Alfred Russel Wallace "The Other Darwin"

Alfred Russel Wallace, around 1895.

Charles Darwin is usually given sole credit for the Theory of Evolution, but it was a letter from Wallace, outlining very similar thought on the subject, that prompted Darwin to publish the manuscript that he had been too nervous for decades to allow the public to see.

It wasn't Darwin's fault that, until recently, history had largely forgotten about Wallace's contribution. Indeed, Darwin and Wallace intended to make a joint presentation of their theory to the  Linnean Society, but Darwin was too distraught to attend after his baby son died from scarlet fever.

Darwin later campaigned, successfully, for Wallace to be awarded a government pension for his lifetime contributions to science.

 


Original B&W photo.