One of the most spirited essayists of our time.
John Maynard Smith
London Review of Books
From the opening essay on the panda's thumb to an intriguing vignette of the Adactylidium mite which dies before it is born, the book provides a quirky and provocative exploration of the nature of evolution. Wonderfully entertaining.
Anthony Clare
Sunday Telegraph
There is a continuity which runs through this eminently readable book giving it a unity behind which an unusual mind is at work trying to figure out, among other things, how multicellular creatures regulate the timing involved in the complex orchestration of their embryonic growth. His book is a treasure.
Ashley Montagu
Nature
As both a respected scholar in his own field and a leading theorist of evolution, he packs a clout few science writers can match.
Derek Bickerton
The New York Time Book Review
Stephen Jay Gould grew up in New York City. He graduated from Antioch College and received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1967. Since then he has been Professor of Geology and Zoology at Harvard University. He considers himself primarily a palaeontologist and an evolutionary biologist, though he teaches geology and history of science as well.