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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Alfred Russell Wallace
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(1823–1913) Naturalist who conceived the idea of evolution by natural selection independently of Charles *Darwin. Inspired by Darwin's account of his voyage on the Beagle, Wallace spent many years collecting specimens in the Malay archipelago. In 1858 the theories of *Malthus gave him the idea of natural selection, just as they had earlier with Darwin. On the following three evenings he wrote a paper On the tendency of Varieties to depart indefinitely from the original Type, which he sent to Darwin. The sharp division of species either side of a line east of Borneo and Bali (now known as Wallace's Line) had provided him with the same clue that Darwin found in the Galapagos islands.
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