Stephen Jay Gould | Author

About the Author

Born in New York City in 1941, Stephen Jay Gould received his B.A. from Antioch College in New York in 1963 and a Ph.D. in paleontology from Columbia University in 1967. Gould spent most of his career as a professor at Harvard University and curator of invertebrate paleontology at Harvard's Museum show more of Comparative Zoology. His research was mainly in the evolution and speciation of land snails. Gould was a leading proponent of the theory of punctuated equilibrium. This theory holds that few evolutionary changes occur among organisms over long periods of time, and then a brief period of rapid changes occurs before another long, stable period of equilibrium sets in. Gould also made significant contributions to the field of evolutionary developmental biology, most notably in his work, Ontogeny and Phylogeny. An outspoken advocate of the scientific outlook, Gould had been a vigorous defender of evolution against its creation-science opponents in popular magazines focusing on science. He wrote a column for Natural History and has produced a remarkable series of books that display the excitement of science for the layperson. Among his many awards and honors, Gould won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. His titles include; Ever Since Darwin, The Panda's Thumb, Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory and Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin. Stephen Jay Gould died on May 20, 2002, following his second bout with cancer. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: SJ GOULD, S. J. Gould, S. Jay Gould, Steven J. Gould, Stephen J. Gould, Stehen Jay Gould, Srphen Jay Gould, Stephen J. Gould, Stephen J. Gould, Stphen Jay Gould, Steven Jay Gould, Stephen Jay Gould, Jay Stephen Gould, Stephan Jay Gould, Gould Stephen Jay, 스티븐 J. 굴드, Stephen Jay ed. Gould, Stephen Jay et al. Gould, editor Stephen Jay Gould, Illustrated by Yes Stephen jay Gould

Also includes: Steven Gould (3)

Disambiguation Notice:

This is the author page for Stephen Jay Gould. For the mystery writer, please see Stephen Gould. If you have books by the scientist listed as by "Stephen Gould", please consider editing the author field to include his full name. Thank you.

Image credit: A photo of Stephen Jay Gould, by Kathy Chapman online

Series

Reflections in Natural History

Edinburgh Medal Lecture

Works by Stephen Jay Gould

The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History (1980) 2,065 copies

The Mismeasure of Man [Revised & Expanded] (1981) 1,846 copies

Ever Since Darwin: Reflections on Natural History (1977) 1,800 copies

Bully for Brontosaurus (1991) 1,665 copies

Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin (1996) 1,614 copies

Dinosaur in a Haystack (1996) 1,533 copies

The Mismeasure of Man (1981) 1,429 copies

Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes (1980) 1,341 copies

The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History (1985) 1,265 copies

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History (1993) 1,209 copies

The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (2002) 943 copies

Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life (1999) 917 copies

Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown (1997) 818 copies

The Lying Stones of Marrakech: Penultimate Reflections in Natural History (2000) 810 copies

Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms (1998) 797 copies

I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History (2002) 739 copies

An Urchin in the Storm: Essays About Books and Ideas (1987) 683 copies

The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox: Mending the Gap Between Science and the Humanities (2003) 641 copies

Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time (1987) 639 copies

The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould (2006) 372 copies

Ontogeny and Phylogeny (1977) 363 copies

The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth (1993) 349 copies

Conversations About the End of Time (1998) 295 copies

Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball (2003) 250 copies

The Best American Essays 2002 (2002) — Editor; Introduction — 223 copies

Adam's Navel (1993) 136 copies

Crossing Over Where Art and Science Meet (2000) 113 copies

Punctuated Equilibrium (2007) 107 copies

Illuminations: A Bestiary (1986) 59 copies

The Mismeasure of Man and The Panda's Thumb (2 Vol in Slipcase) (1980) 38 copies

The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions (2000) — Foreword — 36 copies

