{"product_id":"island-life-or-the-phenomena-and-causes-of-insular-faunas-and-floras-including-a-revision-and-attempted-solution-of-the-problem-of-geological-climates","title":"Island Life: or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras, Including a Revision and Attempted Solution of the Problem of Geological Climates","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eAlfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eYear: \u003c\/b\u003e1880\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eMacMillan and Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePlace: \u003c\/b\u003eLondon\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDescription:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003exvii[3]+526+[2 ad] pages with hand-colored frontispiece, 3 color lithographed map plates, numerous maps and diagrams in the text, tables and index. Octavo (9x6\") bound in original publisher's green pebble cloth stamped in gilt. First edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIsland Life: or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras\u003c\/em\u003e is a seminal scientific book written by the legendary British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and first published in 1880. Serving as a key foundational text for the field of biogeography, the book explores how isolation, geological transformations, and climate shifts dictate the distribution and evolution of plants and animals on islands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWallace divided islands into continental (once connected to landmasses, like Great Britain) and oceanic (volcanic or coral formations that rose from the deep sea, like the Galapagos), predicting how their origins dictate their specific biological diversity. : The text analyzes how species migrate across vast water barriers via wind, ocean currents, or flight, challenging prevailing myths of \"special creation\" or lost sunken continents. Wallace proposed early theories connecting astronomical shifts and geographic setups to explain continental glaciation and the massive impact of ancient ice ages on species survival. He used the stark ecological differences between neighboring islands to demonstrate that geographic barriers force species down independent evolutionary paths.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and illustrator. He independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection; his 1858 paper on the subject was published that year alongside extracts from Charles Darwin's writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the \"big species book\" he was drafting and to quickly write an abstract of it, which was published in 1859 as \u003cem\u003eOn the Origin of Species.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSlight lean to spine, boards lightly rubbed, rebacked and repaired; some toning and spotting throughout, lightly bumped corners else very good.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Book Collector, Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45997117997247,"sku":null,"price":800.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0530\/5614\/3551\/files\/wallace1_ebdd467d-f3e6-4283-8d74-92ea58bbb1cc.jpg?v=1786394212","url":"https:\/\/bookcollectorshop.com\/products\/island-life-or-the-phenomena-and-causes-of-insular-faunas-and-floras-including-a-revision-and-attempted-solution-of-the-problem-of-geological-climates","provider":"The Book Collector, Inc","version":"1.0","type":"link"}