Book review: Ever Since Darwin
Ever Since Darwin is book of essays by Stephen Jay Gould, originally written as columns for Natural History magazine.
This is Gould’s first collection of essays, published in 1977. It’s a great introduction to Gould’s writing. The essays are shorter and the ideas are simpler than those in some of his later collections. There are great essays on the life and times Darwin worked in, and on how evolutionary and developmental biology got worked out through fits and starts. The last few essays on sociobiology are kind of weak. I guess 30 years on, it’s hard to really understand the ground that was being fought over.
Overall, a great book!