I believe that Alfred Russel Wallace had the largest impact on the development of Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.
Alfred Russel Wallace made a proposal based on his observations in the Malay Archipelago, for the acceptance of a distinction between the range of fauna present in Asia, and the range of fauna present in Australia, which greatly contributed to the scientific foundations of zoogeography. He wrote a paper "On the Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago" and presented it at a meeting of the Linnean Society in November of 1859, where he states that the two regions are similar in climactic habitat conditions, but nevertheless feature two distinctly different types of fauna, and went as far as to state that: "Facts such as these can only be explained by a bold acceptance of vast changes in the surface of the Earth." His term was later coined the faunal boundary.
(http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/wallace.html)
I believe that the bullet point most similar to Wallace's was "Organisms with better access to resources will be more successful in their reproductive efforts." I say this because Wallace states that "From the effects of disease the most healthy escaped; from enemies, the strongest, the swiftest, or the most cunning; from famine, the best hunters or those with the best digestion". The healthiest escape disease because they have access to resources that keep them healthy. The strongest and swiftest survive, because they have access to resources that allow them to become stronger, or swifter. Wallace's work helped to develop this theory.
Darwin most likely could have developed his work without the help of this person, but his ideas may have been portrayed differently. Wallace mailed his manuscript on his ideas of evolution to Darwin during their studies, and Darwin noticed they had adopted very similar phrases and terminology. According to http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/wallace.html, Darwin even sent mail to Charles Lyell stating "I never saw a more striking coincidence. if Wallace had my manuscript sketch written out in 1842 he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters." Darwin would have still been able to develop his own theories, but perhaps it would have been harder for him.
The attitude of the Church greatly affected Darwin, and the publication of his book "On the Origin of Species." Because his findings brought into question the Biblical account of creation within religious teachings, Darwin was very nervous. At one point he had a 230 page abstract sketch of his theory in 1844, which was labeled 'ONLY TO BE OPENED IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH." He waited over 20 years after he first came upon the mechanism of evolution, but he was encouraged to move forward when Wallace's manuscript arrived at his front door, and was so similar that they both even used the term "Natural Selection". He received the manuscript in 1858, and finally published The Origin of Species in 1859.
Very informative! It does seem like Wallace had a great deal of influence on Darwin's ideas. In fact, they were basically identical. I really enjoyed that little quote about his book that was not to be opened until his death. Very interesting that Wallace would have the same theories as Darwin and that Wallace sent his paper to Darwin to find out they both used the term Natural Selection. Fantastic!
ReplyDelete-Jonathan Sprott
Darlene Jones....
ReplyDeleteI as well considered Wallace as being the one with the most influence but I later changed my mind after careful thought. I felt that Lamarck hit the nail on the head that opened the doors to understand that species will adapt to the changing environment and they will produce traits that are most affective for survival.
I do; however agree with "organisms with better access will be more successful in their reproductive efforts." I think that resources do play an important role and this statement is true through and through.
I enjoyed your insight to the Church and Religion. I did not go in as much od depth as you on this question; but it was a scary time for any body going "against" the Church ( even if they were not intending to). Anyone with the Evolution idea or theories were considered evil and un holy; therefore making it very hard for anyone to tread on the waters of Evolution considerings.
Great post and well informed!
You said:
ReplyDelete"Darwin most likely could have developed his work without the help of this person, but his ideas may have been portrayed differently."
Darwin DID develop this work on his own. Wallace didn't help him develop this concept. What he did do was crack the whip on Darwin and convince him to publish his works, which he had sat on and dithered over for about 20 years. He was afraid of publishing for social reasons (church, family, etc.) but was even more afraid to have someone else publish his work. He and Wallace ended up publishing together, but then Darwin went on and published "Origin of Species", and now no one remembers Wallace, for the most part. (You state some of this later in your post, but the earlier misconception remains.)
Except for that one correction, great post.
Darlene,
ReplyDeleteYou observed:
"...but it was a scary time for any body going "against" the Church ( even if they were not intending to)."
You should try being a science teacher in this day and age. :-) We may not be risking our lives, but there are strong feelings out there regarding evolutionary theory. Anyone who teaches the natural sciences knows that they are likely to deal with angry students and parents who feel that their religious beliefs are being challenged or attacked when the word "evolution" is mentioned. Some teachers are so scared, that they teach it without ever actually using the word at all, believe it or not.
I disagree I don't feel Wallace had any influence on Darwin because they both basically came up with the same idea on their own but I did learn something new i didnt know Wallace wrote a paper "On the Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago" and presented to the Linnean Society.
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