My Life A Record of Events and Opinions Volume 2 Alfred Russel Wallace 9781146673358 Books
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My Life A Record of Events and Opinions Volume 2 Alfred Russel Wallace 9781146673358 Books
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist, who is best known as the co-discoverer of the theory of evolution through natural selection. He also wrote Darwinism: An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications. This book was originally published in 1905. (NOTE: Page references below are to the 408-page 1908 edition.)He wrote, "I thoroughly agreed ... that the orthodox religion of the day was degrading and hideous, and that the only true and wholly beneficial religion was that which inculcated the service of humanity." (Pg. 46) Later, he adds, "what little religious belief I had very quickly vanished under the influence of philosophical or scientific scepticism." (Pg. 119) Later, he states, "I am a socialist because I believe that the highest law for mankind is justice." (Pg. 329)
Similar to Darwin, he states that Malthus's AN Essay on the Principle of Population (Pelican Classics Ac18) "gave me the long-sought clue to the effective agent in the evolution of organic species." (Pg. 123-124) Later, he recounts: "it occurred to me to ask the question, Why do some die and some live? And the answer was clearly, that on the whole the best fitted live... Then it suddenly flashed upon me that this self-acting process would necessarily improve the race... the fittest would survive. Then at once I seemed to see the whole effect of this, that when changes of land and sea, or of climate, or of food-supply, or of enemies occurred... then all the changes necessary for the adaptation of the species to the changing conditions would be brought about... I wrote a letter to [Darwin] in which I said that I hoped the idea would be as new to him as it was to me, and that it would supply the missing factor to explain the origin of species... The effect of my paper upon Darwin was at first almost paralysing. He had, as I afterwards learnt, hit upon the same idea as my own twenty years earlier, and had occupied himself ... in study and experiment, and in sketching out and partly writing a great work..." (Pg. 190-191)
He later says, "it may interest my readers if I give briefly the four chief points on which I differed from Darwin... (1)... [I] believed that some agency other than natural selection, and analogous to that which first produced organic life, had brought into being [man's] moral and intellectual qualities. (2)... [I] believed that natural selection had operated independentlhy on the two sexes, and each had acquired coloration or form according to its need for protection... (3)... [I thought] the mountain flora had been derived by aerial transmission of seeds...(4) Darwin always believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics..." (Pg. 236-237)
He also details his belief in Spiritualism: "How I became first acquainted with the phenomena and the effect they produced on me are fully described ... in my book Miracles and Modern Spiritualism (Classic Reprint)... [I] witnessed, under test conditions, similar phenomena in great variety... every means ... of excluding trickery or the direct actions of any one present were resorted to." (Pg. 334-335) He adds, "I have reached my present standpoint by a long series of experiences under such varied and peculiar conditions as to render unbelief impossible... we ask for inquiry and patient experiment before hastily concluding that we are... mere dupes and idiots as regards a subject to which we have devoted our best mental faculties and powers of observation for many years." (Pg. 355-356)
Wallace's book will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the development of evolutionary theory, or those interested in Spiritualism and related matters.
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My Life A Record of Events and Opinions Volume 2 Alfred Russel Wallace 9781146673358 Books Reviews
I expected to receive the complete book, but what I got was Vol. 2 of this book. The image of the book if you click to look inside is of Vol. 1
The second half of Wallace's autobiography begins with a section on his friendship and dealings with Charles Darwin. Darwin consulted Wallace about mysteries of nature he wasn't sure of, for example the existence of black and red caterpillars in the . There is a section on differences of opinion between Wallace and Darwin The origin of man as an intellectual and moral being (Wallace states that "a different agency" came into play); sexual selection through female choice; Arctic plants in the southern hemisphere and on isolated mountain tops within the Tropics; pangenesis and the heredity of acquired characters. There was also a difference of opinion on spiritualism. Darwin reckoned that there was "a suggestion of sheer trickery" and that he had no time to investigate the matter. Wallace regarded it as "this intensely interesting subject" and at the end of the book states that the teachings of spiritualism improved his character to the extent that he was in the position of gaining the greatest happiness from doing all he could to make those around him happy.
The book is not just about evolution and spiritualism. Wallace reflects on the ills of 1800s Britain. 1885 was a year of economic bad times. He comments on an essay he wrote at the time, in which he traced the cause back to enormous foreign loans, excessive war expenditure, increased speculation, more millionaires and the depopulation of rural districts. He visited the USA and formed the opinion that through reckless exploitation of nature's treasures, America was cursed with "overcrowded cities reeking with disease and vice" and the phenomena of "women and children working long hours in factories and workshops, garrets and cellars for a wage which will not give them the essentials of mere healthy animal existence". He also attacks central governments in general, for perpetuating bad social systems and the social evils of poverty, misery and crime. He states that if local communities were to organise themselves for mutual aid then no central governments would be needed. As for prison, this, Wallace judges is "a crude, harsh system which inevitably degrades and brutalises the great majority of those subject to it". When the book was written the Boer War was fresh in the minds of the British. Wallace declares that this was "a pure war of conquest to secure territory and gold mines, determined on years before and only waiting a favourable opportunity to carry into effect". He includes a long protest letter against the Boer War that he sent to the Clarion newspaper. Another issue of the day, eugenics, Wallace regarded as unscientific and unnecessary.
