Book Name : An Urchin In The Storm
Author : Stephen Jay Gould
What is it about : The authoritative voice in the field of evolutionary biology aired his views freely on various science topics. From presenting critiques on his peers' technical papers and deductions to books and biographies he had read and reckoned the public needed other viewpoints and insights (his).
Some thoughts after having read the book : You ever heard a New Yorker rant on and on ? Yep, at first the book read that way and a migraine slowly crept up on me after the first ten pages. With patience, I stuck to reading the author's no-nonsense points of view and his seemingly annoying tone of voice, until I became used to his style of telling the reader the way he saw it, and all became good. It was kinda like getting to know someone (in this case, a brash New Yorker) and after a while you found him to be quite a good guy really and he had a point. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the stories related to Social Biology research and conclusions done on brains and IQ of men and women, blacks and non-blacks back in those un-informed early 1930s'.
Would I recommend this book to you : Enjoy SJG's all round skills encompassing opera, musical, evolution, history and point-blank attacks on many mis-understandings, mis-representations, red-herrings on various modern science topics; but you have been warned, it's helluva of a New Yorker coming at you at gale 10 force ! Think Mcenroe on a suspected line call ...
Author : Stephen Jay Gould
What is it about : The authoritative voice in the field of evolutionary biology aired his views freely on various science topics. From presenting critiques on his peers' technical papers and deductions to books and biographies he had read and reckoned the public needed other viewpoints and insights (his).
Some thoughts after having read the book : You ever heard a New Yorker rant on and on ? Yep, at first the book read that way and a migraine slowly crept up on me after the first ten pages. With patience, I stuck to reading the author's no-nonsense points of view and his seemingly annoying tone of voice, until I became used to his style of telling the reader the way he saw it, and all became good. It was kinda like getting to know someone (in this case, a brash New Yorker) and after a while you found him to be quite a good guy really and he had a point. I particularly enjoyed getting to know the stories related to Social Biology research and conclusions done on brains and IQ of men and women, blacks and non-blacks back in those un-informed early 1930s'.
Would I recommend this book to you : Enjoy SJG's all round skills encompassing opera, musical, evolution, history and point-blank attacks on many mis-understandings, mis-representations, red-herrings on various modern science topics; but you have been warned, it's helluva of a New Yorker coming at you at gale 10 force ! Think Mcenroe on a suspected line call ...
