Just Before the Origin: Alfred Russel Wallace's Theory of Evolution

by John Langdon Brooks

Just Before the Origin presents the theory of evolution through natural selection as it was developed by Russel Wallace and published in several essays written from 1848 through 1858, before Darwin's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583481117
• ISBN13: 9781583481110
• Release Date: February 1999
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Darwin's and our debt to Wallace

The theory of evolution by natural selection is often thought of as being THE grand theory of biology. Where do revolutionary intellectual advances come from and how does the human community absorb them? Such questions are raised by the history of science and books like Just Before The Origin.Is science the triumphant march of objective truth being revealed by noble seekers of the truth or is science polluted by human ambition just like any other human endeavor? Was Darwin the saintly seeker of the truth we learned about in school or a mere mortal? If he was a mere mortal, how did he achieve the great revolution in evolutionary thought?Extraordinary ideas must be rooted in extraordinary human experiences. We are taught that Darwin was the prepared mind in the right place at the right time, that his voyage around the world opened his eyes to patterns in the geographical variations in the diversity of life. If so, why did so many years pass between his voyage and the publication of his ideas on evolution? Might it be important that in science, as in all of life, it is not just what you know but who your friends are?The conventional rationalization for Darwin's delay in publishing on natural selection is multi-fold. First, it seems likely that Darwin feared the very nature of his discovery. He could well imagine the outrage that would be stimulated by any theory that finally toppled the Judeo-Christian view of man as having been created by God in His image. Second, because of that fear, Darwin felt compelled to marshal a large amount of supporting data, enough to ensure that announcement of his theory would be decisive and able to withstand all resistance.There is third component to the conventional story that seems to explain what finally ended Darwin's dithering over the theory. Alfred Wallace was ready to publish his own version of the theory based on his own extensive observations as a naturalist. John Langdon's analysis of Wallace's work suggests a variation on the standard theme. What if Darwin's main reason for delay in publication was personal dissatisfaction with his theory, not dissatisfaction with the amount or quality of supporting evidence? What if it was Wallace's more extensive data set that provided the basis for the key idea that finally overcame Darwin's own lack of faith in the theory of natural selection, finally allowing Darwin the courage to publish? And what if Darwin never admitted this critical role of Wallace's work?Since the dawn of Western Science, research proposals and manuscripts have been submitted to respected scientific peers in order that well considered decisions can be made about the support of research and the publication of new ideas. Most agree that it is wrong for a senior scientist to read the ideas of a young scientist, appropriate those ideas and exploit them, while at the same time rejecting the requests of the young scientist for support or publication of completed work. And yet, scientists are only huma

Very Good

This book is thorough and very interesting. I recommend it.

detective work history of science

Brooks' object in this book was twofold. First, he wanted to provide a thorough review of the early influences on Wallace that led him to the theory of natural selection. Second, he wished to investigate the possibility that Charles Darwin may have stolen some of Wallace's ideas to complete his "On the Origin of Species." Brooks has been criticized some in the first regard for not thoroughly investigating external influences on Wallace, but I personally feel this hurts the book relatively little. I am more concerned about the second emphasis. While Brooks does a very good job of marshalling all available evidence to make his point, he is not really successful (that is to say, convincing) in doing so; moreover, my personal slant on this is that Wallace had so much that was interesting to say in his own right that the matter of the Darwin-Wallace affair is more of a distraction than anything else. Nevertheless, the book is well worth reading, either by professionals within the field of history of science or evolutionary biology, or by the educated layperson interested in natural history and how science manages to proceed, sometimes in spite of itself.