2008 events
By George Beccaloni
There are actually three important 150th anniversaries which could be celebrated in 2008: Wallace's independent discovery of natural selection in February 1858; the public announcement of his and Darwin's theories at the Linnean Society on the 1st July 1858; and the publication of Darwin and Wallace's papers on the 20th August 1858.
Traditionally, it is the 1st July anniversary which has been celebrated - the 50th and 100th anniversaries being big events (see here). Unfortunately, current indications are that the 150th anniversary of the great discovery will be relatively low-key - probably because most organisations are gearing up to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species and the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2009. If you decide to buck the trend and organise an event, then please let me know and I will add it to this page.
*2008 events*
MARCH
Royal Geographical Society, London:
Monday 31st at 18.30
RGS-IBG Balloted lecture Members only
Talk entitled "Wallace and the birds of paradise"
Sir David Attenborough
David shows film footage and describes the various species that so obsessed Alfred Russel Wallace, who was the first European to see the display of the spectacular birds of paradise. Please note that this lecture is balloted. One ticket entry per member. Entries can be submitted by post only, using the ballot application form on page 26 of the Bulletin. Closing date for applications is Monday 3 March.
MAY
*CANCELLED* Usk Civic Society
Saturday 17th May at 10 am
Launch of a book by poet Anne Cluysenaar and a conference commemorating Alfred Russel Wallace.
The event will be held in event will be held at The Sessions House, Maryport Street, Usk and not at Coleg Gwent as previously advertised. Entrance charge will be £5.0 to include coffee and biscuits on arrival. A pre-booked lunch will be available at an additional £6.0 to include a glass of wine or fruit juice.
For more information about this event click here. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED BECAUSE THE PUBLISHER DIDN'T MANAGE TO PUBLISH THE BOOK ON TIME.
Talks by Prof. Steve Jones in Wales
The Radnorshire Museum, Llandrindod Wells, Wales, plans to display an impressive oil painting of Wallace by Thomas Sims (on loan from the
National Portrait Gallery, London) from Saturday, 24th May until Sunday, 13th July. Steve Jones is to give a talk at 4.30p.m. on the 24th May at the Museum, and the Radnorshire Wildlife Trust has invited Prof. Jones to speak at Llandewi Village Hall later on that same day.
JULY
Natural History Museum, London
Tuesday 1st July at 12.30
Talk entitled "Darwin, Wallace and the Discovery of Natural Selection"
by George Beccaloni & Jo Cooper in the Nature Live series, to celebrate the 150th reading of the Darwin-Wallace paper on this date.
Natural History Museum, London
Tuesday 1st July for three weeks (in Dinosaur Way)
Exhibition entitled "Darwin, Wallace and the Discovery of Natural Selection" which
commemorates the 150th anniversary of the reading of the Darwin-Wallace paper. This small display will feature important documents relating to the discovery of natural selection, including an original copy of the Darwin-Wallace paper and the letter Wallace sent to Joseph Hooker from Ternate in October 1858 giving his reaction to the reading of his and Darwin's paper at the Linnean Society on 1st July 1858. Also included will be one of Darwin's pigeon skeletons and a bird skin collected by Wallace.
Linnean Society of London
On July 1st an event will take place at the Linnean Society to mark the reading of the papers by Darwin and Wallace on that day 150 years ago. There will be talks by Gareth Nelson and Alan Orr.
National Botanic Garden of Wales
The Botanic Garden is planning to celebrate Wallace Day on July 1st. Details are still being worked out but the day will include 1. The relaunch of The Wallace Garden, a dedicated area within the Botanic Garden which investigates plant genetics and evolution. The Wallace Garden is being replanted and re-interpreted. 2. Theatr Nanog, a Welsh based theatre company, will be running a one man show. An actor, located within the Wallace Garden, will be playing the part of Wallace. He will talk about his life and will interact with Garden visitors, and if finances allow, schools. 3. Opening an indoor exhibition about Wallace, located at the Botanic Garden's Gallery (details to be confirmed). They are also open to other suggestions.
The Broadway Theatre, Peterborough
Saturday, August 16.
Sir David Attenborough will deliver a lecture on a subject that is particularly close to his heart: the birds of paradise of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia: a passion he shares with Wallace. This talk will focus on these fascinating birds and on Wallace, one of the country's
earliest environmentalists.
Tickets, costing £20 for adults and £15 for children aged under 16, are
available by calling 01733 316100, or online at www.thebroadwaytheatre.co.uk
OCTOBER
Digswell Lake Society
October 10th at 19.30
A talk entitled "Alfred Russel Wallace and other Hertfordshire Naturalists"
Presented by RevD Tom Gladwin
Venue: Digswell Village Hall, Harmer Green Lane, Digswell, Herts
Admission: £1.00
www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=51.824&lon=-0.1911&scale=5000&icon=x
Natural History Museum at Tring, Hertfordshire
Monday 13th October - end November
Exhibition which commemorates the 150th aniversary of the reading of the Darwin-Wallace paper. This display (larger than the earlier South Kensington one) will feature important documents relating to the discovery of natural selection, including an original copy of the
Darwin-Wallace paper and the letter Wallace sent to Joseph Hooker from Ternate in October 1858 giving his reaction to the reading of his and Darwin's paper.
Other planned events
In September 2007 artist Fred Langford Edwards won a Wellcome Trust Small Arts Award for a project entitled “Alfred Russel Wallace - The Forgotten Evolutionist”. Fred will work together with George Beccaloni to research and explore the contributions of Alfred Russel Wallace to biology. Fred will create artworks, installations, and exhibitions supported by an illustrated catalogue. The works will explore the life, ideas, and surviving collections of Wallace, and the physical hardships he endured during his travels. For more information and a sneak preview of some of Fred's images see this page.
Books & other publications
1) In May 2008 Roy Davies published a book entitled The Darwin Conspiracy: Origins of a Scientific Crime This 'heretical' book claims that Darwin stole ideas from Wallace and others, and that he lied about the dates he received key letters from Wallace. For more info. click here .
2) Charles Smith and I are co-editing a collection of contributed essays entitled Natural Selection and Beyond: The Intellectual Legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace, which will be published by Oxford University Press in late 2008.
3) I have arranged for a fascimile of Wallace's famous 1865 paper "On the Phenomena of Variation and
Geographical Distribution as Illustrated by the Papilionidae of the Malayan
Region" to be published later this year by Borneo Books. It will have introductory material by myself, Prof. James Mallet and Dr Richard Vane-Wright.
4) National Geographic Magazine are planning a 26-30 page feature article on Wallace which will be published in their December issue. It is being written by the excellent science writer David Quammen and the photography will be by Robert Clark. I had the pleasure to work with both gentlemen for several days each in March.
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| David Quammen writing notes about Wallace's grave in March, 2008. Copyright G. Beccaloni. |
5) The Linnean Society of London plans to publish a special issue of The Linnean containing articles about Darwin and Wallace and the discovery of natural selection to mark the 150th anniversary of the discovery.
6) An article about Wallace and the time he spent in Brazil will be published in the Brazilian magazine Aventuras da Historia.
Possible events
Contacts of mine in all of the three main Wallace associated places in Britain (other than Usk which is already planning an event) are currently investigating the possibility of organising anniversary events! They are Hertford (where he was educated), Grays in Essex (where he built his house "The Dell") and Broadstone in Dorset (where he is buried). Watch this space!
