely needed a push!
ReplyDeleteHello Ana!
ReplyDeleteI love the layout of your blog. I enjoyed reading your post because it was both informative and different from my own. You make a strong point when suggesting that Wallace's work served as a confirmation to Darwin's observations. As far as the church goes, I can agree that Darwin refrained from publishing because of its views on emerging evolutionary ideas.
Good image and good sources.
ReplyDeleteGood detail on Wallace's background and work, but since we are talking about his influence on Darwin, what aspect of Wallace's work played the biggest role in influencing Darwin? More information is good, but make sure you are addressing the point of the prompt and logically supporting your point in the post.
I agree with your choice of bullet points, but since both Wallace and Darwin developed the same mechanism, isn't it fair to say that ALL of the bullet points also apply to Wallace?
You are correct that Darwin DID develop his theory without Wallace. He 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, he may never have *published* without him.
In your last section, you are arguing that Darwin didn't publish essentially out of concern for the health of the church and the "fabric of society". I need to challenge that idea. First of all, the church had been around for a very long time before Darwin came along and had survived numerous challenges to it's teachings, so the thought that Darwin would have been worried about taking down the church suggests he overestimated his influence on the church. Moreover, he was a family man with children and a wife who was very devout. You aren't considering the possibility that he may well have had more personal concerns regarding how his wife might have felt about his work or perhaps how his family would have been negatively impacted if church responded badly to his work. No, the church wasn't burning anyone at the stake by this time, but that doesn't mean it couldn't make life more difficult for those who went against their teachings.
And Darwin had been working on his theory for more than 20 years. He had plenty of support, certainly enough that when he realized that he might lose credit to Wallace, he could publish immediately.
Hello Ana,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your entry. The facts that you presented were very informative and they made me see that Wallace was a big part of Darwin gathering the courage to publish his theories. Having Wallace have similar results definitely gave him that bit of courage to know he would be able to stand up the church. Great post Ana!
I agree, your post was very informative. I like what you said about Wallace being a confirmation of Darwin's work. They both had extensive research on about the same things. I like what you said about the church as well. I never knew negative the looks on evolution were. At the end I really enjoyed reading your post.
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