Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life

by Patricia Kelley, Warren D. Allmon (Editor), Robert Ross

Overview

Considered by many during his lifetime as the most well-known scientist in the world, Stephen Jay Gould left an enormous and influential body of work. A Harvard professor of paleontology, evolutionary biology, and the history of science, Gould provided major insights into our understanding of the history of life. He helped to reinvigorate paleontology, launch macroevolution on a new course, and provide a context in which the biological developmental stages of an organism's embryonic growth could be integrated into an understanding of evolution. This book is a set of reflections on the many areas of Gould's intellectual life by the people who knew and understood him best: former students and prominent close collaborators. Mostly a critical assessment of his legacy, the chapters are not technical contributions but rather offer a combination of intellectual bibliography, personal memoir, and reflection on Gould's diverse scientific achievements. The work includes the most complete bibliography of his writings to date and offers a multi-dimensional view of Gould's life-work not to be found in any other volume.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190451813
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/05/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Warren D. Allmon is Director of the Paleontological Research Institution in Ithaca, NY, and Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Cornell University. Patricia H. Kelley is Professor of Geology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Robert M. Ross is Associate Director for Outreach at the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY.

Table of Contents

Editor's PrefaceList of ContributorsThe structure of Gould: History, happenstance, humanism, and the unity of his view of life., Warren D. AllmonDiversity in the fossil record and Stephen Jay Gould's evolving view of the history of life., Richard K. BambachThe legacy of punctuated equilbrium, Dana H. GearyA tree grows in Queens: Stephen Jay Gould and ecology, Warren D. Allmon, Paul J. Morris and Linda C. IvanyStephen Jay Gould's winnowing fork: Science, religion, and creationism, Patricia H. KelleyTop-tier: Stephen Jay Gould and mass extinctions, or "I remember Steve talking about mass extinction one day, boy that was a hoot", David C. KendrickStephen Jay Gould - What does it mean to be a radical?, Richard C. Lewontin and Richard LevinsEvolutionary theory and the uses of biology, Philip KitcherStephen Jay Gould's evolving, hierarchical thoughts on stasis, Bruce S. LiebermanStephen Jay Gould: The scientist as educator, Robert M. RossStephen Jay Gould: Remembering a geologist, Jill S. SchneidermanGould's odyssey: Form may follow function, or former function, and all species are equal (especially bacteria), but history is trumps., Roger D. K. ThomasThe tree of life: Stephen Jay Gould's contributions to systematics, Margaret M. YaccobucciGenetics and Development: Good as Gould, Robert L. DoritBibliography of Stephen J. Gould, Compiled by Warren D. AllmonIndex

Editorial Reviews

"He [Gould] emerges as a genius of sorts, but - appropriately for his geologist beginnings - with feet not unmarked by clay." - Nature

"One of the first important works in what may someday be an extensive field of Gouldiana. The wonderful collection of essays reflecting on Gould's view of life, edited by his former students, presents a variety of insightful assessments of his work, while also giving us a glimpse of the man himself through the eyes of people who knew him well - his students and close colleagues. All the authors who a clear affection for Gould and an admiration for his accomplishments. However, none are servile followers, unwilling to criticize (Gould would have admired them for this). Thus, this volume is not, as the editors note their preface, an attempt at hagiography, but rather, a serious engagement with Gould's intellectual legacy." — Monthly Review

"An interesting collection of essays."—American Scientist

"There are many perceptive and useful essays in this collection, and anyone interested in the development of 20th -century evolutionary thought will be fascinated by their insights."—Reports of the National Center for Science Education

From the Publisher