Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace

Costa (Darwin’s Backyard), a biology professor at Western Carolina University, gives naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823–1913) the biography he deserves in this definitive account. Drawing on newly available notebooks and writings by Wallace, Costa suggests that though his subject is best known for discovering natural selection around the same time as Darwin, he also deserves recognition for “his enduring humanity and lifelong activism for social justice.” Wallace was born in Wales and moved to London as a teen, where he connected with utopian socialist Robert Owen, whose philosophy influenced Wallace’s social activism later in life. In 1848, Wallace traveled to Brazil to collect insects, the first of several expeditions that led him to develop a theory of evolution, then called “transmutation,” independent of Darwin. Costa highlights Wallace’s preoccupation with social reform near the end of his life, noting that he advocated for women’s rights and devoted his last book to “addressing the continued labor and wage problems of the day.” Rich research breathes new life into the material, and Costa’s attention to Wallace’s passions beyond the scientific breakthroughs he’s remembered for—including a fascination with astronomy—capture the range of his interests and depth of his character. Comprehensive and revelatory, this is a first-rate take on an overlooked figure in scientific history. (Mar.)