The Individual in Darwin's World (Edinburgh Medal Lectures) (1991) 24 copies

Alexis Rockman (2004) 16 copies

Evolution & Extinction: Essays (1998) 13 copies

Exaptation. Il bricolage dell'evoluzione (2008) 12 copies

Antilopes, dodos et coquillages : Ultimes réflexions sur l'histoire naturelle (2008) 7 copies

Gould. Obra Esencial (2003) 6 copies

THE FLAMINGO'S SMILE, HEN'S TEETH AND HORSE'S TOES, THE PANDA'S THUMB. [Three Volume boxed set]. (1980) 5 copies

The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme 5 copies

Evolución: Sociedad, Ciencia y Universo (1998) 5 copies

Stephen Jay Gould on Evolution (1994) 4 copies

La flecha y el ciclo del tiempo. Mito y metáfora en el descubrimiento del tiempo geológico (2021) 4 copies

Il millennio che non c'è (1999) 4 copies

Les quatre antilopes de l'apocalypse (2000) 4 copies

"Curveball" 3 copies

Livets lille spøk : nye naturhistoriske essays (1998) 3 copies

A Wiccan Reader, Vol. 1 (2010) 3 copies

Evolution & History of Life: A Science Masters Series Book (2009) 3 copies

Human Evolution: Selections from Scientific American on Our Species Evolution (1998) 3 copies

Lance de Dados (Em Portuguese do Brasil) 3 copies

Uomini e fossili 3 copies

I pilastri del tempo (2000) 2 copies

Niewczesny pogrzeb Darwina : wybór esejów (1999) 2 copies

Life in the Universe [A "Scientific American" Special Issue] (1995) 2 copies

Firtinadaki Kirpi (2012) 2 copies

An evolutionary microcosm : Pleistocene and recent history of the land snail P. (Poecilozonites) in Bermuda 2 copies

