Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History: Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould is a collection of essays, his first, that brings together his knowledge, wit and intellectual musings to the art of writing a scientific essay as no other can.There are 33 essays in the tome that are unparalleled and are far beyond any of his contemporaries, but brought to us by his unmatched ability, so the common man can understand his intrinsic intuitive profundity.Gould brings us essays on Darwiniana, Human Evoution, Odd Organisms and Evolutionary Exemplars, Patterns and Punctuation in the History of Life, Theories of the Earth, Size and Shape, from Churches to Brains to Planets, Science in Society-- a Historical View, The Scince and Politics of Human Nature. All of these are thought provoking with a sophistication unmatched in the realm of science today.As we read on in the book, we see the knowledge brought to us. Can we who read this comprehend both the lessons and the limits of scientific understanding here? Gould brings us his thoughts, as we read, I can only wonder and learn. This is a remarkable achievement.

Le grand Stephen Jay Gould. Hélas il est mort. Fini les histoires de l'oncle Gould, que je lisais le soir avant de dormir. Heureusement, il a beaucoup écrit, et c'est bon, il y a suffisamment d'années - et c'est parfois suffisamment compliqué - pour que j'entame la relecture de l'oeuvre complète. ( )

Gould's first book. A collection of his articles. A cracking good read.

This kind of work is Gould's forte.

A real grab bag mix of subject matter but all told with the same idiosyncratic writing style of a writer born and not made.

Personal claim to fame - the elk skeleton discussed in chapter three is now in a museum not far from me (in Leeds) and has recently been re mounted and put back on display.

Gould picks his subjects seemingly at random, perhaps responding to the misconceptions and false claims of others but in every case uses his careful and reasoned approach to work out a persuasive lesson to be learned.

A must buy.

Now I have read this I can better understand the fuss about Gould's work and his dedicated fans. ( )

I do enjoy Gould's essays, but this is very very clearly his first collection. Two things stood out - the title (it's not bad, but no match for The Panda's Thumb or The Lying Stones of Marrakech or...) and the fact that he accepts and references some of the 'myths of science' that he debunks later - for instance, he makes casual reference to "the meeting where Huxley demolished 'Soapy Sam' Wilberforce...". In a later book (can't remember which), he's examined the actual records and contemporary references to said meeting, and discovered that it didn't happen that way. No comments about being descended from an ape, and no snappy comeback. Since I've read almost all his essay collections and a good many others he's written, I've come to expect that any time he mentions a convenient myth like that it's only for the purpose of debunking it - it quite startled me when he merely referred to it as a fact and moved on. It's still a good book, with a lot of familiar themes and interesting insights into them. Just a little odd to someone thoroughly familiar with Gould's work. ( )

Ever Since Darwin is the first collection of Gould's essays, published back in the 1970s. Thirty years is a long time for a science book, but there's several essays worth reading in this one. Gould writes about Darwin, naturally, about human evolution, odd examples of evolution in practise, history of life, theories of Earth, abouts sizes and shapes, science in society and the science and politics of human nature.

It's a wide selection of topics and Gould sure knows how to write an interesting essay. There's plenty to learn between the covers and a fair dose of entertainment as well. Despite its age, Ever Since Darwin is well worth reading.

(Original review at my review blog) ( )

Ever Since Darwin is a collection of Stephen Jay Gould's essays. As the title suggests these essays deal mainly with various topics relating to Darwin and the understanding and interpretation of evolutionary theory throughout history.

I found his style generally very easy to follow and, in contrast to the articles in many scientific journals, approachable by the lay-reader.

Those who enjoyed this book might also want to check another book of his essays: The Panda's Thumb.

- Peter K. ( )

Gould is remarkable for his ability to write about science in a way that is captivating even to those of us who are not, by nature, scientific thinkers. ( )

The Prologue to the book says: "Why has Darwin been so hard to grasp? Within a decade he convinced the thinking world that evolution had occurred, but his own theory of natural selection never achieved much popularity during his lifetime. It did not prevail until the 1940's, and even today, though it forms the core of our evolutionary theory, it is widely misunderstood, misquoted, and misapplied...[Three statements] ensure that natural selection will operate, but they do not (by themselves) guarantee for it the fundamental role that Darwin assigned." And so starts the book. You can read it for yourself and see what you think.

33 fascinating essays about evolutionary principles and examples. ( )

The first volume of Gould's collected essays that appearead monthly in "Natural History" magazine. These essays are almost always a joy to read. ( )

#106, 2004

I've had this on my shelf for something close to 20 years, and never managed to read it until now. I finally "forced" myself by offering it on BookRelay - once it was accepted, and I knew I'd have to send it to someone else, I had an incentive to sit down and work my way through. And I'm really glad I did . . . this was a fascinating collection of essays about Darwin's theory and its far-reaching effects - on topics from plate tectonics to genetics to racism to taxonomy to studies of other planets in our solar system. It did take me longer to get through than most books, because I actually had to pay close attention, which is not the case with some of the fluff I usually read. :D I think the most interesting thing about the book was the way Gould talks about scientists, and the role of science in culture . . . science is *not* (as many would like to believe) just a cold, uninterested study of facts. Scientists bring their own biases and worldviews to the table with them, and it has a huge effect on the results that are produced. Also, since the book is several years old, I'm interesting in learning about more current research in some of the areas he discussed. A great book, well worth reading (at least for a wanna-be science geek like myself).

LJ Discussion ( )

The first collection of Gould's I ever read. His obvious love for the subject and ability to actually convey his knowledge in a manner that educates the reader has made Dr. Gould the best Science teacher I never had (or did, for that matter). ( )