Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History ... (ISBN 0393311392)

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History:
Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History by Stephan Jay Gould is pure Gold or is that Gould. This is the sixth in a series of books on Gould's essays found in "Natural History." We find Gould in a more contemplative mood within these pages, being reflective and personal as he speaks about the importance within our lives of the connections to our past and ancestral generations. But as Gould would put it, " a theme of supreme importance to evolutionists who study a world in which extinction is the ultimate fate of all and prolonged persistence the only meaningful measure of success." There are essays on extenction, fishtails and frog calls, the coloration of pigeons, the eyes of mole rats, and an in depth personal essay about his maternal grandfather. This last essay brought some fond memories back to me, as I was growing up... yet time waits for no man. For variety, range, depth and a refinement in writing style, this tome is one of Gould's best, as you read, Gould hits his stride and leads you toward his conclusions, just like my grandfather taught me to be observent and not take things for granted. But to question, the way things are as they seem, just like Gould does to his readers, bringing information to them and through observation and a brilliant mind making things clear. This is an eductional book, as well, as you read, Gould makes the reader learn painlessly... a good storyteller of thirty-one essays that are truly fascinating. Read and enjoy this well thought out collection of essays.

Great Gould! He sure does make natural history fun!:
Written in a somewhat reflective style, this set of essays, originally from Natural History magazine, provides a great introduction to the quirks of nature and evolutionary processes. Intended to be entertaining as well as educational, Gould seeks fun topics (such as the tricky nature of memory) that are sure to keep the reader involved in the text. In addition, the abbreviated nature of each of the essays keeps the scientific jargon at a minimum, meaning that laypersons and scientists alike can be entertained by Gould's writing. The best thing about this and other books of essays by Gould, however, is the diversity of information pertaining to the evolution of life and ideas contained therein. Want to be the know-it-all at the next office party? This book contains a wonderful and diverse array of scientific trivia assured to impress your co-workers!

A very human science writer:
Gould was an expert in writing about science in a way that ordinary, not-particularly-scientific readers could comprehend, at least in a general way. But more than that, he linked the science to anecdotes that readers could not only understand, but also identify with.

A rare engagement between knowledge and common sense:
Eight little piggies is just one of a series of essay collections Gould masterly wrote. He was one of the very few people that combines deep knowledge and common sense (by the way, not so common really). Gould was a writer, a teacher, a scientist, an intellectual, and if you allow me, an empirical philosopher to say the least. Reading a collection of essays like this is like making a journey inside one of the brilliant minds of the twentieth century, an experience worth the try (if you dare to compromise your own prejudices to such an elocuent argumentative person). If you are a Natural History lover, don't hesitate, this is for you.

Views on science and other topics:
Celebrities, whether they start out as scientists, athletes, musicians or any other of a host of occupations, often share one thing in common; they like to share their opinions on topics outside of their specialty. The deceased Stephen Jay Gould was no exception. His expertise and his training is in evolutionary biology in particular and natural history in general. But his books cover a very wide variety of topics distantly related to the life sciences, such as human behavior, the relationship between science and religion, and the history of science. This book, Eight Little Piggies, is one of over a dozen books authored by Gould. Like the others, it is a collection and condensation of essays previously published in peer-reviewed journals. The title of the book refers to digits. Specifically, humans have ten toes, and human parents sometimes introduce numbers to their children by counting of toes as "one little piggy", two little piggy, etc... all the way up to ten little piggies. The title of this book springs from the fact that not all vertebrates have ten little piggies. Many have 8, 6 or even 4. Hence part of the book examines the evolution of digits in animals. Other parts of the book examine other parts of animal anatomy, language, and the history of scientific ideas such as evolution. This book does not provide an introduction to evolution; hence do not pick it up hoping to learn about this subject. Neither is this book appropriate for novices in the life sciences. Instead, this book is geared more towards those with a good knowledge of the life sciences, and a want to understand it more. Stephen Jay Gould grew up in the mid-1900s and spent much of his career within hallowed hallways of established places such as Harvard. As such, his writing style can be dry and boring compared to other widely read science authors such as Feynman, R. Leakey, Richard Ellis, and Rachel Carson. But they are just as thought-provoking. As such, this book makes for good, but difficult reading.