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Gould describes how the Burgess Shale fauna was discovered, reassembled, and analyzed in detail so clear that the reader actually gets some feeling for what paleobiologists do, in the field and in the lab. The many line drawings are unusually beautiful, and now can be compared to a wonderful collection of photographs in Fossils of the Burgess Shale by Derek Briggs, one of Gould's students.
Burgess Shale animals have been called a "paleontological Rorschach test," and not every geologist by any means agrees with Gould's thesis that they represent a "road not taken" in the history of life. Simon Conway Morris, one of the subjects of Wonderful Life, has expressed his disagreement in Crucible of Creation. Wonderful Life was published in 1989, and there has been an explosion of scientific interest in the pre-Cambrian and Cambrian periods, with radical new ideas fighting for dominance. But even though many scientists disagree with Gould about the radical oddity of the Burgess Shale animals, his argument that the history of life is profoundly contingent--as in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, from which this book takes its title--has become more accepted, in theories such as Ward and Brownlee's Rare Earth hypothesis. And Gould's loving, detailed exposition of the labor it took to understand the Burgess Shale remains one of the best explanations of scientific work around. --Mary Ellen Curtin
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Not since the Lord himself showed his stuff to Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones had anyone brought such grace and skill to the reconstruction of animals from disarticulated skeletons. Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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5.0 out of 5 stars
500 Million Year Old Shale Gives Great Insights,
By
This review is from: Wonderful Life (Paperback)
This book is an excellent and fascinating introduction to paleontology - the study of ancient creatures through the study of their fossils. This is not a dull book by any stretch of the imagination. After reading you will want to learn more about the subject.What differentiates an average scientist to someone that can make a truly new and important discovery is the ability to sees that small variations from the expected. That is looking at raw experimental data experimental a great scientist can see how the observations do not fit theoretical expectations, and they can only be explained by revisions to existing theories. Sometimes these can be dramatic as in the case of radiation from a body or nuclear effects that had inconsistencies that could only be explained with new theories such as quantum mechanics in modern physics. This book is similar but it applies to the theory of evolution and paleontology. Early theories of evolution were based on a "cone" of evolution that explained increased diversification with time. That concept also fits in with certain religious theories. This book explains how that idea was debunked by a very lengthy and detailed study of The Burgess Shale - located in the Canadian Rockies- that had an explosion of diversity all in a short time span about 500 (plus) million years ago. These complicated little creatures have been frozen in time, captured in the shale complete with much detail. The study indicates that the number of "body plans" or what the scientists call "disparity" was more diverse at an earlier time which contradicts the idea of increased diversity with time in evolution. Instead scientists think that there is an early "decimation" of the species to give us more species with fewer "body plans" at a later date. Initially the observations were incorrectly around made and left unchallenged for about 60 years. More recently they were re-discovered after very detailed studies of the shale and new interpretations and conclusions were made. This is a very unusual and interesting book with many illustrations and comments and insights. Once you read it you will have a grasp of modern paleontology and will want to learn more. Jack in Toronto
5.0 out of 5 stars
530 million years ago...,
By Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wonderful Life (Paperback)
530 million years ago something happened that would change the way scientists would look at evolution and it would take the humor, knowledge and artistic skill of Stephen Jay Gould to explain WHY it changed the way they look at evolution and WHY we should all care.Mr. Gould takes evolution and shows how it worked in the ancient sea and why it seemed to change how it works now. Mr. Gould is an honest writer, brave enough to say that what he says might be proven wrong later on, but is willing to dive right in anyway. He is willing to get his hands messy while trying to work out the paleontological puzzle of the Burgess Shale and he takes us along, we go together during every step, we watch scientists overcome every barrier and we are able to judge the results that we saw built right before our eyes, piece by piece. Great read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Outstanding Book, I Guess,
By
This review is from: Wonderful Life (Paperback)
I very much enjoyed this book, for the most part. It is very much accessible to those outside the field of paleobiology, and interesting to boot. However, I found Mr. Gould's conclusions on human nature and destiny, conclusions drawn from the work done by Harry Whittington, to be rather depressing. He concludes that humans are basically pointless; there is no destiny other than a 'drunken stumble'. Oh well, as a book it was a great read, made me think, and look for other stuff along these lines to read. I read it, I enjoyed it, and felt a bit better educated when I was though - what more could you ask for?
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