Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Zoonomia

  • Alfred Russel Wallace

    JMS PearceHull, United Kingdom Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) conceived the original idea of evolution by natural selection entirely independently of Charles Darwin.1 In the north choir aisle of Westminster Abbey, next to Charles Darwin’s memorial, is a white marble roundel with a profile relief bust to the memory of Alfred Russel Wallace, erected in 1915.…

  • The forgotten Darwin

    JMS PearceHull, United Kingdom That Erasmus Darwin MD., FRS. (1731–1802) was overshadowed, often forgotten, is not surprising when one considers the well-deserved fame and importance of Charles Darwin (1809–1882). Stephen Jay Gould observed in The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. 2002):  “‘precursoritis’ is the bane of historiography.” Though no “bane of historiography,” Erasmus…