Horizon Information Portal

HSPLS site

eBooks/Audiobooks

Reading Program

Radical by nature : the revolutionary life of Alfred Russel Wallace / James T. Costa.

by Costa, James T., 1963- author.

View full image

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2023]

Wallace, Alfred Russel, 1823-1913.

Naturalists -- Great Britain -- Biography.

9780691233796 (hardback) :

0691233799 (hardback)

xiii, 515 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm

A happy but downwardly-mobile family -- Taking measure in the borderlands -- Beetling and big questions -- Paradise gained ... -- ... And paradise lost -- Down but not out -- Sarawak and the law -- Crossing the line(s) -- Eureka: Wallace triumphant -- Island hopper -- First Darwinian -- A tale of two Wallaces? -- A socially engaged scientist -- Onward and upward.

"Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913) was perhaps the most famous naturalist in the world by the end of his life-- explorer extraordinaire, co-discoverer with Darwin of the principle of natural selection, collector of thousands of species new to science, and best-selling author. Wallace had fallen into obscurity in the 20th century, largely eclipsed by Darwin, but the 2013 centennial of his death led to renewed interest and Wallace is likely to garner attention again in 2023 with the bicentennial of his birth. Against this backdrop, James Costa is proposing a new biography of Wallace. The chapters are arranged chronologically, treating the arc of Wallace's life in a narrative that interweaves key events with the development of Wallace's thought. He devote extra space to the 8-year Malay Archipelago odyssey as the adventure that Wallace himself declared the "central and controlling incident" of his life and became foundational to modern evolution and biogeography. Costa of course discusses Wallace's famous correspondence with Darwin, and how Wallace graciously applauded Darwin's achievement, and became of his closest friends and defenders. In later years, Wallace became associated with "the spiritualist movement" and taking up a range of social causes including championing better working conditions, land preservation, reform in public education, and legal rights for women. Ultimately, Costa argues that the key to understanding Wallace is to realize that he was singularly open to novel, even radical, ideas in scientific and social realms"--

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9884

Powered by Dynix

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal