Its Penal Enforcement a Crime: Proved by the Official Evidence in the Reports of the Royal Commission. With 12 diagrams. First published in 1898. Wallace (1823-1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He is best known for conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection - his paper on the subject being jointly published with some of Charles Darwin's wrtings in 1858. He was the 19th century's leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and his interest in natural history resulted in his being one of the first prominent scientists to raise concerns over the environmentall impact of human activity. Aside from his scientific work he was a social activist who was critical of what he saw as an unjust social and economical system, and he was a prolific writer on both scientific and social issues.