Alfred Russell Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) was a British naturalist, explorer and evolutionist who independently conceived the theory of natural selection and proposed it jointly with Charles Darwin in 1858. His great travel narrative The Malay Archipelago recounts eight years exploring the islands of Southeast Asia, where he drew the boundary line between Asian and Australian wildlife, still called the Wallace Line.

After his scientific breakthrough, Wallace became one of the most celebrated Victorian intellectuals, writing on geography, astrology, and social justice, and co-developing the Amazon rainforest hypothesis alongside formal zoogeography. He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1914, coming to be honored as Darwin's truest rival and friend.