Friday, September 12, 2014

My Year of Darwin 9/12/2014: Darwin finds a kindred spirit.. and competitor

 Charles Darwin


"In regard to the Paper in Annals, I agree to the truth of almost every word of your paper; & I daresay that you will agree with me that it is very rare to find oneself agreeing pretty closely with any theoretical paper; for lamentable how each man draws his own different conclusions "  Charles Darwin, Letter to Alfred Wallace, May 1857

Darwin is very kind here and to Wallace for as long as each is alive. The collection of letters I have must not include the letters of panic to his colleagues when Darwin receives Wallace's manuscript on natural selection. But Darwin does view Wallace as a competitor. Which, in science, is a nice complement! 


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