Royal Society in 1893. He was asked to chair the International Congress of Spiritualists meeting in London in 1898. He received honorary doctorates and professional honours, such the Royal Society's Royal Medal in 1868 and its Darwin Medal in 1890, and the Order of Merit in 1908. Obscurity and rehabilitation Wallace's fame faded quickly after his death. For a long time, he was treated as a relatively obscure figure in the history of science. Reasons for this lack of attention may have included his modesty, his willingness to champion unpopular causes without regard for his own reputation, and the discomfort of much of the scientific community with some of his unconventional ideas. The reason that the theory of evolution is popularly credited to Darwin is likely the impact of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Recently, Wallace has become better known, with the publication of at least five book-length biographies and two anthologies of his writings published since 2000. A web page dedicated to Wallace scholarship is maintained at Western Kentucky University. In a 2010 book, the environmentalist Tim Flannery argued that Wallace was "the first modern scientist to comprehend how essential cooperation is to our survival", and suggested that Wallace's understanding of natural selection and his later work on the atmosphere should be seen as a forerunner to modern ecological thinking. A collection of his medals, including the Order of Merit, were sold at auction for £273,000 in 2022. Centenary celebrations The Natural History Museum, London, co-ordinated commemorative events for the Wallace centenary worldwide in the 'Wallace100' project in 2013. On 24 January, his portrait was unveiled in the Main Hall of the museum by Bill Bailey, a fervent admirer. Bailey further championed Wallace in his 2013 BBC Two series "Bill Bailey's Jungle Hero". On 7 November 2013, the 100th anniversary of Wallace's death, Sir David Attenborough unveiled a statue of Wallace at the museum. The statue, sculpted by Anthony Smith, was donated by the A. R. Wallace Memorial Fund. It depicts Wallace as a young man, collecting in the jungle. November 2013 marked the debut of The Animated Life of A. R. Wallace, a paper-puppet animation film dedicated to Wallace's centennial. In addition, Bailey unveiled a bust of Wallace, sculpted by Felicity Crawley, in Twyn Square in Usk, Monmouthshire in November 2021. Bicentenary celebrations Commemorations of the 200th anniversary of Wallace's birth celebrated during the course of 2023