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Title: The Lying Stones of Marrakech : Penultimate Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0-609-80755-2 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 17 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Gould is gone, but should not be forgotten
Comment: Collections of previously published essays are often disappointing. Not so with Gould's "penultimate reflections in Natural History," published in 2000, just two years before his death. I found them entrancing (despite Gould's trademark parenthetical comments).
Two factors make Gould's essays stand out from most science writing--the depth of his ideas and his unmatched ability to peel back layers of approximate understanding and convenient storytelling to get to what actually happened. Whether he's detailing the founding moments of palentology and geology or excavating Alfred Russel Wallace's forays into predicting the future, you know that you're going to get the real story, impeccably told, straight from the primary sources. As a science writer, I'm awed as much by Gould's impeccable scholarship as by the quality and originality of his thinking. Gould is absolutely clear-eyed about the progress of science. The tales he tells reflect it as a richly human enterprise, groping its way forward despite misconceptions, hoaxes, and the personal quirks of its protagonists.
This book is not a light or easy read, but it is a richly rewarding one.
Robert E. Adler
Science Journalist
Author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation
Rating: 4
Summary: Essays with a split personality
Comment: The first three sections of this book have essays from the magazine Natural History about the history of "natural history." They are drier and of less general interest, covering people and issues in the development of the science. This certainly would not be the perfect introduction to the late Stephen Jay Gould's writing and research styles. . .
Nonetheless, they are well-researched and written in Gould's loving detail for the accurate story, in contrast to the historical myth. You might find yourself skimming the details of animal classifications to find the gems that remind us of major shifts in scientific thinking.
The second three sections are written to a broader audience and start with obituaries of Carl Sagan, Mel Allen and Joe DiMaggio. These essays are more readable (though Gould continues his love for parenthetical additions at least twice on every page). In this latter half of the book, Gould covers subjects such as social Darwinism; Dolly (the cloned sheep) and the nurture vs. nature argument; ways in which evolution is visible among living species; and competitive equilibrium in nature. Here Gould ensures that his essays are relevant to current social issues.
Rating: 5
Summary: The Lying Stones of Marrakech
Comment: The Lying Stones of Marrakech by Stephen Jay Gould is an excellent read; written by one of the foremost original thinkers of our time. His humanistic sensibility and passionate arguments are painstakingly historical... you are nerver left in doubt when reading Gould's prose. When reading this book you see in his writings a musing underlining his brilliant intelligence and scholarship with his signature wit becoming evident.
In these twenty-three essays an erudite discussion comes to light from on of the most fertile minds of science today. We are educated... better enlightened to a point of view which only Gould can provide. As with all good things, they must come to an end since this is the penultimate work of essays... which leaves one more to astonish us.
But I'm sure that we will not see the end of writing from him. I highly recommend reading this brilliant collection of essays from a the most revered and eloquent author and educator of our times.
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Title: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms : Essays on Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0609804758 Publisher: Three Rivers Press Pub. Date: 02 November, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0609601431 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 14 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Dinosaur in a Haystack : Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0517703939 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 12 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox : Mending the Gap Between Science and the Humanities by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0609601407 Publisher: Harmony Books Pub. Date: 08 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes by Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0393311031 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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