Infinite Tropics: An Alfred Russel Wallace Anthology

by Alfred Russel Wallace, Stephen Jay Gould (Preface), Andrew Berry (Editor)

Alfred Russel Wallace’s reputation has been based on the fact that, at age thirty-five and stricken with malaria in the Moluccan Islands, he stumbled independently upon on the theory of natural selection. Andrew Berry’s anthology rescue’s Wallace’s legacy, showing Wallace to be far more than just the co-discoverer of natural selection. Wallace was a brilliant and wide-ranging scientist, a passionate social reformer and a gifted writer. The eloquence that has made his The Malay Archipelago a classic of travel writing is a prominent feature too of his extraordinarily forward-thinking writing on socialism, imperialism and pacifism. Wallace’s opinions on women’s suffrage, on land reform, on the roles of the church and aristocracy in a parliamentary democracy, on publicly funded education—to name a few of the issues he addressed—remain as fresh and as topical today as they were when they were written.

Genres: Biology, Nonfiction, Evolution, Science

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory.

Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.

Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Wallace's work. Wallace, who independently came up with the theory of natural selection before Darwin published his Origin of Species, was a fascinating man. He earned his living traveling around the world (South America, Asia) collecting specimens for wealthy British collectors. Along the way, his natural intelligence and curiosity led him to make certain deductions, such as the aforementioned theory. He's also known as the father of biogeography -- the pattern of species distribution -- and "the Wallace line" bears his name -- the line that separates Asian and Australian species distribution (it runs through the islands of Indonesia, where he extensively explored and collected).

This book serves as an overview of the breadth and range of Wallace's interests, and it contains some of the more memorable passages found in Wallace's books and articles, drawing heavily from The Malay Archipelago in particular.

[Ali]

Wallace >>> Darwin

[Nurul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini hadiah dari Profesor saya. Sebagai satu2nya student di department saya yang berasal dari Malay archipelago pada saat itu, ternyata tak salah buku ini kini berada pada rak buku saya.

Hingga saat ini, buku ini memang saya baca sepotong2 dan berulang kali. The origin of species memang diungkapkan oleh Darwin. Namun, publikasi Darwin ini nyatanya didorong oleh surat Wallace kepada Darwin saat ia berada di Ternate tahun 1859 yang saat terserang malaria, sempat2nya berpikir tentang fenomena variasi species. Surat dari Ternate itu juga yang pada akhirnya membuat ia bersama Darwin mempublikasikan teori seleksi alam.

Ya, anthology ini juga mencantumkan publikasi2 penting dari Wallace. Wallace tak hanya terkagum-kagum akan keunikan flora-fauna Malay archipelago, namun juga seorang ilustrator yang detil (lihat di bukunya 'the Malay archipelago'), serta pengamat masalah lain mulai dari geologi, evolusi manusia, hingga spiritualisme.

http://noonathome.wordpress.com/2008/...

[Dave Angelini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wallace is usually remembered as a footnote in discussions of Darwin. However, where Darwin was timid, Wallace was bold. His life is just as interesting as his scientific contributions, and this anthology of his writing features excellent historical context and weaves his personal letters together with his published works to present a biography that is informative and compelling. This serves as excellent reading for biology students interested in the development of evolutionary thought, as well as for the general public looking for tales of adventure in Victorian times.

[Kabir Peay · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection of wallace's readings. the guy was really amazing. wallace was an unparalleled naturalist as well as pretty far ahead of his time in terms of theoretical ponderings. often remembered only for "co-discovering" evolution via natural selection, this book does a good job of giving insight into his other contributions to evolution / ecology / biogeography. the commentary is also very useful in contextualizing his work and thinking.