Alfred Russel Wallace
Most people will have heard of Charles Darwin, the leading Victorian naturalist. He had this theory about how animals morphed into slightly different versions of animals, based on where they happen to be living. For reasons of natural selection.
Well, at the same time, there was an equally important naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, from Wales. Some of us consider him far superior to Charles Darwin. He produced his notes and sent them to Charles Darwin, and Darwin had a momentary upset because of this. He reckoned he'd worked it out 25 years ahead. He'd just not told anyone, and he hadn't published it. In the end, they worked together to deliver their findings.
In his later life, Wallace moved to Grays. He purchased eight acres of land, on which he built the first concrete house, Dell House, from local cement and rubble. He was very interested in plants as well as animals, and converted the quarry his building materials had come from into what he called "a splendid imitation of a Welsh valley". With plants and landscaping to remind him of his homeland.
From stories told by Mike Ostler and research by the Kinetika Team
Well, at the same time, there was an equally important naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace, from Wales. Some of us consider him far superior to Charles Darwin. He produced his notes and sent them to Charles Darwin, and Darwin had a momentary upset because of this. He reckoned he'd worked it out 25 years ahead. He'd just not told anyone, and he hadn't published it. In the end, they worked together to deliver their findings.
In his later life, Wallace moved to Grays. He purchased eight acres of land, on which he built the first concrete house, Dell House, from local cement and rubble. He was very interested in plants as well as animals, and converted the quarry his building materials had come from into what he called "a splendid imitation of a Welsh valley". With plants and landscaping to remind him of his homeland.
From stories told by Mike Ostler and research by the Kinetika Team
