第1401期:Evolution before Darwin

You’ve heard of Charles Darwin, right? The celebrated scientist who proposed a theory of evolution. You might have just about heard of Alfred Russel Wallace, who co-authored, with Darwin, the revolutionary work On the Origin of Species, published in 1859. But what about Patrick Matthew? ‘Patrick who?’ you might ask. Well, Darwin and Wallace got the fame but Matthew did the legworktoo.

This British horticulturalistactually thought about evolution first, as Dr Mike Weale, geneticist at King’s College London, explains. He says: "Matthew published a brief outline of the idea of species being able to change into other species through natural selection. And he did that 27 years before Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. And they recognized that he did so but other people since have simplified the story and tended to concentrate just on Darwin."

So Patrick Matthew's relative obscurity may simply be down to us – the general public – wanting to simplify things. But Dr Patricia Fara, senior tutor at Clare College Cambridge, points out that Darwin's work might have received more attention because he had powerful friends.

"He brought his allies on board", she says. The academic explains that "although he was publishing from his stronghold down in Kent he had the most famous, most prominent members of the scientific society in Victorian times, who were pushingon his behalf. Having a scientific theory being accepted is not just a matter of whether the theory’s right."

Maybe it is time for us to remember Patrick Matthew, a pioneer of the story of survival through adaptation that is at the heart of evolution.

词汇表

celebrated 著名的，受人敬仰的
theory of evolution 进化论
species 物种
to do the legwork 做跑腿的活儿
horticulturalist 园艺学家
outline 概论，概述
natural selection 物竞天择
obscurity 无名，默默无闻
allies 支持者，盟友
stronghold 大本营，居住地
prominent 著名的，重要的
on one’s behalf 代表某人，为某人的利益
survival 生存
adaptation 改编