Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Gould for a dollar

For the cost of 1 dollar, I now own a hard cover, retired library copy of I have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould.

Although perhaps not as well known as, say, Carl Sagan, Gould was one of the greatest popularizers of science of our generation. You can find more about him and many of his writings at the excellent Stephen Jay Gold Archive.

Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) was among the best known and widely read scientists of the late 20th century. A paleontologist and educator at Harvard University, Gould made his largest contributions to science as the leading spokes-person for evolutionary theory. His monthly columns in Natural History magazine and his popular works on evolution have earned him numerous awards and one of the largest readerships in the popular-science genre — penning altogether over twenty successful books throughout his career.

For more than 30 years Gould served on the faculty at Harvard, where he was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Professor of Geology, Biology, and the History of Science, as well as curator for Invertebrate Paleontology at the institution's Museum of Comparative Zoology. On this website you will find articles by Gould and his colleagues focusing on the finer points of his work, the nature of life's evolution, and the general ontogeny of evolutionary theory.

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