Originally published: London : Chatto & Windus, Random House, 2001. Includes bibliographical references (pages 320-326) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- The evolution of a naturalist -- Apprenticeship on the Amazon -- Hunting the white umbrella bird -- Planning the next expedition -- The land of the orang-utan -- Heading east -- In search of paradise birds -- The return of the wanderer -- Wallace transformed -- Man and mind -- The big trees -- The future of the race -- The last orchard -- The old hero.
Summary:
In 1858, Alfred Russel Wallace, aged thirty-five, weak with malaria, isolated in the Spice Islands, wrote to Charles Darwin: he had, he said excitedly, worked out a theory of natural selection. Darwin was aghast--his work of decades was about to be scooped. Within two weeks, his outline and Wallace's paper were presented jointly in London. A year later, with Wallace still on the opposite side of the globe, Darwin published On the Origin of Species. This new biography of Wallace traces the development of one of the most remarkable scientific travelers, naturalists, and thinkers of the nineteenth century. With vigor and sensitivity, Peter Raby reveals his subject as a courageous, unconventional explorer and a man of exceptional humanity. He draws more extensively on Wallace's correspondence than has any previous biographer and offers a revealing yet balanced account of the relationship between Wallace and Darwin.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.