Life's Grandeur: Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin
Condition: SECONDHAND
NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.
Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 272
In his characteristically iconoclastic and original way, Gould argues that progress and increasing complexity are not inevitable features of the evolution of life on Earth. Further, if we wish to see grandeur in life, we must discard our selfish and anthropocentric view of evolution and learn to see it as Darwin did, as the random but unfathomably rich source of 'endless forms most beautiful and wonderful'. LIFE'S GRANDEUR is abundant with the fascinating arcana of palaeontology and biology, the subtleties of mathematical analysis, and the heroic achievements of baseball players and the occasional scientist. But behind it all, as always in Gould's popular writing, is a passionate belief in the completion of an intellectual revolution. Plato believed that abstract ideals are the fundemental reality, while the stones, flora and fauna of the world are merely its flawed and secondary reflection. Such a view may encourage us to see ourselves as closer than a gibbon to the ideal of life, but we flatter ourselves. We can and should appreciate human glory in human spheres. But any rational view of nature tells us that we are a simple branch on an immense bush.
Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 272
In his characteristically iconoclastic and original way, Gould argues that progress and increasing complexity are not inevitable features of the evolution of life on Earth. Further, if we wish to see grandeur in life, we must discard our selfish and anthropocentric view of evolution and learn to see it as Darwin did, as the random but unfathomably rich source of 'endless forms most beautiful and wonderful'. LIFE'S GRANDEUR is abundant with the fascinating arcana of palaeontology and biology, the subtleties of mathematical analysis, and the heroic achievements of baseball players and the occasional scientist. But behind it all, as always in Gould's popular writing, is a passionate belief in the completion of an intellectual revolution. Plato believed that abstract ideals are the fundemental reality, while the stones, flora and fauna of the world are merely its flawed and secondary reflection. Such a view may encourage us to see ourselves as closer than a gibbon to the ideal of life, but we flatter ourselves. We can and should appreciate human glory in human spheres. But any rational view of nature tells us that we are a simple branch on an immense bush.
Description
NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.
Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 272
In his characteristically iconoclastic and original way, Gould argues that progress and increasing complexity are not inevitable features of the evolution of life on Earth. Further, if we wish to see grandeur in life, we must discard our selfish and anthropocentric view of evolution and learn to see it as Darwin did, as the random but unfathomably rich source of 'endless forms most beautiful and wonderful'. LIFE'S GRANDEUR is abundant with the fascinating arcana of palaeontology and biology, the subtleties of mathematical analysis, and the heroic achievements of baseball players and the occasional scientist. But behind it all, as always in Gould's popular writing, is a passionate belief in the completion of an intellectual revolution. Plato believed that abstract ideals are the fundemental reality, while the stones, flora and fauna of the world are merely its flawed and secondary reflection. Such a view may encourage us to see ourselves as closer than a gibbon to the ideal of life, but we flatter ourselves. We can and should appreciate human glory in human spheres. But any rational view of nature tells us that we are a simple branch on an immense bush.
Author: Stephen Jay Gould
Format: Hardback
Number of Pages: 272
In his characteristically iconoclastic and original way, Gould argues that progress and increasing complexity are not inevitable features of the evolution of life on Earth. Further, if we wish to see grandeur in life, we must discard our selfish and anthropocentric view of evolution and learn to see it as Darwin did, as the random but unfathomably rich source of 'endless forms most beautiful and wonderful'. LIFE'S GRANDEUR is abundant with the fascinating arcana of palaeontology and biology, the subtleties of mathematical analysis, and the heroic achievements of baseball players and the occasional scientist. But behind it all, as always in Gould's popular writing, is a passionate belief in the completion of an intellectual revolution. Plato believed that abstract ideals are the fundemental reality, while the stones, flora and fauna of the world are merely its flawed and secondary reflection. Such a view may encourage us to see ourselves as closer than a gibbon to the ideal of life, but we flatter ourselves. We can and should appreciate human glory in human spheres. But any rational view of nature tells us that we are a simple branch on an immense bush.
Life's Grandeur: Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin
$15.00