Happy birthday Alfred
Posted on 11. Jul, 2011 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFRED Is a man’s most valuable possession his bow and arrow or a butterfly or a memory or simply time? What do you give a guy who lived a hundred and fifty years ago? JIRLAI, Aru, Indonesia What do you give a guy who lived a hundred and fifty years ago? I write [...]
Read MoreWilderness in Singapore? Who woulda thought?
Posted on 11. Jul, 2011 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace
WILDERNESS IN SINGAPORE? WHO WOULDA THOUGHT? Singapore proved a Coleoptera paradise for Victorian explorer Alfred Russel Wallace; new creatures still emerge BUKIT TIMAH, Singapore Visitors come to Singapore to shop or to learn about other cultures, to close a business deal or attend a conference. A century and a half ago, though, one of Singapore’s [...]
Read MoreShooting Orangutans and Pondering the Universe
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
Alfred Russel Wallace spent 18 lonely months in Sarawak, writing the precursor to his theory of evolution. SANTUBONG, Sarawak, Malaysia Different people react to solitude in different ways. Some people converse with demons and angels. Some folks become truly, giggling-at-midnight mad. Some find enlightenment. And once in a while a guy who spends too many [...]
Read MoreWhy Travel Far?
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
Wallace’s rite of passage and the teenage imperative BATANG AI, Sarawak, Malaysia Why travel far (and treacherously), leaving behind comfort, friends and security? This question turned in my mind as I looked for orangutans while following the trail of Alfred Russel Wallace, who travelled some 22,400 kilometers in the Malay Archipelago from 1854 to 1862. [...]
Read MoreThe Man with Pins in His Lungs
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
After dinner in Sulawesi, chatting with a man who speaks with Moses BOGANI NANI WARTABONE NATIONAL PARK, Sulawesi Over the grilled fish I asked about spirits. We were eating lunch in a simple warung outside Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park in north Sulawesi. I sensed that my companions had tales to tell. Endie’s father was [...]
Read MoreThe Literate Orangutan
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
Trying to teach a red ape to write SEPILOK, Sabah, Malaysia What if we could communicate with other species? What could an orangutan tell us about her life, about her emotions when her rainforest is chopped down, about the rascally behavior of randy adolescent male orangutans? * * * * * I’ve seen orangutans in [...]
Read MoreWho Gets Credit, Who Takes Credit, for Changing the World?
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
Did Darwin steal from Wallace? Attributing glory can be a tricky business TERNATE, Indonesia Who gets credit, and who takes credit, for changing the world? July 1, 1858 was a modest news day in mid-19th century London. Thirty-nine year old Queen Victoria went horseback riding, Madame Tussaud announced a wax image of United States President [...]
Read MoreDreaming of Malthus
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by admin in Alfred Russel Wallace, Articles
During a malarial fit, Alfred Russel Wallace has his eureka moment about natural selection TERNATE, Indonesia The economic theory of Thomas Malthus isn’t what most people suffering a malaria delusion would dream about. But Alfred Russel Wallace, the sweaty patient in question, wasn’t a humdrum guy. * * * * * Here’s what transpired. Alfred [...]
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