Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes

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Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes is Stephen Jay Gould's third volume of collected essays reprinted from his monthly columns for Natural History magazine, entitled "This view of life." Three essays appeared elsewhere. "Evolution as Fact and Theory" first appeared in Discover magazine in May 1981; "Phyletic size decrease in Hershey bars," appeared in C. J. Rubins's Junk Food, 1980; and his "Reply to critics," was written specifically for this volume as a commentary upon criticism of essay 16, "The Piltdown Conspiracy". The book was dedicated to his mother Eleanor, "brave woman, wise owl."

Contents

[edit] Contents

  • Prologue
    1. SENSIBLE ODDITIES
      1. Big Fish, Little Fish
      2. Nonmoral Nature
      3. The Guano Ring
      4. Quick Lives and Quirky Changes
    2. PERSONALITIES
      Three Geologists
      1. The Titular Bishop of Titiopolis
      2. Hutton's Purpose
      3. The Sinkstones of Oeningen

      Three Biologists

      1. Agassiz in the Galapagos
      2. Worm for a Century, and All Seasons
      3. A Hearing for a Vavilov
    3. ADAPTATION AND DEVELOPMENT
      Adaptation
      1. Hyena Myths and Realities
      2. Kingdoms without wheels
      3. What Happens to Bodies if Genes Act for Themselves?

      Development

      1. Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes
      2. Helpful Monsters
    4. TEILHARD AND PILTDOWN
      1. The Piltdown Conspiracy
      2. A Reply to Critics
      3. Our Natural Place
    5. SCIENCE AND POLITICS
      Creationism
      1. Evolution as Fact and Theory
      2. A Visit to Dayton
      3. Moon, Man, and Otto

      Race and Creed

      1. Science and Jewish Immigration
      2. The Politics of Census
    6. EXTINCTION
      1. Phyletic Size Decrease in Hershey Bars
      2. The Belt of an Asteroid
      3. Chance Riches
      4. O Grave, Where is Thy Victory?
    7. A ZEBRA TRILOGY
      1. What, If Anything, Is A Zebra
      2. How the Zebra Gets Its Stripes
      3. Quaggas, Coiled Oysters, and Flimsy Facts
  • Bibliography
  • Index

[edit] Blurbs

“ As witty as he is learned, Gould has a born essayist's ability to evoke the general out of fascinating particulars. . . . He is a thinker and writer as central to our times as any whose name comes to mind. . . . Whether he is explaining how zebras get their stripes, [or] why it is fallacious to assume that extinction means biological 'failure' . . . Gould's passion for truth and generosity of spirit make him one of nature's true wonders. „

—Gene Lyons, Newsweek
“ Delectable. . . . A happy evolutionary tour de force. Gould is a true natural philosopher in the grand tradition of the Enlightenment. Read, learn, and enjoy. „

—Washington Post Book World.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Books by Stephen Jay Gould