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Stephen Jay Gould and the politics of evolution / David F. Prindle.

Title: Stephen Jay Gould and the politics of evolution / David F. Prindle.
Author: Prindle, David F. (David Forrest), 1948-
Publication: Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, c2009.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Request in advance	QH31.G65 P75 2009	Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

249 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould was, until his death in 2002, America's best-known natural scientist. This book explores Gould's science and politics as a consistent whole. The author argues that all of Gould's concepts and arguments were bona fide contributions to science, but all of them also contained specifically political implications. As one example, the author cites Gould's controversial argument that if the tape of evolution could be rewound and then allowed to unspool again, nothing resembling human beings would likely evolve. The author evaluates Gould's concepts of punctuated equilibrium (developed with Niles Eldredge), "spandrels", and "exaptation"; his stance on sociobiology, on human inequality and intelligence testing; his pivotal role in the culture wars between science and fundamentalist Christianity; and claims that he was a closet Marxist, which the author disputes. He continually emphasizes that in all these debates Gould's science cannot be understood without an understanding of his politics.

Subject

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 225-240) and index.

Processing Action (note)

committed to retain

Contents

A charming style -- Philosophy of science -- The contours of history -- The politics of human nature -- Science and human inequality -- Science and religion -- A new theory?

ISBN

9781591027188 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1591027187 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2009005251

OCLC

262889529

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library