Archipelago - The Islands of Indonesia (2e-hands)

Indonesia is a land of incompatable beauty and diversity. It was also the biological laboratory of Alfred Russel Wallace, who, working independently of his contemporary Charles Darwin, developed the theory of evolution by natural selection.

Wallace was a man of many parts: adventurer, explorer, collector, socialist, spiritualist, early feminist, global thinker, writer. Archipelago takes us on Wallace’s 14,000-mile journey through unexplored parts of Indonesia, when during years of fieldwork he made his major discoveries in evolutionary biology. Alone on the tiny island of Gilolo, he drafted his theory of evolution and sent the manuscript to Darwin. That event led to the great Darwin-Wallace controversy, one which burns to this day.

Interspersed in Wallace’s story are informative sidebars that offer a more in-depth look at topics ranging from specimen collecting in Victorian times to the ecological challenges faced by Indonesia today.

This magnificent survey of twin paradoxes – Indonesia’s natural grandeur and present environmental degradation, and the simultaneity of Wallace’s and Darwin’s theory explaining the origins of living things – vividly demonstrates the interconnectedness of life, both natural and human, and the links between the exploration of natural wonders in Wallace’s time and the exploitation and conservation of those resources now.

Published in association with The Nature Conservancy, this unique story is richly illustrated with maps, archival material, and over two hundred color photographs depicting the stunning landscapes and exotic flora and fauna of Indonesia.