One There are a hundred years, in November 1913, the famous explorer and naturalist Alfred Wallace, died in old age of ninety - now his legacy is slowly returning to the public eye as he gains recognition for his theories eclipsed the field of evolution. Apart from Tintin, of course, Wallace is my favorite browser for eight years between 1854 to 1862, he conducted research and collected specimens in the Malay Archipelago - the area now known as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia . Coincidentally, my favorite comedian Bill Bailey recently presented the fascinating documentary Jungle Hero Bill Bailey into two parts, about Wallace's theories were developed in Indonesia; Bailey made some extraordinary claims and well supported that shake the creation
We all know that Charles Darwin developed the theory of evolution by natural selection, but what do we know about Wallace -. The co-author of this theory? In fact Wallace was the first to compile all the written form theory, which he innocently sent in a letter to Charles Darwin; the letter was published in 1858 without the knowledge of Wallace next to a paper by Darwin. In the introduction to this section of their joint breakthrough, Charles Lyell wrote: "These gentlemen having, independently and unknown to each other, conceived the same very ingenious theory to account for the perpetuation of varieties .... "instead of directly to a journal for publication, poor Wallace had inadvertently sent to a rival." It was stolen, "Bailey says.
Despite the initial glory and Wallace who wrote 22 books and more than 0 scientific articles, over time his name has evaporated like steam. But thanks to the efforts of Bailey, a portrait of Wallace was erected at the natural history Museum next to a statue of Darwin and ceremony was followed by Sir David Attenborough. There is also an ongoing project at the museum download all Wallace letters on an online database so that researchers can discover more about this heroic naturalist.
the Wallace's dedication to research and perseverance in tropical forests in the era of -hunters head, poor drugs, and tropical diseases was quite admirable. Sometimes it flourished after getting enough specimens to support its research, but there were also times of scarcity and deprivation. He was a humble man with financial difficulties - an outsider in scientific circles elite of the time - perhaps this led him to become a socialist and The Malay Archipelago , it criticized the "social barbarism" of Industrial Britain.
Fascinated by her story, I recently visited one of the villages on the island of Gam in Raja Ampat, where Wallace stayed in 1860 when a friend of mine Papuan still lived with his family. The people knew about Wallace activities as Cendrawasih (bird-of-paradise) sample collector and his cousin offered to take me deep into its forest garden on the hill where the Bird-limestone Paradis de-Rouge (which Wallace collected) often visited. We left before dawn so as not to disturb the birds and after a hike of one hour the sun shone over the sea that we have reached the point where feed the birds "played" before disappearing into the forest. Our guide up to the dark leaves - we could see the red plumes of male rebound from branch to branch, and his son corkscrew tail. It must have been an exciting show for Wallace who had fought for more than two return birds of paradise on the island of Waigeo. At one time, before the cinema and photography, sample collection was vital for scientific research and so
Wallace moved to Bessir (now Yenbeser) on the island of Gam where "eight or ten "men were experts in the art of trapping and preservation of birds.
his book the Malay archipelago is also a fascinating story of the people of Indonesia in the nineteenth century, and Wallace spoke movingly of the villagers 'honest' Bessir of which he housed in a stilted hut next to the white sand - ". none of us grumbled our housing "a" dwarf house, only eight square feet, "he cleaned and stayed for six weeks with its crew and
It is interesting to see how he perceived the archipelago magic there over a hundred years. Already, in places such as Ternate and Raja Ampat, people still cherish their relationship with Wallace, but hopefully it will be recognized beyond Indonesia and the scientific community and reach a wider audience through the world. Thus, in this centenary year of his death, I raise a glass to the great naturalist and Wallace hopes his theories and adventures inspire generations to come.
Additional Information
Wallace, Alfred Russell (1869), The Malay Archipelago, Macmillan: London
AR Wallace Correspondence Project: http://wallaceletters.info /
two parts of the documentary Bill Bailey: Jungle Hero of Bill Bailey, Wallace Borneo and Wallace in the spice islands
0 Komentar