Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History

Evolutionary Biologist And Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould Has Perfected The Art Of The Essay In This Brilliant New Collection. These Thirty-four Essays, Most Originally Published In Natural History Magazine, Exemplify The Keen Insight With Which Dr. Gould Observes The Natural World And Convey The Infectious Enthusiasm For Fossils And Evolutionary Theory That Has Made His Books Award-winning, National Best-sellers. In His Latest Musings On Evolution And Other Natural Phenomena, Gould Reveals The Uncanny Interconnections Among Distinctly Human Creations - Museums, Literature, Music, Politics, And Culture - Encompassing A Delightfully, Wide Range Of Topics, From Giant Fossils, Fads, And Fungus To Baseball, Beeswax, And Blaauwbocks, From A Humanistic Look At Mary Shelley's Frankenstein And Erasmus Darwin's Poetry To The Fallacies Of Eugenics And Creationism And The Moral Imperatives Of Thinking People To Meet The Ethical Challenges That Pseudo-science Presents. Pt. 1. Heaven And Earth: Happy Thoughts On A Sunny Day In New York City -- Dousing Diminutive Dennis's Debate (or Dddd=2000) -- The Celestial Mechanic And The Earthly Naturalist -- The Late Birth Of A Flat Earth -- Pt. 2. Literature And Science: The Monster's Human Nature -- The Tooth And Claw Centennial -- Sweetness And Light -- Pt. 3. Origin, Stability, And Extinction: [1.] Origin: In The Mond Of The Beholder -- Of Tongue Worms, Velvet Worms, And Water Bears -- [2.] Stability: Cordelia's Dilemma -- Lucy On The Earth In Stasis -- [3.] Extinction: Dinosaur In A Haystack -- Jove's Thunderbolts -- Pt. 4. Writing About Snails: Poe's Greatest Hit -- The Invisible Woman -- Left Snails And Right Minds -- Pt. 5. The Glory Of Museums: Dinomania -- Cabinet Museums: Alive Alive, O! -- Evolution By Walking -- The Razumovsky Duet -- Four Antelopes Of The Apocalypse -- Pt. 6. Disparate Faces Of Eugenics: Does The Stoneless Plum Instruct The Thinking Reed? -- The Smoking Gun Of Eugenics -- The Most Unkindest Cut Of All -- Pt. 7. Evolutionary Theory, Evolutionary Stories: [1.] Theory: Can We Complete Darwin's Revolution? -- A Humongous Fungus Among Us -- Speaking Of Snails And Scales -- [2.] Stories: Hooking Leviathan By Its Past -- A Special Fondness For Beetles -- If Kings Can Be Hermits, Then We Are All Monkey's Uncles -- Magnolias From Moscow -- Pt. 8. Linnaeus And Darwin's Grandfather: The First Unmasking Of Nature -- Ordering Nature By Budding And Full-breasted Sexuality -- Four Metaphors In Three Generations. Stephen Jay Gould. Essays Originally Published In The Natural History Magazine. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.