10 Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace

Monday, December 22nd 2014. | Science

If you are interested to know the British explorer, naturalist, biologist, anthropologist and geographer, check out Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace was born in Welsh village of Llanbadoc on 8 January 1823. He passed away on 7 November 1913. Get more facts about this famous man below:

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 1: parents

His father was Thomas Vere Wallace. He had a degree of law but never practiced it. His mother was Mary Anne Greenell. There were nine children in the family and he was the seventh child. The people assume that he had Scottish ancestry.

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 2: William Wallace

Just like many other Wallaces, his family claimed that they had relation with William Wallace. This man was famous as the leader of Scottish force who fought in 13th century Scottish independence wars.

Alfred Russel Wallace Facts

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 3: the financial situation

The financial situation of his family was not good even though his father had inheritance from the income generating property. But he made bad investment and failed the business.

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 4: education

The family relocated to Hertford when Wallace was five years old. He studied at Hertford Grammar School. Due to the financial condition, he had to leave the school in 1836.

Alfred Russel Wallace Image

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 5: the theory of evolution

Alfred Wallace was famous with his work on the theory of evolution through natural selection. You can find out his paper was published along with the writing of Charles Darwin in 1858. Therefore, Charles Darwin then decided to publish his own ideas in his famous book On the Origin of Species.

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 6: traveling

He traveled a lot to learn about the flora and fauna. First of all, he went to Amazon River Basin before he went to Malay Archipelago.

Alfred Russel Wallace Legacy

Facts about Alfred Russell Wallace 7: Wallace Line

When you talk about Alfred Wallace, you should never forget the Wallace Line. This line is important since it divides the fauna in Indonesian archipelago. There are two different parts on the Wallace line. The eastern part reflects the Australian fauna, while the western part reflects the Asian fauna.

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 8: the father of biogeography

Alfred Wallace is the father of biogeography for he was capable of identifying the geographical distribution of animal species. Find out another scientist who loved with nature in Aldo Leopold facts.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 9: Malay Archipelago

When he was in Malay Archipelago, he collected at least 126,000 specimens. Most of them were beetles.

Facts about Alfred Russel Wallace 10: The Malay Archipelago

After he made exploration in Malay Archipelago, he wrote a book with the title The Malay Archipelago and published in 1869. The book got positive reception from the readers.