Alfred Russel Wallace

Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823–1913), English naturalist and evolutionist. He formulated a theory of natural selection (survival of the fittest) simultaneously with, but independent of, Charles Darwin. Wallace explored at length the Malay Archipelago and the Amazon, where the idea of natural selection occurred to him, and where he formulated a basis for geographically categorizing animals. Wallace published “On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species” (1855), which he shared with Darwin. Together they presented their theory before the Linnaean Society (1858). Other works include The Malay Archipelago (1869), Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection (1870), and The Geographical Distribution of Animals (2 vols, 1876), a systemization of the science of biogeography.

See also: Darwin, Charles Robert.