"more Darwinian than Darwin."
Biography: Discover more about one of the great, and arguably neglected, scientists of the 19th century, with the help of this feature by James D. Williams, a Lecturer in Science Education at the University of Sussex.
Alfred Russel Wallace, sometime resident of Neath, doesn't spring to mind as one of the great scientists of the nineteenth century. Yet an essay written by him in 1858 shook Charles Darwin, so-called discoverer of the theory of evolution, to the core.
He was the eighth of nine children. In 1828 the family relocated to Hertford where he attended the local grammar school.
At 18 he came to Neath, joining elder brother William as an apprentice surveyor, lodging at Bryncoch Farm.
Alfred also had an eye for the young ladies of Neath saying: "The girls are often exceedingly pretty when about fifteen to twenty, but after that hard work and exposure make their features coarse, so that a girl of twenty five would often be taken for nearer forty!"
When surveying work dried up, he took a job as a teacher at Leicester Collegiate School where he met naturalist Henry Walter Bates.
In 1845 he returned to Neath and lived in Llantwit Cottage, taking over his recently deceased brother's business.
He was commissioned to design and build the Neath Mechanic's Institute in 1847 and with the profit from this and money from part-time teaching, Wallace and Bates sailed to South America in 1848 to discover 'the origin of species'.
Wallace saw his time at Neath and in the surrounding countryside as a 'turning point' in his life.
After four years of collecting in the Amazon, he decided to return home. During the voyage, disaster struck. His ship caught fire and sank and he lost his collections.
He was rescued after ten days adrift, eventually landing at Deal in Kent with just a thin calico suit and a tin of drawings of palm trees and fishes.
Undeterred, he sailed to the Malay Archipelago in 1854.
In 1855 he published an essay on evolution, but it didn't explain any mechanism for it. Charles Darwin, who read the essay, even wrote and complimented him on his work.
In 1858, during a fit of malaria, Wallace thought of a mechanism for evolution. The fittest in a population will survive, the weakest will die.
Over two evenings he wrote out his theory and sent it to Darwin.
When Wallace's letter arrived, Darwin read it with a sinking heart. His own, identical theory seemed doomed.
Darwin asked geologist Charles Lyell and botanist Joseph Hooker, for advice. They arranged for a letter written by Darwin in 1844 and Wallace's essay to be read to the Linnean Society on July 1st 1858.
They made it clear that Darwin had come to the theory first.
A year later, Darwin published "On The Origin of Species".
Darwin's book caught the public imagination, but Wallace was still in Malaysia unaware of the commotion 'Darwin's' theory of evolution had caused.
He could have felt hard done by, but at no point did he ever claim that he was cheated. He even called his own book 'Darwinism' and at one point claimed to be "more Darwinian than Darwin".
Wallace established the science of biogeography and wrote a vast number of essays, books and articles on social and scientific issues.
As a founder of the land nationalization society he believed that nobody should own land, only the buildings.
He also wrote about spiritualism, something that his contemporaries were dismissive of and that today still tarnishes his reputation.
His lasting discovery for biologists is 'Wallace's Line', which separates two distinct groups of plants and animals in the Malay Archipelago.
Alfred Russel Wallace died on 7th November 1913 and is buried in Broadstone cemetery, Dorset.
Neath should be proud of its influence on the young naturalist and that the surrounding countryside inspired this great man to learn about nature and decide to uncover one of the greatest mysteries of life, the origin of species.
James D. Williams, a Lecturer in Science Education at the University of Sussex
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