Alfred Russel Wallace 
Wonderful Century 
Its Successes and Its Failures

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The present work is not in any sense a history, even on the most limited scale. It may perhaps be termed an appreciation Of the century – Of what it has done, and what it has left undone. The attempt has been made to give short, descriptive sketches of those great material and intellectual achievements which especially distinguish the nineteenth century from any and all of its predecessors, and to ‘show how fundamental is the change they have effected in our life and civilization. A comparative estimate of the number and importance of these achievements leads to the conclusion that not only is our century superior to any that have gone be fore it, but that it may be best compared with the whole preceding historical period. It must therefore be held to constitute the beginning Of a new era Of human progress.