$6 · Island Life by Alfred Russel Wallace

Island Life by Alfred Russel Wallace Paperback, 1997, 522 pages Island Life, by Alfred Russel Wallace, is a classic scientific work published in 1880 that examines the distribution and evolution of plants and animals on islands. It is a foundational text in biogeography that discusses how geographic, climatic, and evolutionary factors shape island ecosystems, a topic Wallace explored during his extensive travels. The book is divided into two parts, one on the dispersal of organisms and their laws, and the second on island faunas and floras, with case studies from various locations like the Galapagos, Great Britain, and Madagascar 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 realtionship 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. See pictures Pickup in Langford Cross posted