Long overshadowed by his contemporaries Charles Darwin and Thomas H. Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist and pioneer evolutionist who researched biological diversity through extensive exploration and travel. Independent of Darwin, Wallace developed a theory of evolution through natural selection, which ultimately spurred Darwin to complete and publish his own Origin of Species. Famous for drawing "Wallace's Line", the boundary line separating the Asian and Australian zoological regions, Wallace's studies of the distribution of plants and animals pioneered an evolutionary approach to global and island biogeography. This study reintroduces Wallace to a general readership beyond the cadre of scientists and historians familiar with his work.
About the Author :
Jane R. Camerini is a faculty associate in the department of the History of Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Review :
"[Jane Camerini]... is probably best known for her informative papers on 'Wallace's Line'... These papers, and others on Wallace and 19th-century biogeography, well qualify her to edit this eclectic collection of Wallace's very readable prose... Camerini reveals his essence in a nutshell... After reading these excerpts from his books and articles, you will want to go to your library and read the originals in full." -- Duncan M. Porter, Bioscience
"[Wallace's] extraordinary range of interests is explored in Jane Camerini's fine anthology... Linked by deft introductions and prefaced by a brief biography, these [selections] give a wonderful insight into the passion for natural history that gripped Wallace throughout his life... It is in his writings from the field that Wallace comes across most vividly." -- James A. Secord, American Scientist
"At last, Alfred Russel Wallace is getting a fairer share of the limelight... Jane Camerini's excellent selection of Wallace's copious and diverse writings allows the man to speak for himself." -- Douglas Palmer, New Scientist
"Camerini provides clearly written introductions that carefully place the writings in their broad social, political and intellectual context and explains the basics of scientific theory and practice." -- British Journal for the History of Science
"Camerini [takes] a quiet delight in presenting Wallace's long-out-of-print writings as gifts to a generation that has never seen them." -- Natural History
"Camerini's volume benefits from the inclusion of generous selections from the naturalist's marvelous travel journals." -- Edward J. Larson, Washington Post Book World
"Explore[s] the extraordinary range of Wallace's interests, which encompassed ecology, evolution, spiritualism, and socialism. Camerini presents her selections (generally entire articles or book chapters) chronologically. Her succinct introductory essays place Wallace and his work in context." -- Science
"I very much enjoyed reading this book and having had the opportunity to get on more familiar footing with a complicated but fascinating person." -- Michael Kiehn, Plant Suplematics and Evolution
"Tantalizes readers to learn about the life and complex interests of this important figure... revealing just enough of Alfred Wallace to make the reader ready to search for more." -- Nancy E. Cowden, Plant Science Bulletin
"Wallace's 'problematic' interests and perspectives are [here] revealed... to be key to understanding the mid-nineteenth-century debates about evolution in their true cultural complexity." -- Charlotte Sleigh, Nature
