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Wallace Day at the National Botanic Garden of Wales
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Theatr na n’Og from Neath, South West Wales and the National Botanical Gardens of Wales, present the World premiere of a new one-man play ‘You should ask Wallace’, performed by Ioan Hefin and written and directed by Geinor Styles. This outdoor performance focuses on the aspects of Alfred Russel Wallace’s inspirational character that led him to think up the idea of evolution by natural selection.
When Darwin was stumped for an answer to why certain species were the way they were, the advice given to him was - “You should ask Wallace”.
Wallace travelled around the Malay Archipelago for eight years, searching for the mechanism of evolution and new species of animals to send back to England. It was during this trip that he made his greatest contribution to science. In February 1858, weak with fever, Wallace had a flash of inspiration and discovered natural selection, the process believed to drive most evolutionary change of life on Earth. When he was well enough he wrote an essay detailing his ideas and sent it to Charles Darwin for comment.
Wallace's article plus some of Darwin's unpublished writings on the subject were presented at a meeting of the Linnean Society of London on the 1st July 1858.
It was this discovery, which spurred Darwin to produce his seminal work “On The Origin of Species” , Wallace is often credited as the co-discoverer of this great achievement in science.
“You should ask Wallace” is an interactive performance giving an insight into this eminent Victorian scientist, and social commentator. The performance will take place at the Wallace Garden at the National Gardens of Wales on the lst July to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Darwin and Wallace’s discovery of natural selection.
Geinor Styles, writer and director said “The work of Wallace has truly inspired me. Self educated, he never stopped being intrigued and amazed by the world around him, and was never afraid to ask difficult questions that flew in the face of the establishment. He showed profound humanity in questioning the status quo for a more just society. I believe we could all take a leaf from his book. “ |
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Thursday, June 26, 2008 |
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