The Panda's Thumb : More Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould - gebrauchtes Buch

Gould, Stephen Jay. The Panda's Thumb - More Reflections in Natural History. First Edition. Toronto, George J. McLeod, 1980. 14.5cm x 21.5cm. 343 pages. Original Hardcover with original dustjacket in protective collector's mylar. Excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. Gould delights and instructs us, deepening and extending his examination of evolution, a centrepiece of modern science. Were dinosaurs really dumber than lizards? Why, after all, are roughly the same number of men and women born into the world? What led the famous Dr.Down to his theory of mongolism, and its racist residue? How does Mickey Mouse's evolution mirror our own? What do the panda's magical thumb and the sea turtle's perilous migration tell us about imperfections that prove the evolutionary rule? These questions lie on a continuum between timeless science and singular history and touch us all. Never have their sweet and bitter mysteries been explained with such wit, beauty and elegance. Includes the following chapters: Perfection and Imperfection: A Trilogy on a Panda's Thumb, Natural Selection and the Human Brain: Darwin vs Wallace, Darwin's Middle Road, A Biological Homage to Mickey Mouse, Piltdown Revisted, Our Greatest Evolutionary Step.