Små fisk, store fisk : naturhistoriske eftertanker (1989) 2 copies

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series 2 copies

The Evolution of Gryphaea (Gothic Studies and Dissertations) (1980) 2 copies

This View of Life: Triumph of the Root-Heads 1 copy

This View of Life: The Anatomy Lesson 1 copy

This View of Life: A Sea Horse for All Races 1 copy

This View of Life: 'The Great Western; and 'The Fighting Temeraire' 1 copy

This View of Life: Reversing Established Orders 1 copy

This View of Life: Boyle's Law and Darwin's Details 1 copy

This View of Life: Microcosmos 1 copy

The Geometer of Race 1 copy

Great Science Museums: Flowers of Glass 1 copy

Dinosaur Deconstruction 1 copy

Commentary: What Is A Species? 1 copy

Commentary: Eve and Her Tree 1 copy

This View of Life: On a Toothed Bird's Place in Nature 1 copy

Darwin's revolution in thought an illustrated lecture for the classroom 1 copy

Sellected essays by Stephen Jay Gould 1 copy

This View of Life: The Tallest Tale 1 copy

This View of Life: Mr. Sophia's Pony 1 copy

This View of Life: Up Against a Wall 1 copy

This View of Life: A Lesson from the Old Masters 1 copy

This View of Life: The Diet of Worms and the Defenestration of Prague 1 copy

Creating the Creators 1 copy

Natural Selections: With Maximal Insight 1 copy

A Cerion for Christopher 1 copy

This View of Life: The Dodo in the Caucus Race 1 copy

This View of Life: War of the Worldviews 1 copy

This View of Life: As the Worm Turns 1 copy

This View of Life: Nonoverlapping Magisteria 1 copy

This View of Life: Unusual Unity 1 copy

This View of Life: Theory of the Living Earth 1 copy

This View of Life: Can We Truly Know Sloth and Rapacity? 1 copy

'Why Darwin?' in NYRB XLIII/6: 4 April 1996 1 copy

America Revisited 1 copy

O mundo depois de Darwin: Reflexões sobre história natural 1 copy

Darwin big shock(Chinese Edition) (2009) 1 copy

Galileo Galilei 1 copy

Counters and Cable Cars {essay} 1 copy

La adaptación biológica 1 copy

Punctuated Equilibrium's Threefold History 1 copy

Selected Writings 1 copy

various books 1 copy

The Great Physiologist of Heidelberg 1 copy

Kropotkin Was No Crackpot 1 copy

Dějiny planety Země (1998) 1 copy

The Lying Stones of Marrakech, 1st Limited Edition (2000) 1 copy

Um ouriÃ§o na tempestade : ensaios sobre livros e ideias 1 copy

Quando As Galinhas Tiverem Dentes 1 copy

Evolution and systematics of Cerion (Mollusca, Pulmonata) on New Providence Island : a radical revision 1 copy

Os Oito Porquinhos (1996) 1 copy

O Sorriso do Flamingo Reflexões sobre história natural 1 copy

Nonmoral Nature 1 copy

Lying Stones Marrakech 1 copy

Ever Since Darwin/The Panda's Thumb/Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes (Reflections in Natural History 1-3) 1 copy

Eight Little Pigs: Reflections in Natural History 1 copy

Yaşamın Tüm Çeşitliliği - İlerleme Mitosu 1 copy

The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox : 1 copy

The Problem of Perfection or How Can a Clam Mount a Fish on Its Rear End 1 copy

Hooking Leviathan by Its Past 1 copy

The rational society: [lecture] delivered on 27 October 1970 at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1971) 1 copy

Science B-16: History of life (sourcebook) 1 copy

'So near and yet so far' in NYRB XLI/17: 20 Oct 1994 1 copy

Steven Jay Gould 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

Nightmares & Dreamscapes (1993) — Narrator, some editions — 8,394 copies

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (1997) — Foreword — 2,432 copies

The Far Side Gallery 3 (1988) — Foreword — 2,141 copies

In the Shadow of Man (1971) — Preface, some editions — 1,344 copies

The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing (2008) — Contributor — 803 copies

Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea (2001) — Introduction, some editions — 796 copies

The Best American Essays of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 783 copies

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series (1963) — Introduction, some editions — 762 copies

Darwin (Norton Critical Edition) (1970) — Contributor — 659 copies

Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 337 copies

Man's Place in Nature (1863) — Introduction, some editions — 249 copies

Hidden Histories of Science (1995) — Contributor — 239 copies

A Glorious Accident: Understanding Our Place in the Cosmic Puzzle (1993) — Contributor — 222 copies

The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare (1918) — Editor, some editions — 209 copies

The Best American Essays 1994 (1994) — Contributor — 181 copies

Our Continent: A Natural History of North America (1976) 177 copies

The Best American Science Writing 2000 (2000) — Contributor — 166 copies

The Best American Essays 1991 (1991) — Contributor — 144 copies

The Best American Science Writing 2001 (2001) — Contributor — 133 copies

Charles Darwin's Letters: A Selection, 1825-1859 (2008) — Introduction, some editions — 124 copies

Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species (1991) — Introduction — 122 copies

The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms (1881) — Foreword, some editions — 120 copies

The Best American Essays 1990 (1990) — Contributor — 119 copies

Forgotten Heroes: Inspiring American Portraits from Our Leading Historians (1999) — Contributor — 110 copies

Forces of Change: A New View of Nature (2000) 99 copies

The Simpsons: Season 9 (2014) — Guest star — 96 copies

Athanasius Kircher: the Last Man Who Knew Everything (2004) — Contributor, some editions — 94 copies

Granta 16: Science (1985) — Contributor — 82 copies

The Best American Essays 1986 (1986) — Contributor — 70 copies

The Art of National Geographic (1999) — Foreword — 64 copies

The End Is Near: Visions of Apocalypse, Millennium and Utopia : Works from the American Visionary Art Museum (1998) — Contributor — 44 copies

