Lecture 8 - Wallace in the Malay Archipelago

• Changes in viewpoint 

  • Initially people recognised that both Darwin and Wallace had huge contributions to evolution
  • Eventually more people started to think Wallace did not get as much recognition as Darwin 
  • Darwin mentioned about “the problem of origin of species” in his book, and people started spreading myths of Wallace solving the problem afterwards 
• Paper on orang-utans 

  • Wallace mentioned that living things naturally have structures that they do not need → evidence of him only collecting specimens since he did not speculate on adaptation 
• New Guinea

  • Known as the bird of paradise
  • While having a fever (malaria), Wallace thought about a theory on evolution and wrote the ternate essay after he recovered 
  • Wrote a letter 2 weeks later to Bates' brother about his theory of evolution explaining the different colours of tiger beetles matching their environment
• The Ternate Essay 

  • He believes varieties constantly occurs randomly from sexual reproduction, and the varieties with desirable traits will survive while those without will be wiped out 
  • Challenged Charles Lyell’s theory that varieties can return to their original parent form 
  • Wallace’s theory is more rapid, while Darwin’s theory is more slow and gradual, happening over hundreds of generation
  • Did not publish it to the public due to disappointment of the Sarawak Law Paper 
  • Sent the essay to Darwin as they both had interest in evolution
• Conspiracy theories

  • The mail steamer only sends out letters monthly 
  • Many people thought Darwin was a liar as he said he received the ternate essay on 18 June 1858, but Wallace said he mailed it out in March 
  • Truth was Wallace received a letter from Darwin in March, and Wallace responded with the ternate essay in the next month after receiving the letter
• Darwin’s reaction to the Ternate Essay

  • Darwin was shocked that the theory of evolution looked similar to his
  • Wallace wanted Darwin to send the letter to Charles Lyell, which Darwin did but Lyell did not respond
  • Lyell encouraged Darwin to publish his theory, but Darwin did not feel comfortable
  • Decided to get Joseph Hooker's advice, in which he advised Darwin to publish a joint publication with both his theory and Wallace’s ternate essay
  • Darwin initially wanted to publish the theory in one entire book, but decided to separate them into different volumes after receiving the ternate essay
• Darwin’s reaction to the Ternate Essay

  • The ternate essay was published without Wallace’s knowledge, but it was normal back then to publish letters sent to them and Wallace knew the rules 
  • Scientific priority at that time was the first person to come up and share a scientific theory → Wallace only had the priority of publishing first (if he did without Darwin)
• Wallace’s letter to his mother 

  • Wallace was glad the ternate essay received recognition from Darwin, Lyell and Hooker 
  • Mentioned that they thought very highly of the essay they read it before the ‘Linnean Society”
• The Origin of Species (1859)

  • Darwin published all his 20 years of work into a book, with Wallace only mentioned in the first page
  • The book was not able to convince the public on evolution, until the scientific revolution occurred 
  • Wallace received a copy of the book from Darwin and he mentioned that Darwin’s theory was so much more detailed as compared to his essay
  • Darwin was the one that convinced the world about evolution, which finally got fully accepted by 1870 (15-20 years after the book was published), and Wallace only became famous because of his association with Darwin
• Darwin and Wallace 

  • Darwin and Wallace were alway friends, though they had some tension 
  • Wallace did not like the term ‘natural selection’ and convinced Darwin to change the term to ‘survival of the fittest’ in later editions of Origin of Species 
  • Wallace mentioned that a supernatural intelligence in addition to nature means have resulted in evolution, Darwin was horrified and replied saying he hoped Wallace did not just contradict the theory of evolution the scientific community have concluded 
• The Malay Archipelago (1862)

  • Wallace returned home in 1862 with lots of money from his collection
  • He published a book on his travels to southeast asia → the malay archipelago
• Wallace’s marriage

  • Wallace married Annie Milton after being ditched a year ago
• The Flat Earth Wager

  • Wallace wanted to prove a conspiracy theorist wrong and show that the Earth is round, where the bottom of canal is curved and not flat, encouraged by Lyell to join the challenge
  • Wallace was awarded the bet money but had angered the conspiracy theorist, where he spread false rumours of Wallace and caused Wallace to use up lots of money in court 
• Wallace’s interests 

  • Wallace was interested in spiritualism and tried taking pictures with spirits - his dead mother (fabricated picture), he believed it completely he was shocked his mother’s appearance changed so much
  • He also campaigned for anti-vaccination
• Wallace’s fame 

  • Myth: Wallace is the father of biogeography → misconception online
  • Myth: He was the most famous scientist in the world when he died (1913)
  • Known as the greatest field biologist → possibly due to his large collection