Darwin's Armada.

I just finished reading Dawin's Armada by Iain McCalman. Professor McCalman weaves together the stories of four of England's most important naturalists: Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley, and Alfred Wallace.  According to McCalman each of these men played key roles in the birth of the theory of evolution. Darwin and Wallace formulated the theory independently. Hooker and Huxley were masterful political strategists whose machinations sped the acceptance of the theory; due to their efforts the theory of evolution became widely accepted within seven years of its initial presentation.

What I was struck by when reading this book was the story of Alfred Wallace.  Of the four men Wallace was by far the poorest and least educated.  However, in my mind his scientific accomplishments easily rival that of the others.  Further, the hardships and setback he endured were far beyond anything the others had to face.

 Wallace was born to a working class family. His formal education ended when his was thirteen years old. He spent the next twelve years trying his hand at a number of different vocations: teacher, architect and surveyor.  In 1848 at the age of 25 he set off to the Brazil with a friend of his to build a career as a naturalist and collector.

The other three scientists also spent time collecting specimens and touring the world. However, they did so with the support of the British Navy, attached to survey ships.  Wallace on the other hand set off with little money and no official status; hoping to make money by selling the specimens he collect to wealthy collectors and institutions in the UK. He spent the next four years in the Amazon, traveling and living with various Indian tribes, venturing into parts of the Amazon that had never been travelled to by an European and amassing a massive collection, "including ten thousand bird skins, a large herbarium of dried plants, and an unparalleled collection of bird's eggs."  During these four years he suffered the loss of his brother, bouts of malaria and various other tropical diseases.

A month into his journey back to England the ship he was traveling on caught fire and sunk. He lost his entire collection as well as all his notes and sketches.  When he finally made it back to England, after a long tortuous journey, he arrived with nothing more than the shirt on his back.  Despite this he re-established him self. Managed to write a few papers based on the few notes he had saved as well his memory.  Despite not being fully recovered from his previous trip, he decided to set off on another collecting trip.

This time he decided to travel to Southeast Asia.  Again he traveled on his own, hoping to make money selling the specimens he collected. He arrived Singapore in 1854, he did not return to England until 1862.  During the nearly eight years he was in Southeast Asia he collected an incredible number of specimens; endured bouts of illness; formulated his theory of natural selection; and wrote several papers.

To me, Wallace's story is both amazing and inspirational.  Here was a man with no means born into highly hierarchical Victorian England who managed to live a life of adventure and gain the respect and admiration of preeminent naturalists of his day.