[60] In addition to all this curious and absolutely reliable information that ought to be interesting to every one is the fact that Wallace shows in "The World of Life" how there must have been Mind and Purpose back of it all. Doctor Wallace was a great traveller as well as a great student of nature—one of the most famous in the history of science. His works include: "Travels on the Amazon and the Rio Negro," "The Malay Archipelago," "Natural Selection," "Darwinism," "Island Life and the Geographic Distribution of Animals."
There are so many books on this biggest of all nature topics—Evolution—that they make quite a library in themselves. The most famous of these books is Darwin's "Origin of Species," and it is not at all hard to understand. Other books bearing directly or indirectly on evolution are "Animals of the Past," by Lucas, "Creatures of Other Days," by Hutchinson, Fiske's "Destiny of Man," and "Evolution and Religion." A book for older readers—one of the latest and most comprehensive treatments of the subject—is Osborn's "Origin and Evolution of Life."
Then he was such a fine man personally. Why, what do you think he did? Although he thought out the principle of evolution independently of Darwin, and wrote an essay on it before Darwin had ever given his views to the world, yet after Darwin's "Origin of Species"[61] came out Wallace gave Darwin all the credit, and in his own autobiography always referred to the theory of evolution as the "Darwinian Theory." Yet Wallace had a very good reason for taking this generous attitude, as you will see from his autobiography and other writings, and you are quite likely to find the reason in articles on Darwin or Wallace or Evolution.
[61] Of "The Origin of Species" it has been said that no work ever produced so profound a change in the opinions of mankind.
The relations of Darwin and Wallace furnish one of the finest examples in history of the best thing in the world—human friendship.
Of course, like so many other great men, Wallace was one of those boys whose minds never grow old. Read in his autobiography how on the day he first discovered a new species of butterfly it gave him a violent headache, and he had to go to bed to get rid of it and quiet his nerves—he was that worked up!
Darwin was much the same sort of a man. Everything in the world was interesting to him. He wrote a whole book about "Fish Worms," for example. And although probably the most famous man in the history of natural science he was as humble as could be, always looking for the truth and ready to accept criticisms no matter how much they might upset his own previous conclusions, provided these opposing views were supported by evidence. Of course you will want to know more about his life, and you will find more in the "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," edited by his son.
How do you suppose this boy began being a great man—by collecting beetles! Beetles and outdoor sport were his chief delight.
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