Natural selection and beyond: The intellectual legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace, a 507 page book Charles Smith and I co-edited, was published by Oxford University Press last week, and officially launched at a one day conference on Wallace at the Linnean Society of London on 
Saturday 22nd November (see http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2008/november/new-book-explores-wallaces-legacy.html). The full citation is: Smith, C. H. & Beccaloni, G. [Eds.] 2008. Natural selection and beyond: The intellectual legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, xxv + 482 pp., 14 colour and 32 B&W figures, 2 tables.
The book provides an authoritative assessment of how Wallace's many contributions to the diverse range of subjects which interested him have stood the test of time. Since it would be impossible for any one person to do this we asked experts in each subject to write chapters which critically examined the ideas Wallace contributed to their particular field. Experts who authored chapters include Dr Steven J. Dick (the Chief Historian of NASA), Darwin scholar Prof. James Moore, Wallace biographer Prof. Peter Raby, plus many others!
The publisher's blurb about the book is as follows:
"Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) was one of the late nineteenth century's most potent intellectual forces. His link to Darwin as co-discoverer of the principle of natural selection alone would have secured him a place in history, but he went on to complete work entitling him to recognition as the 'father' of zoogeography, as a pioneer in the field of astrobiology, and as an important contributor to subjects as far-ranging as glaciology, land reform, anthropology and ethnography, and epidemiology. Beyond this, many are coming to regard Wallace as the pre-eminent field biologist, collector, and naturalist of tropical regions. Add to that the fact that he was a vocal supporter of spiritualism, socialism, and the rights of the ordinary person, and it quickly becomes apparent that Wallace was a man of extraordinary breadth of attention. Yet his work in many of these areas is still not well known, and still less recognized is his relevance to current day research almost 100 years after his death.
This rich collection of writings by more than twenty historians and scientists reviews and reflects on the work that made Wallace a famous man in his own time, and a figure of extraordinary influence and continuing interest today."
The retail price of the book in the UK is £30 ($70 in the USA), and copies are available from Amazon and from bookshops such as Waterstones.
To see Janet Browne's and David Quammen's comments about the book CLICK HERE and zoom in.
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Charles Smith (left) & George Beccaloni (right) with Natural Selection and Beyond in November 2008. Copyright Jan Beccaloni. |
List of the chapters and other contributed sections in the book:
Foreword - Peter Bowler
Preface - Earl of Cranbrook
Introduction - Charles Smith & George Beccaloni
1. Homes Sweet Homes: A Biographical Tour of Wallace’s Many Places of Residence - George Beccaloni
PART I. IN THE WORLD OF NATURE
2. ‘‘Ardent Beetle-Hunters’’: Natural History, Collecting, and the Theory of Evolution - Andrew Berry
3. Theory and Practice in the Field: Wallace’s Work in Natural History (1844–1858) - Melinda Bonnie Fagan
4. Wallace’s Annotated Copy of the Darwin-Wallace Paper on Natural Selection - George Beccaloni
5. Wallace and the Species Concept of the Early Darwinians - James Mallet
6. Direct Selection for Reproductive Isolation: The Wallace Effect and Reinforcement - Norman A. Johnson
7. The Colours of Animals: From Wallace to the Present Day. I. Cryptic Coloration. - Tim Caro, Sami Merilaita & Martin Stevens
8. The Colours of Animals: From Wallace to the Present Day. II. Conspicuous Coloration - Tim Caro, Geoffrey Hill, Leena Lindstrçm & Michael Speed
9. Alfred Russel Wallace, Biogeographer - Bernard Michaux
10. Wallace and the Great Ice Age - Keith Tinkler
11. Wallace, Conservation, and Sustainable Development - Sandra Knapp
PART II. IN THE WORLD OF MAN, AND WORLDS BEYOND
12. The ‘‘Finest Butterfly in the World?’’: Wallace and His Literary Legacy - Peter Raby
13. Wallace and Owenism - Gregory Claeys
14. Wallace, Women, and Eugenics - Diane B. Paul
15. Out of ‘‘the Limbo of ‘Unpractical Politics’ ’’: The Origins and Essence of Wallace’s Advocacy of Land Nationalization - David A. Stack
16. Alfred Russel Wallace and Anti-Vaccinationism in the Late Victorian Cultural Context, 1870-1907 - Martin Fichman
17. The Universe and Alfred Russel Wallace - Steven J. Dick
18. Wallace’s Unfinished Business - Charles H. Smith
19. Wallace in Wonderland - James Moore
20. Wallace’s Dilemmas: The Laws of Nature and the Human Spirit - Ted Benton
21. Wallace, Spiritualism, and Beyond: ‘‘Change,’’ or ‘‘No Change’’? - Charles H. Smith
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