tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686500107282182587.post8612378277721230996..comments2023-10-29T02:43:58.464-07:00Comments on 22C+: Alfred who?Marcus T. Anthonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15015648874488332379noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686500107282182587.post-39049262884096711932011-03-14T20:22:26.045-07:002011-03-14T20:22:26.045-07:00Well, my Anonymous friend, the truth is that there...Well, my Anonymous friend, the truth is that there is not much in that little piece that is "inaccurate", as far as my sources indicate. Perhaps you'd like to be more specific as to what is inaccurate. The main point of the article is that Darwin has been valorised by mainstream science (although some argue he is misrepresented - see www.davidloye.com), while almost nobody on the street has heard of Wallace nowadays. Darwin criticised Wallace's spiritualist beliefs, BTW. Having just checked, you are right about Wallace believing that human's are unique in the universe - he examined evidence for the "canals" on Mars and was convinced they were natural formations. So Bill Bryson has misrepresented his ideeas there (that was my source). <br /><br />As for Wallace being "excommunicated", perhaps that is too harsh a word, but the following extract from wikipedia fully supports the widely help opinion that Wallace lost scientific credibility because of his support of spiritualist ideas. Marcus<br /><br />source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Wallace<br /><br />Wallace's very public advocacy of spiritualism and his repeated defence of spiritualist mediums against allegations of fraud in the 1870s damaged his scientific reputation. It strained his relationships with previously friendly scientists such as Henry Bates, Thomas Huxley, and even Darwin, who felt he was overly credulous. Others, such as the physiologist William Benjamin Carpenter and zoologist E. Ray Lankester became openly and publicly hostile to Wallace over the issue. Wallace and other scientists who defended spiritualism, notably William Crookes, were subject to much criticism from the press, with The Lancet as the leading English medical journal of the time being particularly harsh. The controversy affected the public perception of Wallace’s work for the rest of his career.[108] When, in 1879, Darwin first tried to rally support among naturalists to get a civil pension awarded to Wallace, Joseph Hooker responded:<br /><br />"Wallace has lost caste considerably, not only by his adhesion to Spiritualism, but by the fact of his having deliberately and against the whole voice of the committee of his section of the British Association, brought about a discussion of on Spiritualism at one of its sectional meetings. That he is said to have done so in an underhanded manner, and I well remember the indignation it gave rise to in the B.A. Council."Marcus T. Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15015648874488332379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686500107282182587.post-71662388245175586652011-03-14T19:53:54.809-07:002011-03-14T19:53:54.809-07:00Most of these remarks are inaccurate. Wallace was...Most of these remarks are inaccurate. Wallace was never "excommunicated"; in his late years he became the most famous scientist in the world. And while his 1855 paper signaled no recognition of natural selection, his more famous 1858 one certainly did. Yes, he did fall from favor in some quarters, but some quarters only: his incessant contributions to science were well known and he had many followers. And he was attacked not for believing in life on other worlds, but for arguing it was unlikely that advanced life *did* exist on other worlds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686500107282182587.post-62074014429217481852011-03-06T19:15:27.468-08:002011-03-06T19:15:27.468-08:00Marcus - we deleted the blog for now. He hacked us...Marcus - we deleted the blog for now. He hacked us again (4th time). The offer to read the energy would be great. don't write to the other email address. We'll contact you! Sounds like spy stuff, huh?<br />- TrishAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com