Alfred Russel Wallace: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

Standard sources on Wallace include his autobiography, My Life: A Record of Events and Opinions, 2 vol. (1905, reissued 1974); James Marchant, Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences (1916, reprinted 1975); and Charles H. Smith (ed.), Alfred Russel Wallace: An Anthology of His Shorter Writings (1991), which contains a comprehensive bibliography of Wallace’s writings and a bibliography of major secondary sources.

Biographies include Wilma George, Biologist Philosopher: A Study of the Life and Writings of Alfred Russel Wallace (1964); Harry Clements, Alfred Russel Wallace (1983); and Martin Fichman, Alfred Russel Wallace (1981). Books focusing on Wallace’s formulation of the theory of evolution by natural selection are H. Lewis McKinney, Wallace and Natural Selection (1972); and John Langdon Brooks, Just Before the Origin: Alfred Russel Wallace’s Theory of Evolution (1984). Timothy Severin, The Spice Islands Voyage (1997), lavishly illustrated, is a combined biography-travelogue, tracing Wallace’s work in the Malay Archipelago.

A full treatment of the Wallace Line is given in Jane R. Camerini, “Evolution, Biogeography, and Maps: An Early History of Wallace’s Line,” Isis, 84(4):700–727 (December 1993). David Quammen, The Song of the Dodo (1996), is an excellent nontechnical account of Wallace’s evolutionary biogeography. A significant interpretation of Wallace’s evolutionary theories can be found in James Moore, “Wallace’s Malthusian Moment: The Common Context Revisited,” in Bernard Lightman (ed.), Victorian Science in Context (1997), pp. 290–311.

Jane R. Camerini

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

  • Jane R. Camerini
    Faculty Associate, Department of the History of Science, University of Wisconsin.

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Modified link of Web site: The Victorian Web - Alfred Russel Wallace: The Origins of an Evolutionist (1823-1848). Dec 23, 2024
Anniversary information added. Nov 03, 2024
First paragraph modernization. Apr 15, 2024
Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Alfred Russel Wallace and the Antivaccination Movement in Victorian England. Mar 22, 2024
Anniversary information added. Jan 04, 2024
Add new Web site: University of Nebraska State Museum - Division of Entomology - Alfred Russel Wallace 1823-1913. Dec 11, 2023
Add new Web site: The Victorian Web - Alfred Russel Wallace: The Origins of an Evolutionist (1823-1848). Oct 04, 2023
Links added. Mar 17, 2023
Link added. Feb 16, 2023
Add new Web site: Natural History Museum - Who was Alfred Russel Wallace? Apr 05, 2022
Corrected display issue. Jan 05, 2021
Top Questions updated. Sep 18, 2019
Add new Web site: Famous Scientists - Biography of Alfred Russel Wallace. Jan 31, 2019
Add new Web site: Age of the Sage - Transmitting the Wisdoms of the Ages - Biography of Alfred Wallace. May 20, 2014
Add new Web site: The Natural History Museum - Biography of Alfred Russel Wallace. Jan 28, 2013
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - Science - Biography of Alfred Russel Wallace. Feb 06, 2009
Article revised and updated. Nov 13, 2007
Added new Web site: Spice Islands - Biography of Alfred Russel Wallace. Jan 25, 2007
Added new Web site: The Alfred Russel Wallace Page. Jun 20, 2006
Article revised. Nov 18, 1999
Article added to new online database. May 27, 1999
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