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Natural Selection and Tropical Nature: Essays on Descriptive and Theoretical Biology by Wallace, Alfred Russel (2005) Paperback
1891. Essays on descriptive and theoretical biology by Wallace, an English naturalist, evolutionist, geographer, anthropologist, and social critic. Contents: Natural Selection: On the Law which has Regulated the Introduction of New Species; On the Tendency of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type; Mimicry, and other Protective Resemblances Among Animals; On Instinct in Man and Animals; the Philosophy of Birds' Nests; A Theory of Birds' Nests; Creation by Law; The Development of Human Races Under the Law of Natural Selection; The Limits of Natural Selection as Applied to Man. Tropical Nature and Other Essays: The Climate and Physical Aspects of the Equatorial Zone; Equatorial Vegetation; Animal Life in the Tropical Forests; Hummingbirds: As Illustrating the Luxuriance of Tropical Nature; The Colors of Animals and Sexual Selection; The Colors of Plants and the Origin of the Color-Sense; The Antiquity and Origin of Man; The Antiquity of Man in North America; and The Debt of Science to Darwin. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
508 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
About the author
Alfred Russel Wallace
560 books93 followersAlfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for independently proposing a theory of natural selection which prompted Charles Darwin to publish his own theory.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
Wallace did extensive fieldwork, first in the Amazon River basin and then in the Malay Archipelago, where he identified the Wallace Line that divides Indonesia into two distinct parts, one in which animals closely related to those of Australia are common, and one in which the species are largely of Asian origin. He was considered the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called the "father of biogeography". Wallace was one of the leading evolutionary thinkers of the 19th century and made a number of other contributions to the development of evolutionary theory besides being co-discoverer of natural selection. These included the concept of warning colouration in animals, and the Wallace effect, a hypothesis on how natural selection could contribute to speciation by encouraging the development of barriers against hybridization.
Wallace was strongly attracted to unconventional ideas. His advocacy of Spiritualism and his belief in a non-material origin for the higher mental faculties of humans strained his relationship with the scientific establishment, especially with other early proponents of evolution. In addition to his scientific work, he was a social activist who was critical of what he considered to be an unjust social and economic system in 19th-century Britain. His interest in biogeography resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmental impact of human activity. Wallace was a prolific author who wrote on both scientific and social issues; his account of his adventures and observations during his explorations in Indonesia and Malaysia, The Malay Archipelago, was one of the most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration published during the 19th century.
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February 18, 2014
Une étude fondamentale sur l'écologie des forêts tropicales de l'Asie du Sud Est et des Amériques, rédigé par un contemporain de Charles Darwin qui nous donne une idée sur le consensus scientifique à l'époque et remet Darwin même à sa juste place dans la progression du savoir humain.
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