"All beings are exposed to more or less frequent dangers, and are constantly struggling to defend their lives. They have to dread the inclemency of the seasons, and must perish if they fail to find a sufficiency of food; the herbivorous are destined to become a prey to the carnivorous, and, when there seems no need of a victim, deadly battles occur for the possession of a place or the conquest of a prize. Destruction is a natural law; but this destruction is restrained within certain limits: notwithstanding the perils that incessantly threaten the existence of all creatures, everything works actively to secure the maintenance of races. That instinct of preservation which goads individuals to fly from danger and seek the satisfaction of their material wants, allows many to escape accidents. If the causes of violent death vary within the widest range among animal species, they are always proportioned to the causes that protect against it. Fecundity, restricted among powerful animals, and limited also in those that have only the attacks of the strongest to fear, is prodigious among the weakest that are doomed to yield a multitude of victims. Thus the complete disappearance of any species is only possible under wholly exceptional conditions..."

Lorsque l'homme eut l'intelligence suffisamment développée pour pouvoir méditer sur sa propre nature, ainsi que sur celle de la terre qu'il habitait, il dut être profondément impressionné par le spectacle nocturne des cieux étoilés. L'éclat intense et étincelant de Sirius et de Véga, la lumière plus condensée, plus douce, de Jupiter et de Vénus, l'étrange groupement des étoiles brillantes en constellations, pour lesquelles il trouva des noms fantastiques, indiquant leur ressemblance avec divers animaux ou formes terrestres ; l'existence d'un nombre apparemment infini d'étoiles plus ou moins brillantes, éparpillées dans toute l'étendue des cieux, plusieurs d'entre elles n'étant visibles que durant les nuits les plus claires et avec une vue perçante, toutes ces merveilles, dis-je, inaccessibles à cette époque aux recherches de l'homme, durent ouvrir un champ d'une étendue infinie à son imagination. Fruit d'une sélection réalisée au sein des fonds de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Collection XIX a pour ambition de faire découvrir des textes classiques et moins classiques dans les meilleures éditions du XIXe siècle.

Découvrez La Sélection naturelle d’Alfred Russel Wallace, l’ouvrage fondateur qui a révolutionné notre compréhension de l’évolution. Ce texte historique, aussi percutant que celui de Darwin, explore comment les espèces s’adaptent et survivent.

Et si la science et le surnaturel n’étaient pas incompatibles ? Les miracles et le moderne spiritualisme propose une défense audacieuse du spiritisme par l’un des plus grands naturalistes du XIXe siècle.

Reflecting their owner's taste and serving as an impressive exhibition space for visitors, cabinets of curiosities were a place of interest in the houses of the wealthy in the 16th an 17th centuries. Displaying rare vegetable and animal species and fossils, these cabinets were always dedicated to science and knowledge. By collecting uncommon and beautiful objects in nature, rich noblemen were able to build a microcosm expressing the diversity of God's creation.

In 1907 Wallace wrote the short book Is Mars Habitable? to criticize the claims made by Percival Lowell that there were Martian canals built by intelligent beings. Wallace did months of research, consulted various experts, and produced his own scientific analysis of the martian climate and atmospheric conditions. Among other things Wallace pointed out that spectroscopic analysis had shown no signs of water vapour in the Martian atmosphere, that Lowell's analysis of Mars's climate was seriously flawed and badly overestimated the surface temperature, and that low atmospheric pressure would make liquid water, let alone a planet girding irrigation system, impossible.

"Few persons except astronomers fully realise that of all the planets of the Solar system the only one whose solid surface has been seen with certainty is Mars." In 1907, Alfred Russel Wallace wrote the short book "Is Mars Habitable?" in response to Professor Percival Lowell's book "Mars and its Canals." The latter seemed to invalidated the claims Wallace made in his 1902 book "Man's Place in the Universe," in which he came to the conclusion that Mars was not habitable. In order to write this new volume, he embarked on months of research, interviewed experts, and scrupulously studied the martian climate and atmospheric conditions. Wallace points out that there are no signs of water vapour in Mars' atmosphere, and that Lowell's analysis of its climate was seriously flawed in several other aspects, which he discusses in detail here.

"Few persons except astronomers fully realise that of all the planets of the Solar system the only one whose solid surface has been seen with certainty is Mars." In 1907, Alfred Russel Wallace wrote the short book "Is Mars Habitable?" in response to Professor Percival Lowell's book "Mars and its Canals." The latter seemed to invalidated the claims Wallace made in his 1902 book "Man's Place in the Universe," in which he came to the conclusion that Mars was not habitable. In order to write this new volume, he embarked on months of research, interviewed experts, and scrupulously studied the martian climate and atmospheric conditions. Wallace points out that there are no signs of water vapour in Mars' atmosphere, and that Lowell's analysis of its climate was seriously flawed in several other aspects, which he discusses in detail here.