In 1858, Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace who was in Indonesia (Ternate) proposing the idea of natural selection, causing Darwin to fear he had been 'scooped' after 22 years of delay, so they jointly published their work, though neither attended the presentation—Lyell and Hooker presented it using the metaphor of the Watt centrifugal governor to explain natural selection as a feedback control mechanism.
factualpending
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David KrakowEvidence Quote
“in 1858 he's writing his Barnacle book and he gets a letter this is a very famous letter it's a letter from this man Alfred Russell Wallace who sends him a letter from turn8 an island in Indonesia where he says he's got this new idea this new idea which is essentially natural selection and and Darwin throws a wobbly and uh he says oh my god I've been scooped I knew about this 22 years ago why didn't I publish so they jointly publish uh and what metaphor do they use to explain natural selection we have also here an acting cause or principle to account for that balance so often observed in nature the action of this principle is exactly like that of the centrifugal governor of the steam engine”
Created: 8/10/2026, 10:52:22 PM
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