Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History

A continuation of essays on evolution similar to his brilliant book, “Ever Since Darwin”. Enjoyable read.

A Harvard education for a couple bucks. I started with Bully for Brontosaurus that I picked up at a seaman's book exchange for free. Gould [deceased] was a Harvard professor that taught geology and natural history and his books are a collection of essays that were mostly printed in "Nature" and other periodicals. With no background in either subject and having never seen the periodicals, I find the essays very readable, informative, and filled with "wow" moments; I never knew that, I never considered that, that's amazing, etc. Gould sometimes wanders into the political arena [Mismeasure of Man]and has a strong point of view on evolution which sometimes wanders into the political but that aside the essays are superb and very readable. I'm on my fourth Gould book now [Hen's Teeth] and by the time I read them all I figure I've had at least an "Introduction to Geology and Natural History" from Harvard for less than $50. A background in the subjects isn't required to enjoy the essays. As an added bonus Gould introduces the reader to other works. Darwin's Worms isn't something I would have read without Gould's essay. Enough said; as a tip, you can buy Gould's books used on Amazon from different dealers for as low as a penny and a couple bucks shipping. I should have three of them waiting for me at the next mail drop. All of Gould's books are available on Kindle for $9.99 or less. Those I've read I'll drop at a book exchange as payback or leave in a laudromat.

As an avid long-time reader of Gould's essays, this is by far one of my most favorite collections. Essays such as Nonmoral Nature, Hutton's Purpose, Worm for a Century, Stinkstones of Oeningen, Evolution as Fact and Fancy, and Science and Jewish Immigration (as well as most of the other essays) really touch on issues that encompass all of science including the nature of morality, the essential qualities of scientific thinking, and the structure and biases of the human mind. Although these essays predate the formalization of Gould's concept of NOMA (Non-overlapping magisteria), many of the ideas discussed in these essays form its basis. Sound arguments can be made countering the NOMA concept but Gould's ideas are still worth reading. The many pithy quotes in these essays make the reading particularly enjoyable (e.g., "We may wallow forever in the thinkable; science traffics in the doable.").

The book itself is very small but Gould's writing is excellent. His indirect lessons about the concepts of evolution are interesting and well presented. Anyone who is even mildly interested in science would enjoy this.

Another excellent Gould book. I've loved every book. I recommend this to anyone interested in facts and new ideas. 5 stars

the best

thank you

Excellent

This is classic, mid-period, Gould, as fresh and relevant as ever. Evolution works in curious, roundabout, ways, and the workings of our minds as we investigate it are even curiouser. The evidence for evolution is not in its perfection, but in its functionless by-products, like the dormant DNA that reminds us that the hen's ancestor had teeth. Nor are family relationships as simple as they seem; I came back to this book after many years for its essays "What, if anything, is a zebra?", and "How the zebra got its stripes", still vibrant topics in phylogeny and the study of development, and returned to the current literature on these subjects with deepened insight.

Thanks, Stephen Jay Gould for taking a challenging topic and making it so interesting and readable. I really enjoyed this and loved the interesting examples that the author used to show his points.

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