New news and views on news, usually by George Beccaloni
If you are then you might like to know that Annette Lord already has a well developed script for such a film, and she would be delighted to hear from you! Her email address is firstname.lastname@example.org
Here is a synopsis of Annette's proposed film:
The Hummingbird and the Hippopotamus:
The story of ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE
Who is the ‘young man in a hurry’ whose fevered brilliance shocks Charles Darwin into writing The Origin of Species? What became of him?
The story of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), internationally recognised in his own lifetime for his many great contributions to science and other fields of human endeavour, now best known for his letter from the Malay Archipelago, written in the grip of fever, which shocked Darwin into publishing his most famous work.
Fascinated by the natural world and inspired by travellers like Humboldt and Edwards, 25-year-old Wallace leaves for South America with Henry Walter Bates, to make a living from hunting and selling specimens and to ponder on the species question. On the way home after four years of excitement and hardship, disaster strikes and Wallace loses everything when his ship catches fire.
Wonderfully undaunted, Wallace now ventures to the Malay Archipelago, sending scientific papers back to England for publication. Though warned about Wallace’s writings, Darwin underestimates the danger of losing priority. He is devastated when he receives Wallace’s letter. What can he do? When he returns to England, how will Wallace react?
Father of biogeography, after whom the Wallace Line is named, early ecologist, socialist and spiritualist, Wallace overcomes personal setbacks and disappointments to achieve greatness. At times infuriating, Wallace endears himself through his modesty, loyalty, humanity and restless curiosity about the world.
This tale of adventure and discovery, friendship and loss, explores a famous scientific controversy and celebrates a great man on the 100th anniversary of his death.
The first in-depth review of the book about Wallace's life and work which Charles Smith and I edited has just appeared, and I'm relieved and delighted to say that it is very favourable - see http://ncse.com/news/2011/10/rncse-315-now-line-006911 or download a pdf of the review HERE. It has taken a very long time for someone to write a detailed review of it (it was published in 2008), but I guess it is a difficult book to assess as it consists of contributions by many different authors on many different topics. I especially like the way in which the reviewer, Dr Sherrie Lyons, ends her article: "Bernard Michaux concludes his essay on biogeography in this volume by writing that he found Wallace “one of the most interesting and possibly most important of Victorian biologists” (p 185). I would expand that claim and assert that Wallace has to be one of the most interesting people in the history of science. This volume does an admirable job in elucidating the reasons why."
If you are interested in buying a copy you should look out for the hardback edition as it is being remaindered at a low price (the soft-cover edition is newer, but only slightly different). I have seen the hardcover version for sale on Amazon UK for as low as £9.99. Not bad for a 482 page book!
The Australian Museum based in Sydney has put electronic copies of two letters from AR Wallace to the highly respected conchologist, Charles Hedley, on their website.
The letters, one from July and the other from October 1892, are in response to letters and papers that Charles Hedley delivered to Wallace at his home in Parkstone, Dorset.
The reference in the later letter of October 1892 regarding the enclosure on the Placostylus (a type of air-breathing land snail) as well as the debate surrounding the ‘land-connection’ between New Zealand and Australia makes it highly likely that the enclosure was Hedley’s ‘The Range of Placostylus; a study in ancient geography’ as Hedley refers to Wallace’s Island Life work and the fact that ‘Australia and New Zealand were formerly connected by a bridge of dry land’ within it (pp. 336-7). Wallace also references his The Geographical Distribution of Animals (1876) within the letter. ‘In the second of these letters,’ explained Vanessa Finney, the Manager of Archives and Records at the Museum on their blog, ‘Wallace hotly disputes Hedley’s theory of the range and distribution of [Placostylus].’
The earlier letter from July 1892 is harder to pin-point in regards to which paper Wallace is referencing. Nonetheless, Vanessa Finney clarifies that this letter refers to Hedley’s recently published ‘The Land Molluscan Fauna of British New Guinea.’ In it Wallace mentions the orchids Hedley encountered and expressed a desire to have some samples of the plant as he was ‘pretty interested’ in this field. Wallace also believes that Hedley’s work ‘agrees, to some extent, with my theory of the cause of the diversity of the flora & fauna of West & East Australia, as given in my Island Life [published in 1881]’
Interestingly, Hedley later published another article in 1893, ‘On the Relation of the Fauna and Flora of Australia to Those of New Zealand’, which may have taken on board some of Wallace’s comments. A quick scan of this article reveals that Hedley once again mentions Wallace’s theory expounded in Island Life and refers again to the ‘profusion of epiphytic orchids’ (p. 189).
Charles Hedley (1862-1926) was, at this time, Assistant in Zoology at the Australian Museum as well as being a Fellow of the Linnean Society in London and New South Wales. Hedley was originally born in Yorkshire and was largely educated in France. However, he moved to New Zealand in 1881, moving onto Queensland in late 1882.
As Denis Fairfax’s entry for Hedley in the Australian Dictionary of Biography explained, ‘Typical of self-taught nineteenth-century naturalists, Hedley wrote confidently on botany, ethnology and general natural history, as well as conchology.’ Clearly, although not quite as broad an array of interests as Wallace displayed throughout his long life, the two had much ground of common interest over which to debate. It would seem that these letters show a fascinating snippet of this debate.
