Alfred Wallace

At http://phys.org/print291361534.html … news of a new book on the discovery of evolution, John Wyhe, Dispelling the Darkness: Voyages in the Malay Archipelago. Alfred Wallace was the contemporary of Darwin and both reached the same conclusion at virtually the same point in time – evolution was a viable biological explanation for the development of life, and the species. He had written a letter to Darwin just before publication of the latter's theory broke cover, saying that he thought evolution was a likely way to explain origins – but history has applauded Darwin but largely forgotten Wallace. According to Wyhe the story behind the theory of evolution has been told so many times that some myths and legends surround it – and distort our view. This is his attempt to rectify the situation.