jan 1, 1858 - Wallace provokes Darwin to publish (1858)

Description:

Alfred Russel Wallace, a young British explorer, writes Darwin from Malaysia, seeking the older naturalist's advice. Wallace has a theory of how species might evolve. Darwin is shocked; Wallace has stuck upon the theory of natural selection that Darwin has been researching for 20 years. Wallace's short sketch is far from the massive body of evidence Darwin has collected, but its core ideas are similar. Without this prompting of competition, Darwin might never have published in his lifetime.