Stephen Jay Gould is dead

[Darklight]

Author Stephen Jay Gould is dead

He wrote monthly articles for Natural History magazine, many of which were collected into book form- The Panda's Thumb, Hen's Teeth, Horse's Toes etc as well as not a few books on the cultural and historical specificity of scientific fact- including one rather excellent one- The Mismeasure of Man- on the history and extremely dubious science behind IQ testing.

His collected essays were short, accessable bursts of joy and insight, ostensibly about evolutionary biology, but whose range would extend to cover say, the relationship between evolution and the structure of the modern keyboard. Even I can read one of them at least, before going to sleep, further enriched and happy that such a mind is out there, at large

Only it isn't anymore

I remember sitting round in my rented bush shack ( made entirely of corro sheets and a footpath for goannas through the kitchen- idyllic it wasn't) having scavenged enough cash from my dole money to buy one of his books and just eating the damn things up. I had no real future planned, and having been thrown out of high school science, the field definitely didn't even resemble a career path. The insight and clarity of his essays- and their sheer joy- inspired me. Now I save plants for a living, and I attribute a direct connection for this to having read Gould's work. I rather suspect I'm not the only person who has been affected in such a way by his influence.

The world is poorer for his passsing but richer for his life. Good luck on the next round there, matey

[Darklight]

I'm a hell of a sook

Here's the details from salon.com

Stephen Jay Gould dies of cancer

- - - - - - - - - - - -

By Theo Emery

May 20, 2002 | BOSTON (AP) --

Stephen Jay Gould, the paleontologist and author who eloquently demystified science for the public and challenged his colleagues with revolutionary ideas about evolution, died Monday of cancer.

He was 60, and died at his home in New York City, according to his assistant, Stephanie Schur.

"He really was passionate about his ideas and the ideas that we all embrace together," said Niles Eldredge, a curator of invertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History.

Gould became one of America's most recognizable scientists for his voluminous and accessible writings and his participation in public debates with creationists. He also aired his disagreements with other revolutionary theorists in publications such as the New York Review of Books, bringing evolutionary theory to a wider intellectual audience during an era of increasing scientific specialization.

"He really was paleontology's public intellectual," said Andrew Knoll, a colleague of Gould's at Harvard University for 20 years.

As graduate students at Columbia University in the early 1970s, Gould and Eldredge ignited a scientific debate that continues today. For a century scientists had viewed evolution the way Darwin did, as an incredibly slow process that could only result in dramatic change over eons.

But in their studies of fossil land snail shells in Bermuda, Gould and Eldredge thought they saw a different pattern. They saw bursts of change, relatively rapid on the geologic time scale, interspersed with long periods of stasis.

The young scientists suggested that evolution proceeds in fits and starts, a pattern they dubbed "punctuated equilibrium." Gould spent years trying to convince his colleagues that the idea has merit. Many were swayed, but some still reject the notion.

"It's still a fight," Eldredge said.

The author of a long-running column in Natural History magazine and numerous books, Gould was one of the most popular science writers of his time. His book "The Mismeasure of Man" won the National Book Critics Award

in 1982 and was number 24 on the Modern Library's list of the 100 greatest English-language nonfiction works of the 20th century.

Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin, a colleague of Gould's for more than a quarter century, said that Gould was an artist at turning the dusty science of evolution into a vibrant subject, provoking public discussion and reevaluation in the process.

"He was one of the most creative and original thinkers about evolution that I ever knew," Lewontin said. "He was always looking for new ideas and incorporating new results, and he understood how complicated evolution was better than most evolutionists."

Gould frequently used his ideas about evoution to examine other topics that interested him, from his successful fight against a cancer diagnosed in 1982 to the demise of the .400 hitter in baseball.

A longtime New York Yankees fan, he appeared in Ken Burns' PBS documentary history of the sport and in 1999 wrote an obituary tribute to Joe DiMaggio for The Associated Press.

Gould frequently championed the teaching of

evolutionary science in school curricula, arguing that it not be challenged by creationism, whose advocates made Gould an enemy.

He also was an amateur choir singer, practicing every Monday night for many years at Boston's Cecilia Society, Knoll said.

Gould called human evolution "a fortuitous cosmic afterthought." Known for the engaging, often witty style evident in his columns and collections, his more recent popular books included "Dinosaur in a Haystack" and "Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life."

"The Structure of Evolutionary Theory," a 1500-page summary of his life's work, was published earlier this year. His most recent book published just this month, "I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History," is a collection of his 300 consecutive Natural History essays published monthly without fail from 1974 to 2001.

The book chronicles Gould's intellectual endeavors and touches on subjects ranging from feathered dinosaurs to Gilbert and Sullivan. It also contains poignant details of Gould's own life, including his grandfather's journey from Hungary to America, which ended on Sept. 11, 1901, when his grandfather wrote in his journal the words for which the book is titled.

Gould received his bachelor's degree from Antioch College in 1963 and a doctorate from Columbia University.

Survivors include his second wife, Rhonda Roland Shearer, with whom he had no children. He had two sons with his previous wife, Schur said.

[anubian lights]

cheer up darklight. his thoughts and ideas live on forever.

I have a fringe interest in evolutionary biology and SJayG rocks.

some weird coincidence lead me to someone called richard dawkins. not sure if you heard of him but he has some interesting essays as well.

im not sure of the connection, but there is One.

[Darklight]

There are two at least, I think. " The Blind Watchmaker " and another one. I have a copy somewhere...can't find it

Seem to have lost a lot of books in the last couple of years, must track them down...