Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace

by James Costa

Radical by Nature is a biography of Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), the English naturalist who came up with the idea of ‘transmutation’ (now called evolution) at the same time as Charles Darwin, pushing the latter to publish On the Origin of Species in 1859. It’s by James Costa, a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Western Carolina University, who describes Wallace as “one of the great Victorian naturalist explorers.” At 416 pages, this is a serious biography that examines Wallace’s life and voyages of scientific discovery, his relationship with Darwin, his work on social causes and his spiritual turn which was so at odds with his scientific reputation.