Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, and social critic who independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection alongside Charles Darwin. His work in biogeography and evolutionary biology made him a leading 19th-century scientific thinker.
Born in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales, Wallace had little formal education but pursued self-learning, developing interests in natural history and social reform. He conducted fieldwork in the Amazon basin and Malay Archipelago, identifying the Wallace Line, a faunal boundary between Asian and Australasian species.
Beyond science, Wallace advocated land reform, socialism, and environmental conservation. His belief in spiritualism and a non-material origin of human consciousness distinguished him from many contemporaries.
Notable works include The Malay Archipelago (1869,) documenting his travels, Darwinism (1889,) defending natural selection, and Man’s Place in the Universe (1904,) among the first scientific explorations of extraterrestrial life. He also wrote The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876) and Island Life (1880,) pioneering biogeography.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Alfred Russel Wallace
To the mass of mankind, religion of some kind is a necessity.
—Alfred Russel Wallace
Topics: Necessity
Leave a Reply