Island Life (Great Minds Series) [Paperback]

Alfred Russel Wallace (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1997 | ISBN-10: 1573921777 | ISBN-13: 978-1573921770

As the co-formulator with Charles Darwin of the theory of biological evolution via natural selection, naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) argued that plant and animal species develop throughout organic history. Wallace focused special attention on the diversity of tropical life forms and became acutely aware of the adaptive relationship between each species and its particular environment: an ongoing relationship that is necessary for survival and reproduction.After amassing empirical evidence from the Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote "Island Life" (1881) in order to document the dynamic relationship between organisms and their climatic habitats. Anticipating our present concern with both endangered species and vanishing environments, Wallace's ecological studies helped substantiate the fact of evolution. This book is an excellent example of long-term research and the far-reaching insights such scientific projects hold for understanding and appreciating the evolving life on Earth.

Product Details

• Paperback: 522 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (December 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573921777
• ISBN-13: 978-1573921770
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,944,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, must read for the Evolution lover, August 11, 2003

By 

Sergio A. Salazar Lozano (Tampico, Tamaulipas Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Island Life (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

Alfred Russel Wallace was a great naturalist of the nineteenth century, (codiscoverer of the evolutionary theory by means of natural selection with Darwin) he wrote several classics in science literature. Two things operated against him, his belief in the occult and the great prestige Darwin already had when he was just a young naturalist making great discoveries in Darwin's own line of investigation.

This particular book was written when Wallace was a mature scientist and had already a prestigious carreer. He used his experience and previous works to theorize in Species Distribution through Islands all over the world. He personally made lots of field work (a marked difference with Darwin, since the latter suffered most of his life with bad health) and by then personally knew most of the elite scientists of that epoch. All this ingredients and many more make this a must read book for the science historian or anyone interested in the evolution of thought in the evolution theory. This reading is particularly interesting too, because all this was previous to the theory of continental drift and plate tectonics in 1915, so Wallace had to deal with the species distribution problem in islands without this knowledge. A must read book.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Details, but too old., July 27, 2000

By 

Yen-Ju Chen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Island Life (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

Wallace is as important as Darwin in evolution, but less famous. "Island Life" is a great book in species distribution. not never an introduction. If you want a book of introduction, you can try Edward Wilson's "The Diversity of Life" or David Quammen's "The song of the Dodo". The former half of the book is the theory of species distribution. Some are still useful and basic for now, but some are too old to be true. But the later half of case study is worthy of reading. There are many details in comparison of difference island. If you are major in biology or ecology, it is easy to read. But if not, I suggest you should read some introduction book first. The most interesting thing is that you can realize the nature world one century ago from this book. Some place are still natural and not damaged by human activities. This book is definitely a science study, not a general science. That's why I don't recommend it to everyone, but the naturalist.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars one of Wallace's enduring classics, October 19, 2000

By 

C. H Smith (Bowling Green, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Island Life (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)

Wallace is most remembered for his independent discovery of the theory of natural selection, but he was also the father of the modern approach to biogeographical studies, and history's foremost tropical naturalist--and he made many important contributions beyond biology as well. "Island Life" is one of his most important works. In it he extends studies begun in another of his classic publications, the two-volumed "The Geographical Distribution of Animals," to two subjects: the influence of the glacial epochs on organismal distribution patterns, and the characteristics of island biogeography. Many students of Wallace's career consider this book his finest scientific effort, both for its joining of theory and empiricism, and for his attention to detail and breadth of study. Included is a full working out of history's first theory of continental glaciation based on a combination of geographical and astronomical causes, a discussion of island classification, and a survey of worldwide island faunas and floras. I give it a "4" rating here only because *now* it is primarily of interest to historians of science and those environmentalists who might want information on the late nineteenth century state of island biotas around the world; still, as a major study by one the period's great minds, it arguably demands attention on its own terms.