Forgotten evolutionist rediscovered at last

Seeds of an evolutionary tree
In 1855, he laid out the Sarawak law — named after the place he wrote the paper, now a state in modern-day Malaysia — in which he described evolution as a branching tree. His forceful argument in support of evolution came at a time when creationism, or the idea that God created man, was the popular school of thought.

A year later, he proposed what became known as the Wallace Line after traveling to the islands of Bali and Lombok, in what is now Indonesia. He noticed that bird species were different on each island and concluded that a deep water trench created a boundary that separated the animal species of Southeast Asia and Australasia.

Two years after that, Wallace came up with the theory of natural selection — or survival of the fittest — while bedridden with malaria on another nearby island.

His theory was presented together with Darwin's by the Linnean Society of London on July 1, 1858. Upon his return to England in 1862, Wallace found himself welcomed into a select club of scientists that included Darwin, Sir Charles Lyell, Joseph Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley.

Wallace became one of the most prominent scientists of his day, publishing more than 800 articles and 22 books over the next 50 years. He was a leading voice in an anti-vaccination movement, a proponent of land reform and the father of biogeography, or the study of the geographic distribution of plants and animals.

Alastair Grant / AP George Beccaloni holds a book with a drawing of a long armed beetle, over a display case in London showing the original specimen collected by Wallace.

"He was a person with a remarkable open mind," said Charles H. Smith, a professor and Western Kentucky University librarian who runs a Web site on Wallace. "He had more concern with science as it related to humankind than practically anyone in his time. That is why he was so interested in social issues."

Wallace died in 1913 at the age of 90. Over the years, he slipped into obscurity, joining a long list — British scientist Patrick Matthews and French scientist Jean Baptist LeMarc among them — whose contributions to evolution theory have largely become footnotes.

The soft-spoken, baby-faced Beccaloni became enamored of Wallace as a graduate student studying the evolution of mimicry in butterflies. He took up Wallace's cause in 1999 after stumbling upon his poorly maintained gravestone in Dorset, England.

Calling himself Wallace's Rottweiler, Beccaloni has barnstormed across England to preserve Wallace homes and other sites. He convinced the Natural History Museum in London to buy the scientist's insect collection, correspondence and books from Wallace's two grandsons.

He also runs a Wallace Web site and is helping British standup comedian Bill Bailey plan a routine based on the scientist. Beccaloni's biggest job by far, however, is defending Wallace's legacy.

MORE FROM SCIENCE

Science Section Front

Natural super glue found on asparagus spears It's a boy: Zoo tortoise reveals mistaken identity IBM computer simulates cat’s cerebral cortex Rare crocs found hiding in plain sight Austria says farewell to Fu Long the panda San Diego Zoo panda cub named ‘Son of Cloud’ Study paints sabertooths as relative pussycats Heart disease found in Egyptian mummies Cosmic Log: The scent of a dead celeb? Strange worms discovered eating dead whales Science Section Front   Add Science headlines to your news reader: