The Panda's Thumb
More Reflections in Natural History

Stephen Jay Gould is a pleasure to read. No writer I know can so seamlessly combine the cultural sophistication of belles-lettres with the rigors of scientific explanation. Gould is singularly able to frame scientific controversies and hypotheses within a larger historical context, showing the human......more

Having recently settled in Australia I found the information on Marsupials in South America highly interesting. I also enjoyed his somewhat internal debates about dinosaurs. I still haven't latched on to his writing as much as I would have liked. The content is really good and he has a great sum up......more

Podría ser, fácilmente, la mejor lectura "por casualidad" con la que me haya topado en años. Y de lejos. No venía de recomendaciones previas de amigos, colegas comunicadores o críticas del libro. Andaba, de hecho, buscando otro de Stephen Jay Gould, de quien he oído mucho pero a quien no había leído......more

Second of Gould's collected essays, as before this collection covers a wide range of subjects in the field of evolution, palaeontology etc. including examinations of the racist and sexist bias in the history of the field and even considering the subject of neoteny (retention of features of the embry......more

This was a hugely enjoyable book by an extremely talented writer. The thought most running across my mind when I was reading this book was: "Where can I get more Stephen Jay Gould books?!" Since it is a collection of essays, I don't really want to review any of them personally. Sure, some of the scie......more