I have decided to write about Alfred Wallace, because of his positive influence on Charles Darwin. Alfred Wallace is the reason "The Origin of Species" was published because Darwin was afraid the Wallace would attempt to publish his own findings first, he also collaborated with Darwin by submitting personal notes and other hypotheses to assist him in his publishing of the "Origin of Species" including his paper "On the Tendencies of Varieties to Depart Indefinitely from the Original Type" which described his views that evolution was a process driven by competition and natural selection (Text pg.38)
His biggest contribution to modern science would probably be his proposal of Intelligent Evolution, basically compromising the Creation Theory and Evolution Theory, saying that a far more intelligent being was behind the evolutionary process. He is also listed as one of the co-founders of bio-geography. (http://www.alfredwallace.org/faqs)
Darwin reinforced Wallace's idea that organisms with the ability to adapt to the environment had a better chance of survival and procreation leading to further evolution and adaptation of specific genetic lineages, using the peppered moth as an example. the lighter colored moths surviving longer than the darker ones, and then ultimately reversing when the dust from the coal changed the environment allowing the darker ones to survive longer. (Addressing the "Who gets better access to these limited resources?" bullet point)
Darwin developed his theory free of Wallace's influence, since they both proposed their individual theories and ideas around the same time, he just built on Wallace's ideas after their collaboration by compiling both of their research and supplying more of his own findings from his observations of finches in the Galapagos islands.
(Textbook pg. 38)
Naturally, the church was unhappy about Charles Darwin proposing the idea of evolution, which challenged their teachings that "God created everything the way it was and nothing had changed since the day of creation", by saying that evolution and natural selection caused plants, animals, and people to adapt and change to better survive in their environment basically said that they were wrong and History shows that the Church condemns those who disagree with or challenges what they say, there was no further affect on the publication of his book until AFTER it was printed, as the book states, "...public opinion was negative, but there was much scholarly praise for the book, and scientific opinion gradually came to Darwin's support..." My research was fruitless in attempting to discover the actual affect the Church's position had on him personally.
(http://www.pewforum.org/2009/02/04/darwin-and-his-theory-of-evolution/)
Good first paragraph with your discussion of how Wallace influenced Darwin.
ReplyDeleteYour second paragraph is based upon a website that is actually listed on the blackboard course under the "Bad Resources" page, so please review that to understand the problems with that source. Wallace did not propose "Intelligent Evolution". This is just another attempt by the Intelligent Design folks to rewrite history.
It is difficult to choose a bullet point with Wallace since, technically, all bullet points apply equally, correct? But I agree with your choice of bullet point and your argument for that point.
I agree that Darwin developed his theory without Wallace. But do you think he ever would have published if not for Wallace?
Yes, the church didn't know about Darwin's idea until after he published and he delayed more than 20 years before publishing. Why was that? What caused him to delay? What influences and concerns made him wait? This was the question at hand, about his decision to publish. One good discussion on this is from Stephen J. Gould. Not the final answer by any means but certainly something to think about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slx5o3Mmpv8
Hi Evan !
ReplyDeleteI agree Alfred Wallace did have an influence on Darwin. He is the reason why Darwin printed his ideas to show everybody. I also agree 100% of the credit does not all go to Wallace, I think he just improved it kind of and made it stronger.