An Elusive Victorian: The Evolution of Alfred Russel WallaceUniversity of Chicago Press, 15. nov 2010 - 416 pages Codiscoverer of the theory of evolution by natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace should be recognized as one of the titans of Victorian science. Instead he has long been relegated to a secondary place behind Darwin. Worse, many scholars have overlooked or even mocked his significant contributions to other aspects of Victorian culture. With An Elusive Victorian, Martin Fichman provides the first comprehensive analytical study of Wallace's life and controversial intellectual career. Fichman examines not only Wallace's scientific work as an evolutionary theorist and field naturalist but also his philosophical concerns, his involvement with theism, and his commitment to land nationalization and other sociopolitical reforms such as women's rights. As Fichman shows, Wallace worked throughout his life to integrate these humanistic and scientific interests. His goal: the development of an evolutionary cosmology, a unified vision of humanity's place in nature and society that he hoped would ensure the dignity of all individuals. To reveal the many aspects of this compelling figure, Fichman not only reexamines Wallace's published works, but also probes the contents of his lesser known writings, unpublished correspondence, and copious annotations in books from his personal library. Rather than consider Wallace's science as distinct from his sociopolitical commitments, An Elusive Victorian assumes a mutually beneficial relationship between the two, one which shaped Wallace into one of the most memorable characters of his time. Fully situating Wallace's wide-ranging work in its historical and cultural context, Fichman's innovative and insightful account will interest historians of science, religion, and Victorian culture as well as biologists. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 11 | |
CHAPTER 3 Wallaces Evolutionary Philosophy | 66 |
Multiple Directions and Inevitable Tensions | 139 |
The Ethics of Politics and the Politics of Ethics | 211 |
Wallaces Theistic Evolutionary Teleology | 283 |
CHAPTER 7 Epilogue | 322 |
Bibliography | 335 |
Index | 365 |
Other editions - View all
An Elusive Victorian: The Evolution of Alfred Russel Wallace Martin Fichman No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Alfred Russel Wallace Amazon American animals argued argument Aru Islands Bates believed biogeography birds Britain British Cambridge career Charles Darwin claims concept controversial conviction critics crucial cultural Darwin debates early economic England essay ethical evidence evolutionary biology evolutionary teleology evolutionary theism evolutionary theory existence fauna forces framework geographical distribution geological George George's History of Biology human evolution Huxley individuals intellectual James Journal land nationalization late Victorian later lectures letter London Lyell major Malay Archipelago Man's Place Marchant mesmerism moral natural history natural selection naturalists nineteenth century orangutan organic origin of species Owen Owenite Peirce phenomena philosophy phrenology physical political professional Psychical Research races reform regarded regions religion religious Review scientists séances sexual selection significant social socialist sociopolitical Spencer spiritualism spiritualist theism theistic thought tion University Press varieties views Wallace asserted Wallace declared Wallace noted Wallace's evolutionary William worldview York
Popular passages
Page 339 - A Short History of Natural Science and of the Progress of Discovery, From the Time of the Greeks to the Present Time.
Page 91 - When the views advanced by me in this volume, and by Mr. Wallace, or when analogous views on the origin of species are generally admitted, we can dimly foresee that there will be a considerable revolution in natural history. Systematists will be able to pursue their labours as at present; but they will not be incessantly haunted by the shadowy doubt whether this or that form be a true species.
Page 67 - than you appear to have. I do not consider it a hasty generalization, but rather as an ingenious hypothesis strongly supported by some striking facts and analogies, but which remains to be proved by more facts and the additional light which more research may throw upon the problem. It furnishes a subject for every observer of nature to attend to ; every fact he observes will make either for or against it, and it thus serves...
Page 103 - We believe we have now shown that there is a tendency in nature to the continued progression of certain classes of varieties further and further from the original...
Page 77 - ... organic beings which have existed on the earth. This appears to be a fatal objection to it, independently of all other considerations. It may be said that the same objections exist against every theory on such a subject, but this is not necessarily the case. The hypothesis put forward in this paper depends in no degree upon the completeness of our knowledge of the former condition of the organic world, but takes what facts we have as fragments of a vast whole, and deduces from them something...
Page 25 - In every detail they were original and self-sustaining as are the wild animals of the forests, absolutely independent of civilization, and who could and did live their own lives in their own way, as they had done for countless generations before America was discovered.
Page 97 - Then it suddenly flashed upon me that this self-acting process would necessarily improve the race, because in every generation the inferior would inevitably be killed off and the superior would remain — that is, the fittest would survive.
Page 84 - Wallace, in which he concludes, that every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a pre-existing closely allied species.
References to this book
The Insect-populated Mind: How Insects Have Influenced the Evolution of ... David Spooner Limited preview - 2005 |