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Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural
History |
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| (Illus.) W.W. Norton & Company Incorporated 1977 285pp. 0-393-06425-5 Bibliography; Index |
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In lively prose, the author explains such difficult biological concepts as r- and K-selection, allometric growth, the role of ontogeny in phylogeny, biological clocks, plate tectonics and biogeography, the cropping principle, the symbiotic origin or eucaryotic cells, and many more in easily understood and almost anecdotal style. His opinions on Whiggish history of science, sociobiology, race, I.Q., etc., have a decidedly personal and provocative perspective. Gould also shares with us his own research on the Irish elk and human evolution. The volume under review is a superb selection for undergraduate as well as public libraries.
--Choice, 15:424 (May 1978). (From Book Review Digest, 1978).
Throughout the essays Gould's logical and scientific analysis is nicely laced with humor and a warm humanism which makes them a pleasure to read, but the book is not light reading; it is for the serious student and for the informed general reader prepared to make the effort to follow Gould's arguments.
--Reviewed by J. B. Hamlin in Library Journal, 102:2072 (October 1 1977). (From Book Review Digest, 1978).
[Gould] not only explains scientific theory but comments on science itself, with clarity, and wit, simultaneously entertaining and teaching. His examples are delights. [The work] is the best sort of popularization. Gould never mystifies science: he shows both its power and its weaknesses. In one of his essays Gould asks how nonscientists are to judge the rival claims of experts. There seems to be no clear answer, but it does help immeasurably to know how science works. How to penetrate science? Start with Stephen Jay Gould.
--Reviewed by James Gorman in New York Times Book Review, (November 20 1977), p.
7. (From Book Review Digest, 1978).
--Reviewed by Margo Jefferson in Newsweek, 90:104 (November 14 197). (From Book
Review Digest, 1978).
