Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace OM, FRS (8 January
1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer,
biologist and social activist. He is best known for proposing a
theory of natural selection. This was published in 1858 together
with Charles Darwin's idea. Wallace did extensive natural
history exploring. He went first to the Amazon River basin with
Henry Walter Bates, and later to Malaya and Indonesia. He wrote
books on both these adventures. While in Indonesia he drew the
Wallace Line which divides Indonesia into two parts. On one side
are animals of Australasia. On the other side are species mostly
of Asian origin. He wrote a wonderful book on the distribution
of animals. The great adventure[change] Wallace and Bates
discussed the idea of an expedition to the Amazon. The plan was
to defray expenses by sending specimens back to London, where an
agent would sell them for a commission. Also, for the travellers
to "gather facts towards solving the problem of the origin of
species", as Wal