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“I never saw a more striking coincidence!”

Alfred Russel Wallace in Singapore

Feverish from malaria, the young Alfred Russel Wallace had, during an exhibition to Indonesia and Malaysia, reached the same conclusion as Darwin: that species developed through a fight for survival, where the best adjusted had the best chance of survival. Wallace quickly penned down his thoughts and send them to Darwin in England.

Darwin was shocked and wrote to his good friend, geologist Charles Lyell: ”All my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed.” Even Wallace’s choice of words were found as chapter headlines in the book, Darwin was writing. “I never saw a more striking coincidence,“ wrote a shocked and amazed Darwin.

Peter C. Kjærgaard