preview

Alfred Russel Wallace, The Father Of Biogeography?

Better Essays

Survey of major figures

Alfred Russel Wallace, the Father of Biogeography, was born January 8th, 1823. He was known as a naturalist, explorer, anthropologist, geographer and biologist. These last two fields are what made him into a biogeographer, and led him to develop the theory of evolution that would later prompt Charles Darwin to develop his own theory of evolution. What most people know of Wallace, was his creation of the Wallace line in Indonesia dividing animals that have an Australian origin on one side and an Asian origin on the other. Wallace held many controversial viewpoints on a lot of religious and social issues that ended up getting him criticized by his peers. He was a prolific writer who was one of the first to consider the impact of humans on the landscape and wrote about social issues and his adventures. His journal the Malayan Archipelago was one of his most popular journals published in in the 19th century. When Wallace died, many wanted him buried in Westminster Abbey, however his family followed his wishes and buried him in a small cemetery in Broadstone, Dorset. Shortly after, a medallion was created for him and is placed near Charles Darwin’s burial place in Westminster Abbey in 1915 (Spyman, 2011).

Alfred Lothar Wegener, born November 1, 1880 in Berlin, Germany to an orphanage director. He got his PhD in Astronomy at the University of Berlin in 1905 but later generated an interest in paleoclimatology. Over the years, Wegener worked as a professor

Get Access