Historical Atlas of the Earth: A Visual Exploration of the Earth's Physical Past (Henry Holt Reference Book) (1995) — Consultant editor — 24 copies

Life in the Universe: Scientific American : A Special Issue (Scientific American, a Special Issue) (1995) — Contributor — 20 copies

The Viking Atlas of Evolution (1996) — Consulting editor — 14 copies

Dinosaurs and other monsters (2004) — Contributor — 4 copies

New Scientist, 12 March 1987 (1987) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

animals (133) anthology (461) anthropology (326) baseball (402) biology (2,515) cartoons (131) collection (195) comics (227) Darwin (266) essays (1,912) evolution (3,609) evolutionary biology (130) fiction (672) fossils (137) geology (285) Gould (130) hardcover (152) history (724) history of science (594) horror (921) humor (363) natural history (2,260) natural science (174) nature (477) non-fiction (2,858) own (166) paleontology (817) philosophy (441) popular science (435) psychology (270) read (403) religion (237) science (5,587) short stories (489) skepticism (206) sports (159) Stephen Jay Gould (301) Stephen King (155) to-read (1,494) unread (310)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name: Gould, Stephen Jay
Legal name: Gould, Stephen Jay
Birthdate: 1941-09-10
Date of death: 2002-05-20
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: New York, New York, USA
Place of death: New York, New York, USA
Cause of death: metastatic adenocarcinoma
Places of residence: New York, New York, USA
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Education: Antioch College (BA|1963)
Columbia University (Ph.D|1967)
Occupations: professor
evolutionary biologist
historian of science
paleontologist
Relationships: Shearer, Rhonda Roland (2nd wife)
Organizations: Harvard University
American Museum of Natural History
Paleontological Society
Society for the Study of Evolution
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Awards and honors: Library of Congress "Living Legends Award" for scientists and inventors"
Humanist of the Year (2001)
MacArthur Fellowship (1981)
Linnean Medal (1992)
Darwin-Wallace Medal (2008)
Paleontological Society Medal (2002) (show all 19)
Golden Plate Award (1982)
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1983)
National Academy of Sciences (1989)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1983)
St. Louis Literary Award (1994)
Sue Tyler Friedman Medal (1989)
Charles Schuchert Award (1975)
Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science (1983, 1990)
National Book Award (1981)
National Book Critics Circle Award (1981)
In Praise of Reason Award (1986)
The Isaac Asimov Award (1995)
The Pantheon of Skeptics (2011)
Disambiguation notice: This is the author page for Stephen Jay Gould. For the mystery writer, please see Stephen Gould. If you have books by the scientist listed as by "Stephen Gould", please consider editing the author field to include his full name. Thank you.

Members

Reviews

The Mismeasure of Man Revised & Expanded (Paper) by Stephen J Gould

"The need for analysis is timeless because the errors of biological determinism are so deep and insidious, and because the argument appeals to the worst manifestations of our common nature."

Gould revised, updated, and expanded his original collection to directly take on The Bell Curve, one of the most onerous and egregious use of falsified information published under the name of science in recent memory. Gould uses his expertise and candor to refute the horse pucky of Murray and Herrnstein. The book wouldn't deserve my mention in a review except that, unlike Gould hopes, The Bell Curve has not faded into memory. Instead, thanks to Sam Harris and other "New Atheists," the book got a revival and has taken on new life. So, it seems, that Gould's book should be required reading. We live in a terrible time, when the lies of race science are somehow beginning to take a main stage again. There will likely never be time when books like Gould's are not needed.… (more)

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IriDas | 17 other reviews | Jun 4, 2024 |

The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

Engaging, thoughtful and accessible essays on evolution and more.

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sfj2 | 20 other reviews | May 21, 2024 |

Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

An optional text for undergrad students on my course Science: History and Culture. Gould was a lucid, thoughtful writer whose enthusiasm for his subjects was contagious.

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sfj2 | 25 other reviews | May 21, 2024 |