The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History

Gould is my favorite science writer, but he was so much more than that. I read many of his essays in Natural History magazine and revisiting them here was great fun. My only complaint was the used copy I ordered had no jacket--look at that wonderful flamingo I didn't get!

If you're interested in evolution or biology you'll probably like this book. Some of the essays dabbled too much in the small nuances that separate different species but mostly Gould has a strong theme for each essay and he writes it very well! With the book being a series of essays it's a good coffee table book; you can pick it up and read a single essay and then put it back down. Also, you might need coffee because some of the essays get a little tedious.

Great book with a lot of interesting information and thoroughly and simply explained concepts. A good companion to many other books such as  The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution  and  The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time

I have enjoyed Gould's essays for years. As a kid who is still an amateur conchologist and a professional writer, his focus on his own work in "Opus 100" was especially choice. I had a little problem as some of these essays opened, but was always satisfied in the end

An insightful and entertaining book written by a truly great historian and philosopher of science. Each essay is filled with knowledge, humor and humanity.The Flamingo’s Smile is accessible to the layman, but it’s always clear that Stephen Jay Gould is not just a writer or philosopher, but a paleontologist and evolutionary biologist as well.

Item arrived promptly and as described, couldn't be better!

This man, teacher, mentor, was brilliant ! Good books!

Gould is always Good!

livre anglophone broché souple format poche ancien (1987/1985) présentant les réflexions d'un zoologiste émérite sur l'évolution en partant de l'exemple de la forme de bec inversée du flamant; après 20 pages de prologue, 8 chapitres d'un texte intelligent et captivant traitent de:n°1: zoonomie darwinienne (66 pages)n°2: théorie et perception (56p)n°3: l'importance de l taxonomie (60p)n°4: les tendances et leur signification (48p)n°5: politique et progrès (72p)n°6: le darwinisme (42p)n°7: la vie ici et ailleurs (40p)n°8: extinction et continuité (34p)quelques rares photos et schémas en n&b; bibliographie et index conséquents;ce livre classique passionnera les naturalistes confirmés et décevra les lecteurs que les livres scientifiques austères rebutent

Great collection of essays by an amazing author.