Why read The Malay Archipelago?

Book cover of The Malay Archipelago

Book description

The Malay Archipelago is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace which chronicles his scientific exploration, during the eight-year period 1854 to 1862, of the southern portion of the Malay Archipelago including Malaysia, Singapore, the islands of Indonesia, and the island of New Guinea. The book describes each…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Malay Archipelago as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Johnjoe McFadden

Author

I love this book because it provides a great account of the theory natural selection, described as the greatest idea that anyone ever had, by its co-discover, Alfred Russell Wallace.

The Malay Archipelago describes what is now largely a lost world, the 19th-century Malayan Archipelago. Unlike Darwin, Wallace had to earn a living as a ‘fly-catcher’ to support his passion, travelling in native canoes rather than Royal Navy ships, and living with native people, rather than European aristocrats.

Wallace's book describes the geographical distribution of animals, the diversity of species, and his observations of the region's fauna and flora, illustrating…

From Johnjoe's list on The best books about the big ideas that changed our world.