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Gould Stephen Jay

    10 septembre 1941 – 20 mai 2002

    Stephen Jay Gould était un éminent paléontologue et biologiste de l'évolution américain, réputé pour sa science populaire captivante. Ses recherches empiriques se sont principalement concentrées sur les escargots terrestres, et il a co-développé la théorie de l'équilibre ponctué, qui postule une stabilité évolutive marquée par des changements rapides. Gould s'opposait au sélectionnisme strict et à la sociobiologie, plaidant pour la compatibilité de la science et de la religion en tant que "magistères" non chevauchants. Ses essais et livres ont rendu les idées scientifiques complexes accessibles à un large public.

    Gould Stephen Jay
    The Flamingo's Smile
    Ontogeny and Phylogeny
    The richness of life
    The flamingo's smile. Reflections in natural history
    Bully for Brontosaurus
    In the shadow of man
    • In the shadow of man

      • 288pages
      • 11 heures de lecture

      World-renowned primatologist, conservationist, and humanitarian Dr. Jane Goodall’s account of her life among the wild chimpanzees of Gombe is one of the most enthralling stories of animal behavior ever written. Her adventure began when the famous anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey suggested that a long-term study of chimpanzees in the wild might shed light on the behavior of our closest living relatives. Accompanied by only her mother and her African assistants, she set up camp in the remote Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania. For months the project seemed hopeless; out in the forest from dawn until dark, she had but fleeting glimpses of frightened animals. But gradually she won their trust and was able to record previously unknown behavior, such as the use—and even the making— of tools, until then believed to be an exclusive skill of man. As she came to know the chimps as individuals, she began to understand their complicated social hierarchy and observed many extraordinary behaviors, which have forever changed our understanding of the profound connection between humans and chimpanzees. In the Shadow of Man is “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements” (Stephen Jay Gould) and a vivid, essential journey of discovery for each new generation of readers.

      In the shadow of man
      4,6
    • Bully for Brontosaurus

      Reflections in Natural History

      • 544pages
      • 20 heures de lecture

      This text is a metaphor for the way individuals and unpredictable events influence history. In response history, suggests the author, is the best model for evolution. The author explores the science of improbable outcomes in this wide ranging book written on the evolutionary theme.

      Bully for Brontosaurus
      4,2
    • The richness of life

      • 656pages
      • 23 heures de lecture

      There aren't many scientists famous enough in their lifetime to be canonized by the US Congress as one of America's 'living legends'. It is still more unlikely that the title should have been conferred on a man regarded by many in the US as a notorious ra

      The richness of life
      4,2
    • “Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” was Haeckel’s answer to 19th-century biology’s most vexing question: what is the relationship between individual development and the evolution of species and lineages? Gould documents the history of the idea of recapitulation from its first appearance among the pre-Socratics to its fall in the early 20th century.

      Ontogeny and Phylogeny
      4,2
    • The 31 essays in this collection share the theme of "quirkiness and meaning" and explore the idea that natural oddities - the snail that changes sex, the jellyfish that feeds upside down - are extraordinary for a vital reason: they have found their evolutionary niche.

      The Flamingo's Smile
      4,1
    • I Have Landed

      • 320pages
      • 12 heures de lecture

      This collection of essays from "Natural History" magazine illuminate and elucidate key scientific concepts and their history, ranging from the discovery of the new scourge of syphilis by Fracastoro in the 16th century to Freud's weird speculations about human phylogeny.

      I Have Landed
      4,1
    • Wonderful Life

      The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

      Basing his argument around the history of science's treatment of the fossils of the Burgess shale, the author presents a view of evolution as a non-progressive system, which saw a wide range of early designs for life winnowed down to the relatively few basic designs that exist today.

      Wonderful Life
      4,2
    • This seventh collection of Stephen Jay Gould's natural history essays covers subjects ranging from fossils to ship worms, starting with a solar eclipse in New York, and finishing with bus stops in Greece.

      Dinosaur in a haystack
      4,1
    • First published in 1988, a collection of review articles on modern science, in which the author provides fresh insight into geology and evolution, criticises the misuse of genetics for political purposes, and explores the uses and abuses of scientific methods.

      An Urchin in the Storm
      3,9