W. W. Norton, 1985, 450 pp, bibliography, index, ISBN 0-393-30375-6. page views.

What need had you to flip me upside down, dear Audubon, and turn my smile to frown?

Mr. Gould himself is a rare and wonderful animal - a member of the endangered species known as the ruby-throated polymath. He is a leading theorist on large-scale patterns in evolution and one of the sharpest and most humane thinkers in the sciences.

David Quammen
New York Times Book Review

Contents

• Prologue
  1. Zoonomia (and Exceptions)
     1. The Flamingo's Smile
     2. Only His Wings Remained
     3. Sex and Size
     4. Living with Connections
     5. A Most Ingenious Paradox
  2. Theory and Perception
     6. Adam's Navel
     7. The Freezing of Noah
     8. False Premise, Good Science
     9. For Want of a Metaphor
  3. The Importance of Taxonomy
     10. Of Wasps and WASPs
     11. Opus 100
     12. Human Equality Is a Contingent Fact of History
     13. The Rule of Five
  4. Trends and Their Meaning
     14. Losing the Edge - Postscript: Strike Three for Babe
     15. Death and Transfiguration
     16. Reducing Riddles
  5. Politics and Progress
     17. To Show an Ape
     18. Bound by the Great Chain
     19. The Hottentot Venus
     20. Carrie Buck's Daughter
     21. Singapore Patrimony (and Matrimony)
  6. Darwinia
     22. Hannah West's Left Shoulder and the Origin of Natural Selection
     23. Darwin at Sea - and the Virtues of Port
     24. A Short Way to Corn
  7. Life Here and Elsewhere
     25. Just in the Middle
     26. Mind and Supermind
     27. SETI and the Wisdom of Casey Stengel
  8. Extinction and Continuity
     28. Sex, Drugs, Disasters and the Extinction of Dinosaurs
     29. Continuity
     30. The Cosmic Dance of Siva
• Bibliography
• Index