In Darwin's Shadow: The Life and Science of Alfred Russel Wallace: A Biographical Study on the Psychology of History

443 Pages·2002·5.89 MB·English

by  Michael Shermer

’
IN DARWIN S SHADOW
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IN
D ’
ARWIN S
S
HADOW
THE LIFE AND SCIENCE OF
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
A Biographical Study
on the
Psychology of History
Michael Shermer
3
2002
1
Oxford NewYork
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Shermer,Michael.
InDarwin’sshadow:thelifeandscienceof
AlfredRusselWallace/MichaelShermer.
p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN0-19-514830-4
1. Wallace,AlfredRussel,1823–1913.
2. Naturalist—England—Biography.
3. Naturalselection. I. Title.
QH31.W2S442002 508'.092—dc21 [B] 2001055721
Allillustrations,unlessotherwisenoted,werepreparedbyPatLinse.
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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To
Kimberly
With unencumbered love and unmitigated gratitude for fifteen years
(plus one honeymoon) spent in fifteen archives reading through 1,500 letters,
750 articles, and 22 books; her deep insight into the complex psychology
of the human condition provided both historical and personal
enlightenment. She has made me whole.
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface: Genesis and Revelation xiii
Prologue. The Psychology of Biography 3
1. Uncertain Beginnings 33
2. The Evolution of a Naturalist 56
3. Breaching the Walls of the Species Citadel 77
4. The Mystery of Mysteries Solved 108
5. A Gentlemanly Arrangement 128
6. Scientific Heresy and Ideological Murder 151
7. A Scientist Among the Spiritualists 175
8. Heretical Thoughts 202
9. Heretical Culture 225
10. Heretic Personality 250
11. The Last Great Victorian 271
12. The Life of Wallace and the Nature of History 298
Epilogue. Psychobiography and the Science of History 311
Notes 329
Appendix I: Wallace Archival Sources 343
Appendix II: Wallace’s Published Works 351
Bibliography 391
Index 403
vii
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ILLUSTRATIONS
P-1. The Historical Matrix Model. 8
P-2. Wallace’s twenty-two books classified by subject. 16
P-3. Wallace’s 747 papers classified by subject. 17
P-4. Wallace’s personality profile. 26
1-1. The birthplace of Alfred Russel Wallace, Kensington Cottage, Usk. 35
1-2. Mary Anne Wallace (ne´e Greenell), Alfred’s mother; ThomasVere
Wallace, Alfred’s father. 35
1-3. The grammar school at Hertford, the place of Alfred’s only formal
education. 37
2-1. A daguerreotype from 1848 of Alfred Russel Wallace at age twenty-
five. 58
2-2. Henry Walter Bates,Wallace’s traveling companion for the first part of the
Amazon expedition. 59
2-3. The Rio Negro, mapped by the Royal Geographical Society based on Wal-
lace’s observations. 63
2-4. Series of hand sketches by Wallace, labeled as: “Some of My Original
Sketches on the Amazon.” 69–71
3-1. Alfred RusselWallace in 1853 at age thirty. 78
3-2. Charles Darwin in 1854 at age forty-five. 79
3-3. Wallace in his late twenties or early thirties, with his mother, Mary Anne,
and sister Frances. 80
3-4. Wallace playing chess with his sister shortly after his return from the
Amazon. 81
ix