An example used was whales' hip bones. In Double Trouble , Gould explores a clam species with a modified mantle that permits it to camouflages as fish. Wallace attributed all evolutionary changes to natural selection and strictly sustained that natural selection would result in an improved version of the species extreme Darwinism, anyone?
Wallace never accepted the validity of nonadaptive mechanisms. These nonadaptive mechanisms offered correlations between species development and the existence of organs that had a specific function selective but could execute other functions nonselective. That nature works with what it has and utilizes it to its advantage creating new functions for it. This is what I understood but read it yourself as I could be terribly off, still fun!
A collection of essays is not an easy kind of book to like. Here we have a common theme - a slightly unorthodox view of evolution - but no overarching structure or narrative. Nor does each essay come to a single specific conclusion. So it is a largely random wandering through the author's mind, with neither "schedule" nor "map".
A greater effort to tie the essays together and sharpen their conclusions would have made this book a lot more readable. Stephen Gould has a remarkable ability to cover scientific concepts in an accessible manor without dumbing things down. The format of his "Reflections My only concern is with the constant movement of science, that insights of the seventies may be stale in the current thinking.
I wonder at times if I am reading a time capsule of a particular mode of thought, or the dawn of the accepted way of thinking. Things I thought we Stephen Gould has a remarkable ability to cover scientific concepts in an accessible manor without dumbing things down. Gould had to write an essay advocating the use of Downs' Syndrome over the still accepted Mongoloid Idiot. Since it's been forty years, I wonder where that ended up. The Panda's Thumb is an overall interesting book dealing with the curiosities of evolution through a compendium of articles written by Gould mostly in the 70s for Nature magazine.
The edition even goes over some clarifications which have come into light in the two decades since the articles have been published. I think the book is a fairly readable popular natural sciences book, although the fragmentation that comes from it being an anthology of articles does make it seem aimless at times.
I think the genre has advanced in terms of content and readability by leaps and bounds in the last two decades and while Gould is still a good read, I do believe there are lots of equally good books available which have a bit more structure than the Panda's Thumb.
I'm rereading all of Stephen Jay Gould's works. They are well worth it for pure scientific entertainment. The Panda's Thumb was written in , so it is a bit old. Yet it still stands up well. The pands has five digits plus a "thumb" that is not really a thumb at all. It does show how a thumb could form since there is no gene for a thumb.
Gould argues against the slow change theory of evolution. Rather he argues for dramatic sudden changes. I believe Dawkins and others still continue this argum I'm rereading all of Stephen Jay Gould's works. I believe Dawkins and others still continue this argument. I was fascinated by the magnetotactic bacterium. They build a magnet in their bodies made of tiny particles.
This is the book you want to have just read when you are faced with having to argue with an idiot. Unfortunately, you can never win an argument with an idiot, but at least there is a chapter describing the differences between idiot, moron, and imbecile.
When it comes time to explain to your argument-partner what all that fuss regarding Darwin was all about, the topics in this book will handily give you something to knowingly speak about. This man's wit and intelligence and his interest in everything were much to be admired. Between and Gould released ten volumes of collected essays from his monthly column in "Natural History" magazine. I read all ten as they came out.
I was always excited to see a new volume appear. Now I am leisurely re-reading them. This second volume was published in Gould was a brilliant scientist who contributed several key concepts to the theory of evolution. His most important idea was that, despites its name, evolution did not always evolve. It tended to move forward in fits Between and Gould released ten volumes of collected essays from his monthly column in "Natural History" magazine.
It tended to move forward in fits and starts between long periods of stability. The theory was named "punctuated equilibrium", which doesn't trip off the tongue.
The amazing thing was that in addition to being a brilliant scientist, he was a brilliant writer. Popular science writing frequently involves dumbing down and smoothing out edges and complications. Gould had the ability to clearly describe very sophisticated issues in biology and evolution. He assumed he was writing for interested intelligent non-scientist so he avoided jargon and gobbly-gook.
At the same time he usually preserved the excitement of discussing cutting edge ideas that were controversial. He always admitted when he was dealing with speculative ideas. As in each of these volumes, Gould covers allot of territory.
