If you are tasked with writing a controversial essay on the topic of Alfred Russell Wallace versus Charles Darwin, it is important that you pick a controversial topic about which you can substantiate an argumentative paper.

If you are having any difficulties finding the perfect topic, look over the list of 20 topics below:

1. Apply Wallace’s Idea in an Animal Species of Your Choosing That Variation in Animal Species Is Indicative of the Necessary Changes
2. The Impact of Darwin’s Work on His Colleagues
3. How Publishing Books Compares to Publishing Articles in Academic Journals (is Darwin better known around the world then and today because he published multiple books widely available to the masses, or would he have been less famous if he followed in the footsteps of Wallace and published only academic journal articles for those within his field?)
4. How Darwin Influenced His Field Compared to How Wallace’s Impact
5. What Impact Can the Length of Time Have on Biological Studies? (comparing the notes by Wallace and Darwin from Brazil, and the amount of time each spent there)
6. “The Descent of Man” and the Impact It Continues to Have Today
7. The Formal Education: Wallace vs Darwin
8. Did Darwin Steal Wallace’s Theory of Natural Selection?
9. “The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals” and the Impact It Had at the Time of Its Publication
10. The Comparison of Two Different Adaptations Made by Two Species Living in Different Ecosystems (e.g. the development of improved hearing and the loss of eyesight for lizards that dwell in pitch black caves in South America compared to now-land-based species which have grown larger eyeballs since emerging from their prehistoric ocean-based counterpart)
11. How Important Is Formal Education? (Wallace didn’t get formal education)
12. Why Both Wallace and Darwin Discovered the Theory of Natural Selection Independently but Only One is Referred to Today
13. How Wallace’s Concept That Each Part of an Animal’s Organization Can Be Modified as Necessary to an Exact Specification to Prevent Extinction Can be Applied to People Living in Space
14. The Events Which Caused Wallace to Go from Being the Most Famous Biologist around the World at the Time of His Death, to be Overshadowed After
15. Why “Darwin Theory of Evolution” Today Changed from Its Original “The Darwin-Wallace Theory of Evolution”
16. The Theory of Evolution and What Evidence Is Presented to Support It
17. “The Power of Movement in Plants” and How It Is Relevant Today
18. Why Do Certain Organizations Continue to Ignore the Theory of Natural Selection and Evolution?
19. The Importance of Information Presented by Both Wallace and Darwin in Today’s World
20. The Impact That the Findings of either Wallace or Darwin Has Had on Other Fields Beyond Biology