Jessica Riskin: The Power of Life

Rarely does a historian of science have the opportunity, in the midst of changing trends in a science, to point backwards in time and explain how dismissive reactions to the ideas of a scientific pioneer might have harmed the accuracy of that science for centuries. Jessica Riskin has seized such an opportunity in her new book about the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744–1829), who proposed the first evolutionary theory of life and, with it, a new science: biology. For centuries evolutionary theorists have discredited Lamarck due to his theory of self-transforming organisms, since they rejected (and mocked) the idea that animals could play an active role in shaping their own evolution. But new findings suggest that Lamarck’s basic claim was, in many ways, correct. Riskin also argues that that denial of the agency of living beings led to two centuries of eugenic policies and environmental destruction, encouraging people to regard the living world as so much raw material to be shaped and exploited for economic, industrial, and imperial gain. Riskin’s melding of biography, history, politics, and science sets out to correct this record. She tells the story of Lamarck’s life and work as an intense struggle between rival forces attempting to answer questions that remain foundational to our modern worldview: What is a living being, and what is science? Join us as Riskin shines a much-needed light on an underappreciated biologist whose evolutionary theory offered a more inclusive, collaborative, and enlightened approach to science. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: George Hammond Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Jessica Riskin: The Power of Life is an episode from Commonwealth Club of California Podcast by Commonwealth Club of California.

This episode is 60:50 long.

This episode was published on Apr 23, 2026.

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