One can argue that Alfred Russel Wallace had a tremendous impact of Charles Darwin, and perhaps was Darwin's greatest influence in the theory of natural selection. While there are others that indeed helped Charles and his theory, it was Alfred Wallace who helped him to come out and share his theories with the world by publishing his findings on natural selection.
Alfred Wallace made a huge impact on the field of science and what we know about species all over the world and evidence that evolution is taking place. It was mentioned that Alfred was perhaps the greatest collector of natural history specimens. This passion that he had for different specimens all over the world and the data that he collected provided science with a new field of study that is Evolutionary Biogeography. He made excellent discoveries in the evolution of different species all over the world during his land surveying explorations, which also helped give accurate maps of the Amazon and later on, the rest of the world.
During the explorations of Wallace he began to notice barriers that separated different species and began to see that these barriers were actually affecting the way those species evolved. On one of his land surveying trips he noticed that the Amazon river was a huge barrier and the species on one side or another were completely different. He began to notice and take note of these different traits that were happening due the different environments.
Is it possible that Darwin could have made the same theory with out the help and correspondence of Alfred? He very well could have made the discovery with the info he received but there is no doubt it would have taken years and years longer to acquire the same info and data that Alfred had collected. Charles and Alfred came up with almost an identical theory, so it was clear Darwin already had the idea of how natural selection worked but it was Alfred who provided Charles with the data and collections that he came across. It would be unfair to over look Alfred Wallace and his contributions to Charles Darwin that help lead to his discoveries.
The attitude of the church played a huge role on the decision for Darwin to release his findings. It was almost 20 years after his discovery that he made the decision to go ahead and publish his book on natural selection. If it wasn't for the motivation and support of Alfred it may have never been published.
http://www.pewforum.org/2009/02/04/darwin-and-his-theory-of-evolution/
I picked Wallace too! I definitely agree with you on the point that Darwin could have come to the same conclusions but it would take much longer for him to do so. It must have been so relieving for him to see that another scientist had come to the same conclusions that he had and they could compare research.
ReplyDeleteGreat background on Wallace, including information beyond his work on natural selection. Well done.
ReplyDeleteSo is there any particular bullet point from the guidelines which you feel applies to Wallace? Perhaps all of them? Missing this discussion from the guideline points.
"He very well could have made the discovery with the info he received but there is no doubt it would have taken years and years longer to acquire the same info and data that Alfred had collected. "
Darwin DID spend years and years on his work. He had already been working on his theory for more than 20 years before he began his correspondence with Wallace. It is safe to say that Darwin's work was essentially completed by the time Wallace came on the scene, though Wallace did provide additional empirical support for the theory. Perhaps the greatest contribution Wallace made was providing the impetus Darwin needed to finally publish his theory. I do wonder if Darwin might never have published if not for the fear of losing credit to Wallace.
Yes, the church's influence played a role in Darwin's decision to delay publishing but why was Darwin concerned? What repercussions might he and his family have experienced as a result of publishing? How might he have been affected professionally? How might his family have been impacted socially?
It is good to hear differenter opinions of naturalist who may have had the most influence on Darwin's development. I feel that Wallace did contribute to Darwin's theory of Natural selection.
ReplyDeleteI read that Wallace was considered Darwin's co-discoverer of Natural selection. I feel that LaMarcus was most influential because his research existed before Darwin and Wallace were born.