Synopses & Reviews
Among scientists who write, no one illuminates as well as Stephen Jay Gould doesthe wonderful workings of the natural world. Now in a new volume of collected essays--his sixth since --Gould speaks of the importance of unbroken connections within our own lives and to our ancestralgenerations. Along with way, he opens to us the mysteries of fish tails, frog calls, and other matters, and shows once and for all why we must take notice when a seemingly insignificant creature is threatened, like the land snail from Moorea, whose extinction he movingly relates.
Synopsis
"There is no scientist today whose books I look forward to reading with greater anticipation of enjoyment and enlightenment than Stephen Jay Gould."--Martin Gardner
Synopsis
A lovely mixture of bizarre facts, nice arguments, clever insights into the workings of evolution and a quality of writing that can make your skin prickle.. . . Gould has given us a feast.Like the master, Darwin, [Gould] has a gift for metaphor--for finding striking analogies that highlight the organizing principles behind Nature.Who could resist a title like that--and, knowing the author, who wouldn't surmise that Gould . . . demonstrate[s] that five fingers and five toes are not the primordial/canonical mammalian standard. . . . Essays that reveal Gould in midlife, as passionate and articulate as ever, but older and wiser.Few writers of popular science have given more pleasure to more readers than Stephen Jay Gould. . . . He packs a clout few science writers can match.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 457-465) and index.
About the Author
Stephen Jay Gould(1941-2002) was the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology at Harvard University. He published over twenty books, received the National Book and National Book Critics Circle Awards, and a MacArthur Fellowship.