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Matthew was born near Dundee, Scotland to a relatively wealthy family. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, though he did not earn a degree, and in 1807 he returned to manage his family's estate in Erol, Scotland . In the growing of apple and pear trees, he apparently had become familiar with problems of timber forestry, for in 1831 he published a book, On Naval Timber and Arboriculture , focusing on how best to grow trees for the construction of the Royal Navy's warships. He considered the task of be of great importance, as the navy permitted the British race to advance. Matthew noted the long-term deleterious effect of dysgenic artificial selection—the culling of only the trees of highest timber quality from forests—on the quality of timber. In an appendix to the book, he elaborated on how eugenic artificial selection—the elimination of trees of poor timber quality—could be used to improve timber quality, and even create new varieties of trees. He extrapolated from this to what is today recognized as a description of natural selection:
Although his book was reviewed in several periodical publications of the time, the significance of the Matthew's insight was apparently lost upon his readers, as it languished in obscurity for nearly three decades. In 1860, Matthew read a review of Darwin's The Origin of Species in the Gardeners' Chronicle , including its description of the principle of natural selection. This prompted him to write a letter to the publication, calling attention his earlier explication of the theory. Subsequently, Darwin commented in a letter to Charles LyellSir Charles Lyell ( November 14, 1797 February 22, 1875), British geologist, and popularizer of uniformitarianism. Charles Lyell was born in Kinnordy, Forfarshire, Scotland, the eldest of ten children. Lyell's father, also named Charles, was a botanist of:
Darwin then wrote a letter of his own to the Gardener's Chronicle, stating,
Notwithstanding Darwin's insistence on ignorance of Matthew's work, it has been suggested that he may have encountered it, or a description of it, or in some other way have been influenced by it. Ronald W. ClarkRonald William Clark ( 1916- 1987) was a British author of biography and non-fiction. Clark wrote biographies of a diverse group of historical figures, including: Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Sigmund Freud, V. Lenin, and Bertrand Rus, a biographer of Darwin, suggested that even if Darwin had at some point encountered Matthew's work (of which there is no evidence whatsoever), it is possible that it simply did not register, but crept into his subconscious, only later serving as a forgotten basis of his ideas, which would not have been intellectual dishonesty. Alternately, that both Matthew and Darwin attended the University of Edinburgh (at different times, and before Matthew published his theory) has been considered to increase the possibility that they drew from common influences.
In subsequent editions of The Origin of Species, Darwin acknowledged Matthew's earlier work, stating that Matthew "clearly saw...the full force of the principle of natural selection." Later, Matthew would claim credit for natural selection and even had calling cards printed with "Discoverer of the Principle of Natural Selection." However, Darwin's citation has done little to garner Matthew recognition, since he is still a generally unknown personage of history.