One of the first commenters at this blog was Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace. The commenter chose the alias to follow ComingAnarchy’s theme of using famous yet underappreciated figures from history to write anonymously on the internet. But who was this Dr. Wallace and what did he do?

Wikipedia has the story. A biologist fascinated by the same questions the interested Charles Darwin, he traveled to Brazil and Indochine in the mid-19th century to collect specimens to further his quest to solve the riddle of the origin of species. Many of his findings were similar to those of Darwin, whose theory on evolution was at the time unpublished. Wallace encouraged Darwin to publish the theory, yet insisted that he (Wallace) needed no credit.

The name “Darwin” is now strongly associated with natural evolution, and the name makes many Christian conservatives see red. Would 20th century politics in the American South have been any different if the name “Wallace” had become the terror of Dixie fundamentalists? We can only wonder.

The commenter Dr. Wallace is an amateur theologian (and has occasionally guest-posted on the topic), and so was the Dr. Wallace of the 19th century. Writing in 1861, he had this to say:

I think I have fairly heard and fairly weighed the evidence on both sides, and I remain an utter disbeliever in almost all that you consider the most sacred truths… I can see much to admire in all religions… But whether there be a God and whatever be His nature; whether we have an immortal soul or not, or whatever may be our state after death, I can have no fear of having to suffer for the study of nature and the search for truth….

So many thanks to “Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace” for regular comments and occasional guest posts here at the blog, and we welcome his involvement in the CA community.

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