My friend and colleague Dick Vane-Wright sent me the following splendid quote from a book published by American psychologist and evolutionist James Mark Baldwin back in 1909 - a point in time when Wallace's fame was at its peak and his fundamental contributions to evolutionary theory were more widely known than they are today:
“I wish to add a word in this place on the relation of Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace to current Darwinism. The development of the Darwinian theory has tended to justify certain of Wallace’s original views, rather than those of Darwin; and notably in just the one point—the exclusion of use-inheritance—which now serves to define Darwinism as distinguished from other theories, it is Wallace who has led the way. It may safely be said also, I think that the brilliant and significant researches made by Wallace subsequently to the announcement of the theory of natural selection, would practically have established that theory. Accordingly, the Darwinian theory of today might with entire appropriateness be called ‘Wallaceism.’ The extraordinary modesty and high scientific morality of Wallace should not lead his contemporaries to deny to him an equal place with Darwin in the development of evolution theory; and it is with this feeling in mind that I dedicate this little book on ‘Darwinism’—entirely without his knowledge—to the great Naturalist, Wallace.
J. Mark Baldwin
Paris, September, 1909"
(Quoted from page x of Baldwin, James Mark. 1909. Darwin and the Humanities. Baltimore: Review Publishing Co., xi + 118 pp.)
Interestingly, in another book written by Baldwin in 1926 he reproduced two letters that he had received from Wallace (dated 1902 and 1910), in which Wallace disagrees with the importance of Baldwin's 'Organic Selection' (although he doesn't discount it) and claims credit for some of Baldwin's ideas! Here is a quote from Wallace's 1902 letter (both letters can be found HERE):
"One other subject I will refer to. On p. 145 you refer to the controlling force of intelligence on evolution in man, which has become mental instead of physical. I believe I was the first to put forth this view nearly forty years ago in my paper on The Development of Human Races (Anthropological Review, 1864) and republished in my "Natural Selection and Tropical Nature," Chap. 8, where it will be found to be enforced by a considerable amount of reasoning which has never been replied to."
On the 8th September 2011 Dick is organising a day symposium at the Linnaean Society of London entitled "The Role of Behaviour in Evolution - "organisms can be proud to have been their own designers"", which will examine the current status of the organic selection movement'. Details of this meeting can be found HERE
Add new comment