Wonderful Life: Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould (En

Description: FREE SHIPPING UK WIDE Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale might tell us about evolution and the nature of history.The Darwinian theory of evolution is a well-known, well-explored area. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A controversial enquiry into the fundamental principles of evolutionary theory from an award-winning writerHigh in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago. Called the Burgess Shale, it holds the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived - a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in incredible detail. In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale might tell us about evolution and the nature of history.The Darwinian theory of evolution is a well-known, well-explored area. But there is one aspect of human life which this theory of evolution fails to account for- chance. Using the brilliantly preserved fossil fauna of the Burgess Shale as his case study, Gould argues that chance was in fact one of the decisive factors in the evolution of life on this planet, and that, with a flip of coin, everything could have been very different indeed. Notes Published for the first time in Vintage. Author Biography Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) was the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology at Harvard University and the curator for invertebrate palaeontology in the Universitys Museum of Comparative Zoology. He is the author of over twenty books, and received the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the MacArthur Fellowship. He died in May 2002. Review A masterpiece of analysis and imagination...It centres on a sensational discovery in the field of palaeontology - the existence, in the Burgess Shale... of 530-million-year-old fossils unique in age, preservation and diversity...With skill and passion, Gould takes this mute collection of fossils and makes them speak to us. The result challenges some of our most cherished self-perceptions and urges a fundamental re-assessment of our place in the history of life on earth * Sunday Times * Promotional A controversial enquiry into the fundamental principles of evolutionary theory from an award-winning writer Kirkus UK Review Winner of the 1991 Science Book Prize, a lively book on evolution that reads like a detective story. Jumping off from the story of the strange fossils found in the Burgess Shale, Gould looks at the debates that have raged round evolutionary theory. (Kirkus UK) Kirkus US Review The names themselves are weird: Yohoia, Opabinia, Hallucigenia. . .and more. They are among the weird and wonderful creatures buried in the Burgess Shale, a minuscule quarry "little taller than a man, and not so long as a city block" in British Columbia. They were the mother lode for Smithsonian Director C.D. Walcott, an indefatigable geologist/administrator who discovered the trove in 1909, and, true to the spirit of the times, "shoehorned" all these Cambrian marine specimens (over 500 million years ago) into a few latter-day phyla. And theres the rub, cries Gould, lecturing with a vengeance to eradicate what he sees as the two chief myths of evolution: the ladder of progress (from primitive and simple to glorious US) and the cone of diversity (from restricted and simple to more and better). The Burgess Shale is the crowning demonstration of a Christmas tree analogy: wonderfully rich and complex forms spread across the bottom branches, in time tapering to a few stereotyped branches at the top. Paleontologists Harry Whittington, Derek Briggs, and Simon Conway Morris re-dissected Walcotts fossils, revealing three-dimensional details of forms the likes of which have never been seen - like five-eyed, vacuum-cleaner nozzled Opabinia or bulbous-headed, spined and tentacled Hallucigenia Moreover, the explosive abundance of Burgess has now been repeated at other early sites. For Gould this means that life is maximal at the start, exploding in different shapes and styles that are subjected to the contingencies of history. Unpredictable events can destroy nearly all life, creating opportunities for the remainders. Replay the tape of history and you might end up with predacious birds, not mammals or men. Heady stuff this: Gould demands that readers learn anatomy, and he likes laboring points. But Gould fans will cheer this latest exhortation against purposive creation in favor of a universe "offering us maximum freedom to thrive, or to fail, in our own chosen way." (Kirkus Reviews) Review Text A masterpiece of analysis and imagination...It centres on a sensational discovery in the field of palaeontology - the existence, in the Burgess Shale... of 530-million-year-old fossils unique in age, preservation and diversity...With skill and passion, Gould takes this mute collection of fossils and makes them speak to us. The result challenges some of our most cherished self-perceptions and urges a fundamental re-assessment of our place in the history of life on earth Review Quote A masterpiece of analysis and imagination...It centres on a sensational discovery in the field of palaeontology - the existence, in the Burgess Shale... of 530-million-year-old fossils unique in age, preservation and diversity...With skill and passion, Gould takes this mute collection of fossils and makes them speak to us. The result challenges some of our most cherished self-perceptions and urges a fundamental re-assessment of our place in the history of life on earth Details ISBN0099273454 Author Stephen Jay Gould Pages 352 Year 2000 ISBN-10 0099273454 ISBN-13 9780099273455 Format Paperback Publication Date 2000-08-03 Imprint Vintage Subtitle Burgess Shale and the Nature of History Place of Publication London Country of Publication United Kingdom DEWEY 576.8 Illustrations facsimiles Media Book Short Title WONDERFUL LIFE Language English Residence Cambridge, MA, US Birth 1941 Death 2002 Affiliation Harvard University Publisher Vintage Publishing UK Release Date 2000-08-03 AU Release Date 2000-08-03 NZ Release Date 2000-08-03 Alternative 9781448182220 Audience Professional & Vocational We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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