Who and what manner of man was Alfred Russel Wallace? Who were his
forbears? How did he obtain his insight into the closest secrets of
nature? What was the extent of his contributions to our stock of human
knowledge? In which directions did he most influence his age? What is
known of his inner life? These are some of the questions which most
present-day readers and all future readers into whose hands this book
may come will ask.
As to his descent, his upbringing, his education and his estimate of his
own character and work, we can, with rare good fortune, refer them to
his autobiography, in which he tells his own story and relates the
circumstances which, combined with his natural disposition, led him to
be a great naturalist and a courageous social reformer; nay more, his
autobiography is also in part a peculiar revelation of the inner man
such as no biography could approach. We are also able to send inquirers
to the biographies and works of his contemporaries--Darwin, Hooker,
Lyell, Huxley and many others. All this material is already available to
the diligent reader.
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