Alfred Russel Wallace: Architect of Evolution

Wallace expanded Darwin's ideas into the evolution of mankind, but couldn't believe evolution could account for our higher mental states. And so his scientific quest for an answer to this question led him to become a disciple of that most unscientific belief system of the time, spiritualism - to the despair of his friends and colleagues.

Part of London's greenbelt - another of Wallace's legacies

The rest of his long life (Wallace died at the age of 90) he devoted to an astonishing variety of subjects. Beyond the realms of science, Wallace's innovative mind ranged over politics and sociology. He promoted women's suffrage, land nationalisation, a minimum wage for workers and the establishment of greenbelts around cities. Wallace also advocated paper money (instead of gold), and devised ways of raising confidence in the House of Lords and revitalising the Church of England.

Wallace travelled once more: on a tour of the United States, where he lectured on both evolution and spiritualism (the latter more popular than the former!). His fame was such that he met most people of note in the US, including President Cleveland.

And on his return, Wallace penned his most popular and influential book. Always modest, almost falling over himself to be fair, Wallace's own title for this work perhaps indicates why history has done him a disservice. He called his major book on evolution Darwinism.

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