Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection : A Series of Essays

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection" by Alfred Russel Wallace is a scientific publication written in the late 19th century. This collection comprises a series of essays that explore the principles of natural selection and its implications for the development of species. Wallace's work presents his insights on evolution, largely building on similar themes as those proposed by Charles Darwin, but emphasizes his independent contributions to the theory. The opening of the volume features a preface that outlines the motivations behind Wallace's decision to compile his essays, which span fifteen years of research and publication in various scientific journals. He reflects on his own work's historical context and asserts his claims regarding the theory of natural selection, aiming to clarify misconceptions about his role relative to Darwin's contributions. Wallace discusses essential concepts such as the geographical distribution of species, the tendency of varieties to diverge from original types, and various examples of protective adaptations in nature, establishing a foundation for the essays to follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, LN Yaddanapudi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of public domain works from the University of Michigan Digital Libraries.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 50.5 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read.

Release date is 2007-08-29