Wallace also was interested in health issues. He writes how he discovered for himself a link between starchy food and asthma. On the subject of vaccination he writes at some length on how cases of smallpox increased following the introduction of vaccinations. He explains the process of vaccination "the inoculation of a healthy child (or adult) with an animal disease under the pretense of protecting it from another disease". He makes the interesting point that doctors are ignorant of statistics and statistical methods and mentions how one supposedly intelligent doctor could not understand how different vertical scales could alter the curve of a graph if the data stayed the same.
Wallace was subjected to media attacks from closed minded scientists in the media once it became known that he was a spiritualist. Someone called John Tyndall deplored Wallace's willingness "to accept data which were unworthy of his attention". Someone else called G.H. Lewes trashed Wallace's reputation in the Pall Mall Gazette, reporting that at a seance the question was asked, "Is the medium an impostor" and in reply the raps spelled out, "Yes". Wallace reports on visiting the medium Kate Cook, sister of Florence Cook (who the scientist William Crookes investigated), and of witnessing materialized figures there. On his 1886-7 USA lecture tour he attended a seance of a Mrs. Ross and, as witnessed several materializations, including "an old gentleman with white hair and beard, and in evening dress". After wondering if this person was his father or Darwin, Wallace then "recognised the likeness to a photograph I had of my cousin Algeron Wilson, whom I had not seen since we were children, but had long corresponded with, as he was an enthusiastic entomologist, living in Adelaide, where he had died not long before." He then asked the materialized ghost if he was his cousin. The ghost then "nodded earnestly, seemed very much pleased, shook my hand vigorously, and patted my face and head with my other hand." On another occasion, he states,he witnessed ectoplasm emerge from a medium called Mr. Monk which in full daylight formed into the shape of a woman.
Very rarely for a scientist in those days, he was not born into a wealthy family, so he had to work nearly all his life, and he was he was almost ruined in the great depression of 1875-85. In addition he describes how he fought a costly legal case against a dishonest builder that was dragged out by lawyers for three years, an experience that led Wallace to conclude that "English law leaves the honest man in the power of the dishonest one, mullets the former in heavy expenses, and is thus the very antithesis of justice." However, he says, the necessity of having to earn money led him to give more lectures and write more articles. Without this necessity he reckons he would have spent his days in his latter years just enjoying his garden and greenhouse, in which case this book might never have appeared, a book which in its discussions of economic troubles, social welfare, the perils of vaccination and disagreements over the theory of evolution still has great relevance today.
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist, who is best known as the co-discoverer of the theory of evolution through natural selection. He also wrote Darwinism An Exposition of the Theory of Natural Selection, with Some of Its Applications. This book was originally published in 1905. (NOTE Page references below are to the 408-page 1908 edition.)
He wrote, "I thoroughly agreed ... that the orthodox religion of the day was degrading and hideous, and that the only true and wholly beneficial religion was that which inculcated the service of humanity." (Pg. 46) Later, he adds, "what little religious belief I had very quickly vanished under the influence of philosophical or scientific scepticism." (Pg. 119) Later, he states, "I am a socialist because I believe that the highest law for mankind is justice." (Pg. 329)
Similar to Darwin, he states that Malthus's AN Essay on the Principle of Population (Pelican Classics Ac18) "gave me the long-sought clue to the effective agent in the evolution of organic species." (Pg. 123-124) Later, he recounts "it occurred to me to ask the question, Why do some die and some live? And the answer was clearly, that on the whole the best fitted live... Then it suddenly flashed upon me that this self-acting process would necessarily improve the race... the fittest would survive. Then at once I seemed to see the whole effect of this, that when changes of land and sea, or of climate, or of food-supply, or of enemies occurred... then all the changes necessary for the adaptation of the species to the changing conditions would be brought about... I wrote a letter to [Darwin] in which I said that I hoped the idea would be as new to him as it was to me, and that it would supply the missing factor to explain the origin of species... The effect of my paper upon Darwin was at first almost paralysing. He had, as I afterwards learnt, hit upon the same idea as my own twenty years earlier, and had occupied himself ... in study and experiment, and in sketching out and partly writing a great work..." (Pg. 190-191)
He later says, "it may interest my readers if I give briefly the four chief points on which I differed from Darwin... (1)... [I] believed that some agency other than natural selection, and analogous to that which first produced organic life, had brought into being [man's] moral and intellectual qualities. (2)... [I] believed that natural selection had operated independentlhy on the two sexes, and each had acquired coloration or form according to its need for protection... (3)... [I thought] the mountain flora had been derived by aerial transmission of seeds...(4) Darwin always believed in the inheritance of acquired characteristics..." (Pg. 236-237)
He also details his belief in Spiritualism "How I became first acquainted with the phenomena and the effect they produced on me are fully described ... in my book Miracles and Modern Spiritualism (Classic Reprint)... [I] witnessed, under test conditions, similar phenomena in great variety... every means ... of excluding trickery or the direct actions of any one present were resorted to." (Pg. 334-335) He adds, "I have reached my present standpoint by a long series of experiences under such varied and peculiar conditions as to render unbelief impossible... we ask for inquiry and patient experiment before hastily concluding that we are... mere dupes and idiots as regards a subject to which we have devoted our best mental faculties and powers of observation for many years." (Pg. 355-356)
Wallace's book will be of considerable interest to anyone studying the development of evolutionary theory, or those interested in Spiritualism and related matters.
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