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Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002)

Autor(a) de Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

121+ Works 27,752 Membros 281 Críticas 156 Favorited

About the Author

Born in New York City in 1941, Stephen Jay Gould received his B.A. from Antioch College in New York in 1963 and a Ph.D. in paleontology from Columbia University in 1967. Gould spent most of his career as a professor at Harvard University and curator of invertebrate paleontology at Harvard's Museum mostrar mais of Comparative Zoology. His research was mainly in the evolution and speciation of land snails. Gould was a leading proponent of the theory of punctuated equilibrium. This theory holds that few evolutionary changes occur among organisms over long periods of time, and then a brief period of rapid changes occurs before another long, stable period of equilibrium sets in. Gould also made significant contributions to the field of evolutionary developmental biology, most notably in his work, Ontogeny and Phylogeny. An outspoken advocate of the scientific outlook, Gould had been a vigorous defender of evolution against its creation-science opponents in popular magazines focusing on science. He wrote a column for Natural History and has produced a remarkable series of books that display the excitement of science for the layperson. Among his many awards and honors, Gould won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His titles include; Ever Since Darwin, The Panda's Thumb, Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory and Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin. Stephen Jay Gould died on May 20, 2002, following his second bout with cancer. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Disambiguation Notice:

(eng) This is the author page for Stephen Jay Gould. For the mystery writer, please see Stephen Gould. If you have books by the scientist listed as by "Stephen Gould", please consider editing the author field to include his full name. Thank you.

Image credit: A photo of Stephen Jay Gould, by Kathy Chapman online

Séries

Obras por Stephen Jay Gould

Bully for Brontosaurus (1991) 1,648 exemplares
Dinosaur in a Haystack (1996) 1,520 exemplares
The Mismeasure of Man (1981) 1,414 exemplares
Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes (1980) 1,329 exemplares
Ontogeny and Phylogeny (1977) 360 exemplares
The Best American Essays 2002 (2002) — Editor; Introdução — 220 exemplares
Adam's Navel (1993) 135 exemplares
Punctuated Equilibrium (1972) 103 exemplares
Illuminations: A Bestiary (1986) 58 exemplares
Alexis Rockman (2004) 16 exemplares
Evolution & Extinction: Essays (1998) 12 exemplares
Gould. Obra Esencial (2003) 6 exemplares
Stephen Jay Gould on Evolution (1994) 4 exemplares
Il millennio che non c'è (1999) 4 exemplares
"Curveball" 3 exemplares
Uomini e fossili 3 exemplares
I pilastri del tempo (2000) 2 exemplares
A Wiccan Reader, Vol. 1 (2010) 2 exemplares
Firtinadaki Kirpi (2012) 2 exemplares
America Revisited 1 exemplar
Galileo Galilei 1 exemplar
Selected Writings 1 exemplar
various books 1 exemplar
Dějiny planety Země (1998) 1 exemplar
Os Oito Porquinhos (1996) 1 exemplar
Nonmoral Nature 1 exemplar
Steven Jay Gould 1 exemplar

Associated Works

Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993) — Narrador, algumas edições8,299 exemplares
The Far Side Gallery 3 (1988) — Prefácio — 2,116 exemplares
In the Shadow of Man (1971) — Prefácio, algumas edições1,323 exemplares
The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008) — Contribuidor — 803 exemplares
Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea (2001) — Introdução, algumas edições794 exemplares
The Best American Essays of the Century (2000) — Contribuidor — 774 exemplares
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series (1963) — Introdução, algumas edições750 exemplares
Darwin (Norton Critical Edition) (1970) — Contribuidor — 652 exemplares
Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contribuidor — 335 exemplares
Man's Place in Nature (1863) — Introdução, algumas edições246 exemplares
Hidden Histories of Science (1995) — Contribuidor — 236 exemplares
A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle (1993) — Contribuidor — 219 exemplares
The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare (1918) — Editor, algumas edições205 exemplares
The Best American Essays 1994 (1994) — Contribuidor — 180 exemplares
The Best American Science Writing 2000 (2000) — Contribuidor — 165 exemplares
The Best American Essays 1991 (1991) — Contribuidor — 142 exemplares
The Best American Science Writing 2001 (2001) — Contribuidor — 132 exemplares
Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection, 1825-1859 (2008) — Introdução, algumas edições124 exemplares
Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species (1991) — Introdução — 121 exemplares
The Best American Essays 1990 (1990) — Contribuidor — 117 exemplares
The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms (1881) — Prefácio, algumas edições116 exemplares
The Simpsons: Season 9 (2014) — Guest star — 95 exemplares
Athanasius Kircher: the Last Man Who Knew Everything (2004) — Contribuidor, algumas edições92 exemplares
Granta 16: Science (1985) — Contribuidor — 82 exemplares
The Best American Essays 1986 (1986) — Contribuidor — 70 exemplares
The Art of National Geographic (1999) — Prefácio — 64 exemplares
The Viking Atlas of Evolution (1996) — Consulting editor — 14 exemplares
New Scientist, 12 March 1987 (1987) — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar

