Eight Little Piggies – Reflections in Natural History - Hardcover

Gould, Stephen Jay

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039303416X ISBN 13: 9780393034165

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co., 1993

Synopsis

Gould, Stephen Jay. Eight Little Piggies - Reflections in Natural History. New York & London, W. W . Norton & Co., 1993. 14.5cm x 21.5cm. 479 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. In all of Gould's work, this is the most contemplative and personal, speaking often of the importance of unbroken connections within our own lives and to our ancestral generations, a theme of supreme importance to evolutionists who study a world in which extinction is the ultimate fate of all and prolonged persistence the only meaningful measure of success. This personal view leads naturally to an area that has become, for Gould, of major importance- environmental deterioration and the massive extinction of species on our present earth. He chooses, typically, unusual and telling examples: the demise of the land snail Partula from Moorea (the Bali Ha'i of South Pacific) and why the battle that raged over the Mount Graham red squirrel of Arizona was worth fighting. For range, depth and elegance-and a serious commitment to readres-Stephen Jay Gould has no peer.

About this title

Product Description:

What story lies behind the bent tail of an ichthyosaur? How did hearing bones evolve? Is it possible that our five fingers and toes just happened to be and were not ordained? Here are Gould's thoughts on extinction and on the ecological crisis, as he proposes a Golden Rule of our Earth: we should treat all species as we would ourselves. Drawings.

Review:

A lovely mixture of bizarre facts, nice arguments, clever insights into the workings of evolution and a quality of writing that can make your skin prickle.. . . Gould has given us a feast.

Who could resist a title like that and, knowing the author, who wouldn't surmise that Gould . . . demonstrate[s] that five fingers and five toes are not the primordial/canonical mammalian standard. . . . Essays that reveal Gould in midlife, as passionate and articulate as ever, but older and wiser."

Few writers of popular science have given more pleasure to more readers than Stephen Jay Gould. . . . He packs a clout few science writers can match.

Like the master, Darwin, [Gould] has a gift for metaphor--for finding striking analogies that highlight the organizing principles behind Nature.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 039303416X
• ISBN 13: 9780393034165
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 480