The forgotten co-father of evolution, Alfred Russell Wallace

1. Alfred Russell Wallace survived 12 years in the tropics – including Borneo – collecting biological specimens to substantiate his theory of evolution. (Portrait, from English Heritage/Down House, of Wallace as a young man in the Malay Archipelago with two bird-of-paradise specimens.) 2. To Avi Sirlin, Wallace’s ‘biography, his narrative, were just screaming for fictional treatment’. – Aurora Metro Books

You might not have heard of Alfred Russell Wallace. And that’s a pity because he helped develop one of life’s most important scientific theories.

The Evolutionist is Avi Sirlin’s first foray into historical fiction. So how did this Canadian lawyer come to be interested in the forgotten co-founder of evolution? Coincidence, really.