Etiquetado

a ler (1,494) animais (133) antologia (461) Antropologia (326) Basebol (402) Biologia (2,515) Biologia evolutiva (130) Cartoon (131) Ceticismo (206) Ciência (5,587) Ciências naturais (174) colecção (195) contos (489) Darwin (266) desportos (159) Divulgação científica (435) encadernado (152) ensaios (1,912) Evolução (3,609) Ficção (672) Filosofia (441) Fotonovela (227) Fóssil (137) Geologia (285) Gould (130) história (724) História da ciência (594) História natural (2,260) Humor (363) lido (403) Natureza (477) Não ficção (2,858) own (166) Paleontologia (817) por ler (310) Psicologia (270) Religião (237) Stephen Jay Gould (301) Stephen King (155) terror (921)

Conhecimento Comum

Nome canónico
Gould, Stephen Jay
Nome legal
Gould, Stephen Jay
Data de nascimento
1941-09-10
Data de falecimento
2002-05-20
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
New York, New York, USA
Local de falecimento
New York, New York, USA
Causa da morte
metastatic adenocarcinoma
Locais de residência
New York, New York, USA
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Educação
Antioch College (BA|1963)
Columbia University (Ph.D|1967)
Ocupações
professor
evolutionary biologist
historian of science
paleontologist
Relações
Shearer, Rhonda Roland (2nd wife)
Organizações
Harvard University
American Museum of Natural History
Paleontological Society
Society for the Study of Evolution
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Prémios e menções honrosas
Library of Congress "Living Legends Award" for scientists and inventors"
Humanist of the Year (2001)
MacArthur Fellowship (1981)
Linnean Medal (1992)
Darwin-Wallace Medal (2008)
Paleontological Society Medal (2002) (mostrar todos 19)
Golden Plate Award (1982)
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1983)
National Academy of Sciences (1989)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1983)
St. Louis Literary Award (1994)
Sue Tyler Friedman Medal (1989)
Charles Schuchert Award (1975)
Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science (1983, 1990)
National Book Award (1981)
National Book Critics Circle Award (1981)
In Praise of Reason Award (1986)
The Isaac Asimov Award (1995)
The Pantheon of Skeptics (2011)
Nota de desambiguação
This is the author page for Stephen Jay Gould. For the mystery writer, please see Stephen Gould. If you have books by the scientist listed as by "Stephen Gould", please consider editing the author field to include his full name. Thank you.

Membros

Críticas

 
Assinalado
AnkaraLibrary | Feb 23, 2024 |
Having finished this penultimate collection of Gould's essays, I realised I had inadvertently skipped a volume and should have read 'Dinosaur in a Haystack ' first. This was a slight relief after 'Eight Little Piggies ' which I found tedious as the essays were more readable and on more interesting topics. Most concern the history of science and how various theories on the development of life were abandoned, overtaken by events and new information though sometimes because the last holdouts against adoption of the newer theories died.

A few veer off into short pieces on Mozart and baseball and I admit to skipping the latter and a long essay in the first half which I found totally tedious. One I enjoyed most was about Galileo - I hadn't known that he was one of a group of early scientific pioneers, though I was aware of his persecution by the Inquisition. But it was the death of the wealthy and powerful nobleman, leader of the group, struck down by a fever, that removed Galileo's protection from the Inquisition.

