Alfred Russel Wallace
Quick facts about Alfred:
Alfred was born on January 8, 1823 and then later died on November 7, 1913
Born in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales
Alfred was the eighth child of Thomas Vere Wallace and Mary Anne Wallace
He was later forced to leave school at the age of 14 because his family was poor
He then had no choice but to educate himself. Alfred remarkably beat the odds and was eventually the author of many books on evolution and natural history.
Alfred was born on January 8, 1823 and then later died on November 7, 1913
Born in Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales
Alfred was the eighth child of Thomas Vere Wallace and Mary Anne Wallace
He was later forced to leave school at the age of 14 because his family was poor
He then had no choice but to educate himself. Alfred remarkably beat the odds and was eventually the author of many books on evolution and natural history.
Alfred Russel Wallace died aged 90 in Broadstone, England, 7 November, 1913. When he died, he was the most famous biologist in the world. Science historian George Beccaloni said of him:
“There were very long, glowing obituaries in all the world’s papers from Bombay to Boston saying he was the last of the great Victorians. One of the papers said only a great ruler would have had the sort of level of obituary recognition as Wallace.” |
Occupation
Alfred taught at a school in Leicester in 1844, when he was aged 21. It was there that he met Henry Walter Bates (1825–1892). Both Wallace and Bates had in common that they left school at an early age and didn’t have any formal education in natural science.
They also had in common that they were fanatical beetle collectors and they searched Leicestershire together for specimens. In 1848, after they heard about the adventures of famous naturalist travelers such as Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Darwin, they left for Brazil hoping to add to their collections. While there the two had a disagreement and went their separate ways. Then Alfred decided to travel inland along the Rio Negro river deep in the western Amazon. It was there that he collected specimens of the flora and fauna, gathered information about the indigenous peoples, and made notes on the geography. |
Return to London
In 1852 he was returning to England on a ship named the Helen and three weeks into the voyage, the ship caught fire and sank. Wallace lost all the notes and specimens he had with him. He and the crew spent ten days in a lifeboat. He was lucky to have sent some specimens back before he left and luckily he did have insurance so he was compensated for his loss!
Once back in London, he spent the next two years publishing papers about his experiences. He also published two books called "A Narrative of Travels On the Amazon and Rio Negro" and "Palm Trees of the Amazon ". He lived on the insurance money from his sunken ship and specimens that he sold.
After two years, he left for the Malay Archipelego which is now Indonesia and Malaysia. There he spent the next eight years, collecting more than 125,000 specimens some examples are: birds, snakes, amphibians, butterflies and, of course, beetles of which a thousand would be forms new to science — including the then unheard of Flying Frog.
Although Alfred's boat sank he did gain a lot of knowledge 0f the specimens he studied on his trip and was still able to discuss and share his findings with Charles Darwin. Unfortunately because Alfred had no evidence, Charles took almost all of the credit.
Once back in London, he spent the next two years publishing papers about his experiences. He also published two books called "A Narrative of Travels On the Amazon and Rio Negro" and "Palm Trees of the Amazon ". He lived on the insurance money from his sunken ship and specimens that he sold.
After two years, he left for the Malay Archipelego which is now Indonesia and Malaysia. There he spent the next eight years, collecting more than 125,000 specimens some examples are: birds, snakes, amphibians, butterflies and, of course, beetles of which a thousand would be forms new to science — including the then unheard of Flying Frog.
Although Alfred's boat sank he did gain a lot of knowledge 0f the specimens he studied on his trip and was still able to discuss and share his findings with Charles Darwin. Unfortunately because Alfred had no evidence, Charles took almost all of the credit.
Standardwing Bird of Paradise (Semioptera wallacei), another of Alfred Russel Wallace's discoveries
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Wallace's Flying Frog
(from The Malay Archipelago) |