Darwin Publishes Natural Selection: A Theory Transforms Biology
Alfred Russel Wallace mailed a manuscript to Charles Darwin from the Malay Archipelago in early 1858, describing a theory of natural selection remarkably similar to the one Darwin had been developing for twenty years but never published. Darwin was devastated, writing to his friend Charles Lyell, "All my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed." Lyell and Joseph Hooker arranged a compromise: papers by both Darwin and Wallace were read at the Linnean Society on July 1, 1858. Neither man was present. The response was muted; the Society's president noted "nothing very revolutionary." Darwin rushed to complete On the Origin of Species, published in November 1859. Wallace graciously acknowledged Darwin's priority and the two maintained a warm friendship. Wallace never received the recognition his co-discovery deserved.
June 18, 1858
168 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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