Alfred Russel Wallace had always been controversial; he was controversial to professional ‘scientists’ who had studied at Cambridge or various other prestigious universities. These scientists condemned DIY science research by the unqualified. Wallace of course had no formal training; he had only worked as a surveyor and observed the natural world around him. These educated élite were also ardently opposed to pseudo-science such as phrenology and mesmerism. Phrenology is the study of the cranial bumps on the head to discover ones character and mesmerism is our modern day hypnotism. These were both were notions he believed in. Wallace had no reservations
going against conventions ‘He sought out radical allies in the new, men-only Anthropological Society of London.’ (Block 4, 2003, p132)
In my opinion I believe that personal circumstances such as being rejected for marriage are what helped and aided him down the path to spiritualism, bearing in mind that Wallace was already a believer in mesmerism. ‘No sooner had his fiancée misled him that he entrusted himself to female mediums, staking his scientific reputation on their integrity.’ (Block 4, 2003, p143) He had had a curiosity in spiritualism before he even attended a séance, but remained unconvinced. However before long Wallace was converted and thoroughly believed in the ‘table-moving’, he now immediately began applying his scientific knowledge to better understand it. Wallace believed that he had discovered in spiritualism the ‘scientific solution to a scientific problem’ (Block 4, 2003, p143) He went to countless séances in order to further his knowledge of the subject, and often held them in his own house, at this stage an excited Wallace was fully caught up in the craze. In 1866 he preceded to send out copies of his latest writings on the subject entitled ‘The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural: Indicating the Desirableness of an Experimental Enquiry by Men of Science into the Alleged Powers of Clairvoyants and Mediums.’ (Block 4, 2003, p144) His closest allies including Charles Darwin received one, as did many other well-respected ‘men of science’ such as the Darwinist Thomas Huxley.
Though Darwin remained respectful of Wallace, and in fact did throughout his lifetime, others were not as sympathetic and thought Wallace was a fool for wasting his time on matters that did not concern science. Huxley was a well-known natural scientist and good friend of Darwin and I believe Wallace’s scientific reputation would have received severe criticism after failing to impress Huxley. However in my opinion there is an event that is even more damaging than this, one that leads him to walk out of The British Association for the Advancement of Science.
In the year of 1876 Wallace became involved in a court case as a defence for an American Henry Slade. Slade was a medium whom Wallace had visited many times ‘…and [had] seen only miracles.’ (Block 4, 2003, p149) However others thought differently and brought a case against him in Bow Street for cheating and therefore being a con artist, but Wallace strongly believed Slade and defended him, consequently the case became headline news.
Unfortunately for Wallace, Slade was found guilty and fled the country, leaving him with the embarrassment of defending a fraud. The situation had now changed for Wallace; his spiritualism that had made his peers sceptical of him had now made them rightly suspicious. How could they ever take him seriously again as a scientist?
Alfred Russel Wallace walking out of The British Association I consider to be significant in answering the question of why his scientific reputation was eclipsed; he was no longer a heroic scientist. The British Association’s members were ‘new’ scientists, not wanting to be ruled by the church any longer, and disregarding pseudo science they promoted the theory of evolution and natural selection. Ironically Huxley, Darwin’s colleague took over Wallace’s position as head of the anthropology department. This was a slap in the face for Wallace and it sent him a clear message ‘Spiritual phenomena were now ruled scientifically out of bounds.’ (Block 4, 2003, p149)
‘Wallace lived dangerously, Darwin didn’t. Scientifically as well as socially, they came from different worlds.’ (Block 4, 2003, p117) I think that this quotation is a fine example of how Wallace’s science and life compared with other scientists. He always pushed boundaries and dabbled in areas others feared to go. However these phases had a significant effect on his life. Once leaving The British Association he struggled for work and money, in fact his good friend Darwin came to his rescue by writing a letter to the Prime minister, demanding that Wallace’s contribution to science be recognised fully. As a result Wallace was granted a civil list pension and was overwhelmed by his additional two hundred pounds that Darwin had managed to get for him. By 1913, the year in which he passed away he had published hundreds of papers, written countless books, given many exhausting lectures and had played an important part in nineteenth century
science. Yet still Wallace’s contributions and achievements to science have been allowed to immerse into obscurity. One of the reasons for this I believe is due to the many dubious decisions he made in his lifetime, which consequently left many questioning his actual input compared with his co-discoverer Charles Darwin.
In this essay I have shown how Wallace’s background led him to discover his socialist roots and how his interest in spiritualism caused him to become unpopular with many other scientists, all thus adding to the reason why his scientific reputation became eclipsed. Wallace was a moral man he ‘…believed himself to be no better or no worse than a Welsh hill farmer, an Amazonian native or a British Association bigwig. Thus he could live as an equal with “savages” and sniff at élite savants.’ (Block 4, 2003, p119) As a result, I feel that Wallace’s reputation should be held in reverence for the outstanding accomplishments that he managed to achieve.
Word Count 1065
Bibliography
The Open University, (2003) A103 An Introduction To The Humanities, Block 4 Religion & Science in context.
The Open University, A103 An Introduction To The Humanities, Illustration Book.
The Open University, (2003) A103 An Introduction To The Humanities, Resource Book 3
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