Alfred Russel Wallace

:for the Cornish painter see Alfred Wallis

Theory of evolution

: See also Publication of Darwin's theory.

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In 1855, Wallace published a paper, "On the Law Which has Regulated the Introduction of Species" (1855), in which he gathers and enumerates general observations regarding the geographic and geologic distribution of species, and concludes that "Every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a closely allied species." The paper was a foreshadowing of the momentous paper he would write three years hence.

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Wallace had once briefly met Darwin, and was one of Darwin's numerous correspondents from around the world, whose observations Darwin used to support his theories. Wallace knew that Darwin was interested in the question of how species originate, and trusted his opinion on the matter. Thus, he sent him his essay, "On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely From the Original Type" (1858), and asked him to review it. On 18 June 1858 Darwin received the manuscript from Wallace. In it, Wallace described a novel theory of what is now known as "natural selection," and he proposed that it explains the diversity of life. It was essentially the same as the theory that Darwin had worked on for twenty years, but had yet to publish. Darwin wrote in a letter to Charles Lyell: "he could not have made a better short abstract! Even his terms now stand as heads of my chapters!" Although Wallace had not requested that his essay be published, Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker decided to present the essay, together with excerpts from a paper that Darwin had written in 1844, and kept confidential, to the Linnean Society of London on 1 July 1858, highlighting Darwin's priority.

Related Topics:
18 June - 1858 - Charles Lyell - Joseph Hooker - 1844 - Linnean Society of London - 1 July

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Wallace accepted the arrangement after the fact, grateful that he had been included at all. Darwin's social and scientific status was at that time far greater than Wallace's, and it was unlikely that Wallace's views on evolution would have been taken as seriously. Though relegated to the position of co-discoverer, and never the social equal of Darwin or the other elite British natural scientists, Wallace was granted far greater access to tightly-regulated British scientific circles after the advocacy on his part by Darwin.

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