The Malay Archipelago. The Land of the Orung-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel With Studies of Man and Nature

Singapore: Graham Brash, 1989. Paperback. repair to top corner of spine The Malay Archipelago. Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) occupies a unique position in 19th-century science. A remarkable observer and a prolific creator of ideas, he provided as much of the groundwork of later biology as any man, with only the possible exceptions of Darwin and Mendel. He developed the concept of evolution by natural selection independently of Darwin, and also adapted the new theories of evolution to genetic discoveries that occurred after Darwin's time. His work also provides the foundation for the scientific study of botany and zoology in many parts of the world.This book is still one of the great classics of natural history and travel. It contains Wallace's observations on the different native peoples inhabiting the islands: descriptions of the island groupings, such as the Indo-Malays, the Timors, the Celebes, the Moluccas, and the Papuan Islands, and his accounts of the abundant and strange animals, startling birds, and varied insects, theat flourished there. His basic thesis that the western half of the archipelago is Indian in animal life, whereas the eastern is Australian, is still accepted, and the line separating the two is called the Wallace Line in his honour. Unabridged reprint of thje 1922 edition, with 62 drawings and maps. There are three appendices, one on cranial measurements and the other two on native languages and vocabularly. 515 pp. (We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions, Reference books ,and all types of Academic Literature.) . Reprint. Soft Cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall Octavo. Paperback.