They are certainly the weirdest animal fossils ever found, and they could easily be as stephen jay gould argues in his extraordinary book wonderful life. Stephen jay goulds most popular book is wonderful life. His mother eleanor was an artist, whose parents were jewish immigrants living and working in the citys garment district. The volume made the new york times best seller list, was the 1991 winner of the royal societys rhonepoulenc prize, the american historical associations forkosch award, and was a 1991 finalist for the pulitzer prize. The burgess shale and the nature of history is a 1989 book on the evolution of cambrian fauna by.
Wonderful life gives us the story of the reevaluation of the burgess fauna that revealed them to be animals utterly different from anything alive today. If your curiosity about the burgess shale or the weird and wonderful beings of the cambrian period needs sating, this book should more than do it. His style of writing keeps the book flowing and easily readable. The burgess shale and the nature of history pdf epub book. But gould wrote at the advent of an explosion of research in the ediacarancambrian diversification of animals, before treethinking had made great. Dec 26, 2006 but even though many scientists disagree with gould about the radical oddity of the burgess shale animals, his argument that the history of life is profoundly contingentas in the movie its a wonderful life, from which this book takes its titlehas become more accepted, in theories such as ward and brownlees rare earth hypothesis.
Stephen jay gould has 116 books on goodreads with 175244 ratings. Burgess shale and the nature of history new ed by gould, stephen jay isbn. Wonderful life is a great book that will give you one mans view on the nature of history and of life. Wonderful life will be compulsory reading for anyone interested in mans place in the universe, the sociology of science or the evolution of life. Gould sees it, the bizarre menagerie trapped in the burgess shale stands as both the perfect emblem and the proximate cause of this remaking of the history of life. Gould plays the role of the angel, rolling back the tape of life a half billion years for his readers through the lens of the burgess shale british columbia, arguably the most important fossil site on the planet. High in the canadian rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago called the burgess shale.
Wonderful life the title is a selfconscious echo of the frank capra movie tells a set of interlocking stories. The best work on the organisms of the burgess shale. In this book stephen jay gould explores what the burgess shale tells us about evolution. Stephen jay gould is a master when it come to taking a very complicated issue and boiling it down to an understandable point. Myth and metaphor in the discovery of geological time the jerusalemharvard lectures stephen jay gould hens teeth and horses toes. In this book stephen jay gould explores what the burgess shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Stephen jay gould was born in queens, new york on september 10, 1941. The first edition of the novel was published in 1989, and was written by stephen jay gould. Gould describes how the burgess shale fauna was discovered, reassembled, and analyzed in detail so clear that. Top 20 stephen jay gould quotes author of wonderful life. Stephen jay gould, a professor of geology at harvard university, a curator of invertebrate paleontology in the museum of comparative zoology, a public figure and spokesperson, and an author of many popular science books, has in a wonderful life created a window through which the reader views one of the most important events in natural history. It hold the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures liveda forgotten corner of evolution preserved in awesome detail.
Gould was known, of course, for minimizing the importance of adaptation compared to the influence of random events, and also for suggesting that there might some sort of unknown forces at work in macroevolution. It is quite dense gould may have been a popular science writer, but he didnt dumb it down but its worth the time investment. Stephen jay gould explains why the diversity of the burgess shale is important in understanding our past and evolution. The burgess shale and the nature of history summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching wonderful life. The burgess shale and the nature of history time s arrow, times cycle. In wonderful life, an homage to the american classic film, its a wonderful life, stephen j. Stephen jay goulds new book, wonderful life, recounts two fascinating and previously littleknown stories, one about evolution and the other about evolutionary science. To ask other readers questions about wonderful life, please sign up. First, in an error that i call lifes little joke gould, 1987a, we are. In this book stephen jay gould explores what the burgess shale tells us about evolution and the. The burgess shale and the nature of history by stephen jay gould focuses mainly on the burgess shale in british columbia high up in the canadian rockies. Stephen jay gould s new book, wonderful life, recounts two fascinating and previously littleknown stories, one about evolution and the other about evolutionary science.
Stephen jay gould, a professor of geology at harvard university, a curator of invertebrate paleontology in the museum of comparative zoology, a public figure and spokesperson, and an author of many popular science books, has in a wonderful life created a window. This amazing, wonderful and beautiful book on the fossil record of the burgess shale is one of the leading books about. Wonderful life by stephen jay gould penguin books australia. Wonderful life the burgess shale and the nature of history. The burgess shale and the nature of history 9780393027051 by gould, stephen jay and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. In wonderful life, stephen jay gould traces the discovery and scientific study of the burgess shale formation and explores its significance for the entire field of evolution, thus reaffirming the. But there is one aspect of human life which this theory of evolution fails to account for. Stephen jay gould 19412002 was the alexander agassiz professor of zoology and professor of geology at harvard university. Pdf wonderful life download full pdf book download. In paleontology the study of fossils is like having an obscure, imperfect view of reality and its only with time and further study that we can get closer to the truth. Gould is an exceptional combination of scientist and science writer, one of americas foremost paleontologists and the author of many books on evolution and on scientific history.
His father leonard was a court stenographer, and his mother eleanor was an artist whose parents were jewish immigrants living and working in the citys garment district. His father leonard was a court stenographer and a world war ii veteran in the united states navy. Gould shows again that he is unique among evolutionists in the subtlety and depth of his thinking about the history of life r. The book, published in 1989, was a best seller and won the aventis prize for science books in 1991 and was a finalist for the pulitzer prize in that same year. Books by stephen jay gould author of wonderful life. The burgess shale and the nature of history stephen jay gould. Oct 01, 1989 wonderful life is pretty, well, wonderful. Wonderful life by stephen jay gould, 9780099273455, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Though not an easy read, gould s wonderful life is a worthwhile volume. He is thus exceptionally well placed to tell these stories, and he tells them with fervor and intelligence. Arrow, times cycle 1987, and wonderful life 1989, he traced the course and significance of various controversies in the history of evolutionary biology, intelligence testing, geology, and paleontology. From 1974 gould regularly contributed essays to the periodical natural history, and these were collected in several.
The volume made the new york times best seller list, 1 was the 1991 winner of the royal society s rhonepoulenc prize, the american historical association s forkosch award, and was a 1991 finalist for the pulitzer prize. In wonderful life, stephen jay gould traces the history of this incredible find and comes to some controversial conclusions of his own. Wonderful life available for download and read online in other formats. Stephen jay gould s most popular book is wonderful life.
The darwinian theory of evolution is a wellknown, wellexplored area. The books title has a meaning to it, not only about life in the burgess shale, but also one of goulds favorite movies. However, gould doesnt invoke either of these ideas at least not overtly in wonderful life. In this book stephen jay gould explores what the burgess shale might tell us about evolution and the nature of history. Wonderful life by stephen jay gould, hardcover barnes. Gould is an exceptional combination of scientist and science writer. Written with panache and gentle humor, gould makes what could be a dry and difficult topic acessable to readers who dont have the benefit of science degrees. He published over twenty books, received the national book and national book critics circle awards, and a macarthur fellow. His topic is one that is usually way above the average persons head, but he brings it down to earth. Abstract in his 1989 book wonderful life stephen jay gould employed the fossils of the middle cambrian burgess shale to argue for a pervasive role of contingency in the history of life. Walcott, administrator extraordinaire, who discovered the burgess shale, and classified all its animals into existing phyla. The burgess shale and the nature of history by stephen jay gould 1990, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Stephen jay gould has 116 books on goodreads with 175510 ratings. The burgess shale and the nature of history is a 1989 book on the evolution of cambrian fauna by harvard paleontologist stephen jay gould.