Stephen Jay Gould
1941 - 2002
The Human Accident
Stephen Jay Gould was an inspiration to me throughout this book. His insights into human evolution were unique and illuminating. The readability of his many books to us lay readers set a bar I wish I could achieve.
He taught me that evolution does not imply progress. He taught me that Homo sapiens is not the epitome or goal of evolution but just one of many branches no more significant than many others. He taught me that Homo sapiens is a random accident that would be unlikely to be repeated even if we could roll back time to the primordial conditions from which we emerged and plant the exact same chemical seeds.
Click on links to other players in my journey below.
Ardi * Aubrey de Grey * Bill Joy * C. Owen Lovejoy * Carl Linneaus * Charles Darwin * CRISPR *
Daniel E. Koshland, Jr * Elizabeth Kolbert * Ernst Mayr * Eugene E. Harris * Gregor Mendel * Henry Markram *
Ian Tattersall * Jean-Baptiste Lamarck * John Markoff * Katherine Pollard * Kevin de Queiroz * Lucy *
McBrearty and Brooks * Miguel Nicolelis * Paul Allen * Paul Berg * R.A.Fisher * Scott Blois * Singularity *
Stephen Jay Gould * Svante Pååbo * Sydney Brenner * Terry Sejnowski * Theodosius Dobzhansky *