How Microscopy Hastened the Demise of Darwinism

Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discoverer of evolutionary theory, broke with Darwin over Wallace's increasingly pronounced conviction that blind material forces lack the power to generate intricate biological structures. Wallace pointed to, among other things, the origin of life itself as a mystery that Darwin's idea seemed incapable of resolving. Reading science historian Michael Flannery's fascinating and concise new biography, Alfred Russel Wallace: A Rediscovered Life, I wondered...