Quite a few essays deal with the distortions of history whereby a 'heroic' version is preferred rather than the more low-key reality. At times, someone or something is popularly known about in a version completely opposite to what really happened. A case in point is the title essay, where a university professor was the victim of a hoax: contrary to the story published in many accounts over the centuries since, the hoax wasn't perpetrated by his students and he didn't die soon afterwards with his reputation in tatters. Gould unearthed the court papers from the professor's case against two of his colleagues who, fed up with his pomposity and his outmoded views, arranged for intricately carved stones to be planted where he would find them. They wanted him to make a fool of himself over the 'lying stones' but the joke went too far and their accomplice turned witness against them. It was they who were ruined, lost their posts and, in one case, died soon afterwards. He carried on at the university and lived for, I think, another fourteen years.

One of Gould's heroes was Lavoisier and he returns again to him, this time Lavoisier's pioneering work in geology, cut short by his execution in revolutionary France.

Altogether a much better read than the volume I read previously, although I did have to dip into it over an extended period and couldn't get on with all of it, so it's a respectable 3 stars from me.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
kitsune_reader | 12 outras críticas | Jan 18, 2024 |
The sixth collection of Gould's essays, and the second I bought as a hardback: a very weighty tome printed on heavy paper. I found some of the contents a bit heavy going too, sadly. In fact, it was more turgid than the previous volume, Bully for Brontosaurus. For some reason, Gould started off in his early columns with a more accessible style: far fewer convoluted sentences and long words used for their own sake. But the overwritten style I found in the previous volume got worse here if possible. Together with the fact that he hardly ever provided a pronunciation guide to the various Latin terms used for the creatures he was discussing, it made for a difficult read and I found the subjects very dry. The only essay I could remember after finishing was the one where he 'revised' the previous take on one of the Burgess Shale life forms which had been obviously (to me anyway and to about 20 of his correspondents it seems) turned the wrong way up. So I can only give this 2 stars.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
kitsune_reader | 9 outras críticas | Jan 18, 2024 |
The fifth collection of Gould's essays, and the first I bought as a hardback: a very weighty tome printed on heavy paper. I found some of the contents a bit heavy going too, sadly.

I won't attempt to dissect the essays within, but a lot use historical misunderstandings or obsessions to illustrate points about the scientific method. Some of the more interesting included one on the tragedy of Antoine Lavoisier, executed during the French Revolution, or the author's new appreciation of Kropotkin and the basis for Russian philosophers and scientists rejecting what they saw as the 'nature red in tooth and claw' basis of Darwinism. They instead envisaged mutual aid as an evolutionary mechanism, an idea developed from the sparsely-populated Russian landscape as opposed to the teeming-with-life tropical environments in which Darwin and others developed their theories. One essay on the apocryphal tale of the discovery of the Burgess Shale and how it is not supported by the discoverer's own notebooks was already covered in detail in the author's "Wonderful Life" so I felt was treading old ground.

The title essay refers to the naming mechanism for organisms, which had changed in basis over the centuries since things began to be placed into taxonomies in the 18th century and had recently demanded, due to prior usage, that Apatosaurus be used instead of the more well-known Brontosaurus. This decision may have been reversed now to allow use of either. One on the development of wings did not seem aware that many dinosaurs developed feathers for warmth, which allowed those to be adapted to other usages, but it seems such discoveries came later than the book's early 1990s publication.
An article on Blogspot - https://ajungleoftales.blogspot.com/2023/01/re-read-review-bully-for-brontosauru... - provides a breakdown of the essays and how more recent discoveries have impacted individual ones.

I skipped most of the article on baseball, a subject which as a UK resident goes over my head. I found some of the others a bit turgid but did battle on to the end which winds up with a couple of astronomical articles about the flypast of Voyager 2: an event which was happening when these were written. I found those to be some of the more interesting articles. So on balance I would award this collection 3 stars.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
kitsune_reader | 11 outras críticas | Jan 18, 2024 |

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Associated Authors

Robert Atwan Editor, Foreword

Estatísticas

Obras
121
Also by
35
Membros
27,752
Popularidade
#733
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
281
ISBN
502
Línguas
22
Marcado como favorito
156

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