A defence of modern spiritualism

"“A Defence of Modern Spiritualism” by Alfred Russel Wallace is a scientific publication written in the late 19th century." The work explores the evidence and arguments supporting modern spiritualism, a movement that emerged in the mid-19th century, advocating for the reality of spiritual phenomena in the context of scientific inquiry. The book aims to address skepticism surrounding spiritualism, asserting that its claims merit serious investigation and engagement from the scientific community. "The opening of the book begins with a preface that sets a tone of scholarly seriousness regarding the subject of modern spiritualism." Wallace introduces the reader to the ongoing conflicts between materialistic science and the phenomena of spiritualism, which are often dismissed as nonsense. He outlines the importance of examining spiritualist claims through meticulous investigation rather than preconceived biases, emphasizing that both established facts and transcendent spiritual realities should be taken into account. The text mentions notable scientists who support spiritualist claims, asserting that genuine inquiry into these phenomena could deepen human understanding of nature and spirituality. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Alfred Russel Wallace was an English naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist 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 earlier writings on the topic. It spurred Darwin to set aside the "big species book" he was drafting and quickly write an abstract of it, which was published in 1859 as On the Origin of Species.