Charles Darwin is accused of stealing Theory of Evolution
dailymail.co.uk
dailymail.co.uk
This episode is widely known:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Matthew
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Russel_Wallace
Stigler's law of eponymy is also relevant:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler%27s_law_of_eponymy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_examples_of_Stigler%27...
Wouldn't be surprised if this theory falls under the same category. The first & most likely to observe the patterns in nature wouldnt have lived in Northern Europe in my opinion.