|
|
Gould, Stephen Jay ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
|
|
|
|
1 |
Gould, Stephen Jay DINOSAUR IN A HAYSTACK: REFLECTIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY
Harmony 1995 0517703939 / 9780517703939 First Edition Hardcover As New in As New DJ
A great looking book. No names, no marks, no tears. Complete number line. ; 1.5 x 9.3 x 6.34 Inches; 480 pages; Award-winning, bestselling author, evolutionary biologist, and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould takes the art of the essay to an unprecedented height of excellence in this vibrant new collection of writings on science and natural history. From fads to fungus, baseball to beeswax, Gould always circles back to the great themes of time, change, and history, carrying readers home to the centering theme of evolution. Illustrations.
Price:
11.00 USD
|
|
Add to Shopping Cart |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
Gould, Stephen Jay FULL HOUSE: THE SPREAD OF EXCELLENCE FROM PLATO TO DARWIN
Harmony 1996 0517703947 / 9780517703946 First Edition Hardcover As New in As New DJ Signed by Author
A great looking book. Stated first Edition. Complete numberline. No names, no marks, no tears. Autographed edition. ; 9.75 x 1.25 x 6.5 Inches; 244 pages; Few would question the truism that humankind is the crowning achievement of evolution; that the defining thrust of life's history yields progress over time from the primitive and simple to the more advanced and complex; that the disappearance of .400 hitting in baseball is a fact to be bemoaned; or that identifying an existing trend can be helpful in making important life decisions. Few, that is, except Stephen Jay Gould who, in his new book Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin, proves that all of these intuitive truths are, in fact, wrong.
"All of these mistaken beliefs arise out of the same analytical flaw in our reasoning, our Platonic tendency to reduce a broad spectrum to a single, pinpointed essence," says Gould. "This way of thinking allows us to confirm our most ingrained biases that humans are the supreme being on this planet; that all things are inherently driven to become more complex; and that almost any subject can be expressed and understood in terms of an average."
In Full House, Gould shows why a more accurate way of understanding our world (and the history of life) is to look at a given subject within its own context, to see it as a part of a spectrum of variation rather than as an isolated "thing" and then to reconceptualize trends as expansion or contraction of this "full house" of variation, and not as the progress or degeneration of an average value, or single thing. When approached in such a way, the disappearance of .400 hitting becomes a cause for celebration, signaling not a decline in greatness but instead an improvement in the overall level of play in baseball; trends become subject to suspicion, and too often, only a tool of those seeking to advance a particular agenda; and the "Age of Man" (a claim rooted in hubris, not in fact) more accurately becomes the "Age of Bacteria."
"The traditional mode of thinking has led us to draw many conclusions that don't make satisfying sense," says Gould. "It tells us that .400 hitting has disappeared because batters have gotten worse, but how can that be true when record performances have improved in almost any athletic activity?" In a personal eureka!, Gould realized that we were looking at the picture backward, and that a simple conceptual inversion would resolve a number of the paradoxes of the conventional view.
While Full House deftly reveals the shortcomings of the popular reasoning we apply to everyday life situations, Gould also explores his beloved realm of natural history as well. Whether debunking the myth of the successful evolution of the horse (he grants that the story still deserves distinction, but as the icon of evolutionary failure); presenting evidence that the vaunted "progress of life" is really random motion away from simple beginnings, not directed impetus toward complexity; or relegating the kingdoms of Animalai and Plantae to their proper positions on the genealogical chart for all of life (as mere twigs on one of the three bushes), Full House asks nothing less than that we reconceptualize our view of life in a fundamental way.; Signed by Author
Price:
97.00 USD
|
|
Add to Shopping Cart |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gould, Stephen Jay on Adelaidebooksellers.com.au
Gould, Stephen Jay on Agelesspages.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Alexthefatdawg.co.uk
Gould, Stephen Jay on Atlantavintagebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Beaglebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bellefairbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bennettbooksltd.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bibliodisia.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Blinebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bookalley.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bookfinder-general.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bookhouseindinkytown.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Bookprowler.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Booksliquidation.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Borgasorusbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Botanicalbay.com
| Gould, Stephen Jay on Bunkersbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Christianbooksaustralia.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Desktopmusic.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Eridgebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Go-bookworld.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Hay-on-wyebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Johnemmettbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Kjcactus.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Lacroixbookseller.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Lairdbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Lectioz.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Lostinthestars.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Mediabusterbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Moonxscapebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Northamericanrarities.net
Gould, Stephen Jay on Onceuponatimebooks.com
| Gould, Stephen Jay on Polesworthbookshop.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Psychobabel.eu
Gould, Stephen Jay on Robinsonstreetbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Starrcatbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Stealthesebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Stillwaterbooks.co.uk
Gould, Stephen Jay on Svirdenbooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Thebookscene.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Theridgebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Turnthepagebooks.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Twintomes.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Vintage-books.com
Gould, Stephen Jay on Weberrarebooks.com
|
|
|