PS: If any readers discover a digital edition of Hedley’s ‘The Land Molluscan Fauna of British New Guinea’ article that can be linked in this entry, it would be much appreciated.
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Venue: Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole Street, LONDON, W1G 0AE
The third annual Darwin Lecture on Science and Medicine will be given by Sir David Attenborough on the subject of Alfred Russel Wallace and the Birds of Paradise
A.R. Wallace spent eight years travelling in search of birds of paradise and became the first European naturalist to see them in display. In the course of his explorations, he wrote a paper that, together with another by Charles Darwin, announced the theory of evolution by natural selection. But it was the birds of paradise that preoccupied him throughout his journeys in Indonesia.
This lecture is organised in association with The Linnean Society of London
Registration is currently unavailable
Member - Linnean Society: Free of charge
RSM Retired Fellow: Free of charge
RSM Student: Free of charge
RSM Trainee: Free of charge
RSM Associate: Free of charge
RSM Fellow: Free of charge
Public: Free of charge
6.00 pm Registration with tea and coffee
6.30 pm The 3rd Annual Darwin Lecture on Science and Medicine: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Birds of Paradise
7.30 pm Close of meeting followed by a drinks reception
For more information see http://www.rsm.ac.uk/academ/darwin2011.php
A News article which promotes the Wallace Correspondence Project and encourages people to report any Wallace correspondence held in 'obscure' collections to the Project, has just been published on the Natural History Museum's website. It is entitled "Missing Wallace-Darwin letters search is on" and it can be read here:- http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2011/august/missing-wallace-darwin-letters-search-is-on102142.html
In this performance by the Theatre na n'Óg, you will meet Alfred Russel Wallace, an explorer and a naturalist.
Wallace will share his love of nature since his early childhood in Wales with you. He invites you to see some of his butterfly collection and to ask him questions on his thought on evolution and diversity of life on earth.
Free and suitable for families with aged 7+ children
Time: 11:30, 14:00
Duration: 45 minutes
Places: 80 places (seats are only available for those who cannot stand or sit on floor)
Tickets: 1st come 1st served, available at the Central Hall information desk
Location: Marine Invertebrates, Blue Zone
After about a year of discussing and exploring a variety of different options, ARW's grandsons John and Dick, and myself, George Beccaloni, finally decided how to manage the copyright of ARW's unpublished works (such as his letters and notebooks). This is important to the Wallace Correspondence Project and to all others who would like to publish transcripts, images etc of these manuscripts. On Sunday July 31st 2011 I met up with John and Dick in Lymington and the three of us signed a legal contract in which we agreed the following:-
1) George becomes one of three holders of ARW's copyright (i.e. a co-executor of ARW's Literary Estate), the other two being John and Dick.
2) John, Richard and George agree to allow the non-commercial publication of ARW's unpublished works by others under the terms and conditions of Creative Commons licence "Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share-Alike 2.0 England and Wales" i.e. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/legalcode). Scholars who are interested in ARW's life and work will be able to freely publish ARW's unpublished writings, on condition that the Literary Estate retains any legal rights associated with the works.
3) Proposals to commercially publish ARW's unpublished works will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and must be agreed in writing by a minimum of two of the co-executors of the Literary Estate.
George is the official point of contact for all enquiries relating to ARW's Literary Estate, and he can be contacted by CLICKING HERE.
A more detailed account of the above can be found HERE.
The current co-executors of ARW's Literary Estate, from left to right: John Wallace, George Beccaloni, and Dick Wallace. Copyright Janet Beccaloni.
Great news for the Wallace Correspondence Project - Sir David Attenborough has kindly agreed to become the project's Patron! More about this here: http://wallaceletters.info/content/sir-david-attenborough-becomes-wcp-patron
Job Title: Wallace Correspondence Project Archivist
Salary: From £ 27,339 per annum plus benefits
Contract: 16 month fixed term appointment (with possibility of extension of a further twelve months)
Closing date: Wednesday 13th July 2011
Interview date: Thursday 25st July 2011
The Natural History Museum is one of the world’s leading museums, internationally recognised for its dual role as a centre of excellence in scientific research and as a leading exponent in the presentation of natural history to the general public through exhibitions, public programmes and the web.
We are seeking to recruit a team member to the Wallace Correspondence Project to obtain copies of letters sent to or written by Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of natural selection, held in worldwide institutions and private collections. You will be responsible for negotiating with these institutions for the purpose of including information and scans of these documents in the online project database. Excellent communication skills together with experience of cataloguing archival documents are essential.
The successful candidate will ideally have a degree (or equivalent) in Biology or History and a demonstrable interest in the history of science.
For a full job description and to apply online please visit the Natural History Museum website at www.nhm.ac.uk/jobs
Artist Joanna Barnum (http://www.joannabarnum.com/) has kindly allowed me to post an excellent picture of Wallace with flying frogs on his head, which she recently did for a lady called Toni. Toni plans to have it tattooed on her leg to match a tattoo on her other leg of Darwin with finches on his head, which was also based on a picture by Joanna - see http://joannabarnum.livejournal.com/145826.html
Toni will be only the second person with a Wallace-related tattoo I have ever heared about! The other is Chris Hamilton - see http://wallacefund.info/rare-wallace-tattoo