Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History -
"Provocative and delightfully discursive essays on natural history. . . . Gould is the Stan Musial of essay writing. He can work himself into a corkscrew of ideas and improbable allusions paragraph after paragraph and then, uncoiling, hit it with such power that his fans know they are experiencing the game of essay writing at its best."--John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review
Published: 1992-04-17 (W. W. Norton Company)
ISBN: 9780393308570
Language:
Format: Paperback, 544 pages
Goodreads' rating: -
Reviews
Un interesante conjunto de ensayos científicos centrados en la comprensión y la defensa de la teoría de la evolución, que nos lleva desde para qué sirven los pezones masculinos (bueno, no sirven para nada, por eso la pregunta es por qué están ahí), hasta curiosidades sobre especies animales extrañas o costumbres de la sociedad norteamericana.El autor suele partir de una anécdota, o de un debate científico del siglo pasado, para llegar a una reflexión y explicación sobre el punto de que se trate. Aunque sin duda nos hace percibir nuevos matices y aspectos sobre la evolución sumamente enriquecedores, quizá la única pega del libro es que llega a resultar un tanto previsible, por la repetición del planteamiento y del desenlace pro evolucionista.Muchos de los juegos de palabras del autor (en ingles, por lo que no existen en español) son debidamente aclarados por el traductor en notas al pie, de modo que podemos disfrutar tanto del humor de Stephen Jay Gould como de sus profundos conocimientos y de su compleja labor de investigación y documentación.
Always a delight to read in this case re-read. So what if some of the material is slightly dated - after all the essays appeared back in the 1980's - a lot has changed - what hasn't changed is Gould's writing - his knack for bending and twisting what would seem unlikely pairings or concepts into intriguing realizations. His manner with mindful humor and references puts me in awe of his knowledge and his researching capabilities - especially when one remembers that access to such info required real research and tenacity. All of his works have been a delight and a real pleasure to return to this book after many years.
Full of nerdy tidbits of trivia, and also pretty funny. It's a collection of essays about little stuff that most people contemplate for a few minutes, but he's actually taken the time to look it up. Like why kiwis lay such giant eggs, or the battle over whether brontosaurus' name should be changed to appatosaurus (it's original name, and the topic of the essay for which the book is named). Even if you're not a science nerd, like me, I still recommend it as a fun read. The essays are short enough that you can just pick one out to brighten up your day.
One has to applaud a book that ranges from the mathematical improbability of Joe Dimaggio's famous 56-game hitting streak in baseball to that of intelligent life springing up on this or any planet. As diverse an assortment of historical figures as you'll find anywhere appears in these essays, everyone from Omar Khayyam to William Jennings Bryan to Joltin' Joe himself. One of the joys of this collection as well as many of the prolific Mr. Gould's others is having no clue what delights the next chapter will be bringing. Another is basking in the warm glow of its author's reassuring rationality. In his commitment to excising superstition and other muddled thinking from the human vocabulary and replacing them with the eloquent empiricism of natural law, he reminds me of his brother scientists and fellow champions of common sense Richard Dawkins and E.O. Wilson. Our kind is beyond fortunate to have men (and women) like these to serve as a bulwark between continuing human progress and the ever-present threat of religious fundamentalism spawning a new Dark Ages.Bully for Brontosaurus? I say bully for Gould and those who think like him.
I was pleased to read, on Wikipedia, that Gould did not die of the peritoneal mesothelioma that prompted his famous essay "The Median isn't the Message" in 1982. And sorry to learn he died of another form of cancer 20 years later while only in in 60s. Reading Bully for Brontosaurus made me realize Gould had influenced me in my youth. His optimistic and narrative approach to being pro-science is nicely summed up in his final essay of this collection, "The Horns of Titan" where he points out how individuality weighs in against the laws of science even among planets.Uniting predictive sciences with historical uniqueness via natural history is an elegant way to encompass both.