He has articles on Darwin and his writings, an evolutionary history of the drawing of Mickey Mouse, abuses of evolutionary theory to support misogyny and racism, the mechanics of how a Panda's thumb evolved, and how smart where dinosaurs. So far as I know, there is no one today who does such a good job at spreading the word about what is going on in evolutionary theory. I know that Gould's cutting edge stuff in is now old hat and much of it probably no longer accepted. It is a sign of what an interesting writer he is that he is still so readable.
I am reading a paperback which I picked up used. I am fascinated by the previous owner. Many of the pages have notes in Chinese writing and it appears that many of the technical words were translated, in fine small precise handwritten characters, into Chinese.
There seems to be a story here. The Panda's thumb is one of the most widely read and translated SJ Gould books. It took me a few years to finally read it all as I've read multiple chapters in random order before those about the thumb of the panda, the one about solving the Piltdown conspiracy, among others.
Finally finishing it I must say it is a bit less cohesive then the previous one but has some texts that shine even more on their own. My favourite piece on science history was the "Crazy Old Randolph Kirkpatrick" chapter. Highly recommended! Wavering between 3. I'm sure I would have enjoyed and appreciated this more when I was in the middle of my undergraduate science degree. But its been a few years since then and this book needed a lot of my attention now!
Once I stopped trying to read it cover to cover and just read an essay at a time it was more manageable. Regardless, it was good to get my brain back into gear for good science writing - I don't want to forget everything I learned and see it turned to mush. This is at least the second time I have read this book but I guess I didn't put it in goodreads before. Gould's arrogance is sometimes infuriating, but push through it because the gems in here are worth the trouble.
These collections of Gould's essays from Natural History magazine are simply brilliant. I want to read each of these collections again and again.
Some of the best nonfiction on earth. Lucid, welcoming, erudite, and eminently readable. Gould had a genius for conveying biological and geological concepts in crystal English prose, always making sure to bring his reader along with him on his Darwinian journeys. Each chapter was about a different interesting subject, but I'm afraid it was a bit dense for me, and I tended to go off into auto-pilot whilst I was reading it.
But I blame me, not the author, because his style was chatty enough. It definitely took me a couple of chapters to get into this book. He has a unique writing style. It also helped to use Google frequently, since it was written in I think a glossary would have helped. Some of the research is dated, but it is fascinating to see the perspective in science from 40 years ago. Some very interesting essays and some not so interesting.
All in all, still worth the read though. An excellent rebuttal to the miraculous but debunked claims of evolution. Read in college. Gould does a marvelous job of explaining the theory of evolution. Great, standard reading for any biologist! A treat for for those of us who shifted careers into something other.
How I wish I could have crashed his lectures when he gave them! Love Gould's writing. A fascinating read. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one ». Readers also enjoyed. About Stephen Jay Gould. Stephen Jay Gould. Stephen Jay Gould was a prominent American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science.
He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation. Most of Gould's empirical research was on land snails. Gould Stephen Jay Gould was a prominent American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. Gould helped develop the theory of punctuated equilibrium, in which evolutionary stability is marked by instances of rapid change.
He contributed to evolutionary developmental biology. In evolutionary theory, he opposed strict selectionism, sociobiology as applied to humans, and evolutionary psychology. He campaigned against creationism and proposed that science and religion should be considered two compatible, complementary fields, or "magisteria," whose authority does not overlap. Books by Stephen Jay Gould. Related Articles. Announcing the Winners of the Goodreads Choice Awards!
With more than 4. Launched in , Selecciones editoriales. Crea Lectura. Foreign Rights Frankfurt Book Fair. Conference Office. Elegir formato. Bolsillo 9. Comprobar disponibilidad. Stephen Jay Gould. Editorial: Booket. Sinopsis de El pulgar del panda:.
Sobre el autor de El pulgar del panda. Acabo de llegar. Libros de ciencia. Las piedras falaces de Marrakech. Un erizo en la tormenta. Ocho cerditos. Desde Darwin. La vida maravillosa. Un dinosaurio en un pajar. La falsa medida del hombre. Ontogenia y Filogenia.
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