Featured Book
Soul of the Tiger
Soul of the Tiger takes us to a increasingly-threatened world where human life is intimately linked with rhinos and cobras, elephants and man-eating tigers, and eagles which fight snakes — both in the physical world as well as the metaphysical and divine realms. The fascinating, bizarre, and often humorous accounts reveal the vital connection between people in Southeast Asia and their animal neighbors; to the villagers, animals are omens, divinities, meat, leather, competitors, and even ancestors. We meet a Bornean farmer, who, although an Evangelical Christian, waits to plant his rice until the yellow wagtail arrives. Witness animal fights that fill the needs once met by headhunting. Talk with Indonesians who believe that man-eating tigers carry the souls of their victims.
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Wilderness in Singapore? Who woulda thought?
WILDERNESS IN SINGAPORE? WHO WOULDA THOUGHT? Singapore proved a Coleoptera paradise for Victorian explorer Alfred Russel Wallace; new creatures still emerge BUKIT TIMAH, Singapore Visitors come to Singapore to shop or to learn about other cultures, to close a business deal or attend a conference. A century and a half ago, though, one of Singapore’s […]
News & Events
10 November — Opening of COP 30 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Ah, yet another international gathering to discuss progress in addressing the problem of climate change. This year it will be held in Belém, Brazil, and the participants will also focus on nature conservation in the country, including the vast Amazon region. I’ve been following Victorian naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace for some 50 years, including a […]
Intro to a speculative biography of Ali
My speculative biography of Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace’s assistant, was honored as the Best Historical Book of 2024 by the United States Peace Corps Writers. Here’s an excerpt from the book’s introduction. Look Here, Sir, What a Curious Bird Intro to a speculative biography of Ali, Alfred Russel Wallace’s assistant in the Malay Archipelago […]
Alfred Russel Wallace and Things That Go Bump in the Night
Alfred Russel Wallace is best known for his scientific achievements — collecting and documenting hundreds of new species of “natural productions,” major insights into biogeography, island endemism, and cultural anthropology, and notably, his development of a theory of evolution by natural selection independently of and prior to that of Charles Darwin. But Wallace was also […]