Alfred Russel Wallace. A Life

Raby, Peter

ISBN 10: 0701168382 / ISBN 13: 9780701168384

Published by Chatto & Windus, London, 2001

About this Item

Dustwrapper, pp.xii, 340. Illustrated. Biography of the contemporary and " rival " natural history explorer and scientist whose account of natural selection would lose out to his friend and fellow naturalist Charles Darwin at the Linnean Society, leading to the publication of " On the Origin of Species " a year later. His later travels and researches, such as those in the Malay Archipelago would however see him remembered as a major scientist and explorer. Dustwrapper clean and sound but a little shelf worn. Binding clean, text uniformly moderately browned. Overall a VG copy in dustwrapper.

Seller Inventory # 011425

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Alfred Russel Wallace. A Life
• Publisher: Chatto & Windus, London
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0701168382
• ISBN 13: 9780701168384
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Illustrated
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A biography of scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace. In 1858 Wallace wrote to Charles Darwin and told him he had worked out a theory of natural selection. Darwin's outline and Wallace's paper were presented jointly in London. A year later Darwin published "The Origin of the Species", yet Wallace felt no bitterness and in fact Wallace and Darwin became friends. Wallace had none of the advantages of Darwin. He was born in Usk, Gwent in 1823, he left school at 14 and in his mid-20s he spent four years in the Amazon collecting for musuems, only to lose it all in a shipboard fire. He later went to the East Indies where he began an eight year trek and discovered countless unknown species and identified the point of divide between Asian and Australian fauna, now known as "Wallace's Line". This biography reveals Wallace as a courageous, unconventional explorer who loved the wild and the independent spirit of the people he met. When he returned to England he retreated into country life and stayed vital and alert until his death at the age of 90, in 1913. This biography hopes to put Alfred Russel Wallace back into the centre stage of the science world.

From the Back Cover

"This delightfully written biography is a real find. The subject is timely, and the author brings a lively sensibility and sympathy to Wallace's situation in the evolutionary story without falling prey to over-sensationalist hysteria. Wallace had a marvelously interesting life and deserves the extensive treatment that he has been given here. The chapters concerning Wallace's travels simultaneously convey the intensity of the experience and the achievements and dangers. Further, he treats the Victorian context with a light and sure touch."--Janet Browne, author of Voyaging, a biography of Charles Darwin