Stephen Jay Gould?

I am so shocked and saddened to hear of his death. He was so amazing. I am so upset, he was just here speaking and I didn't go because I was working. If I'd only known.......

He was pretty young, too. It was quite shocking.

60 years old. Cancer, I heard. I just can't believe I could've heard him speak, and now I can't. I guess you should just live life like its your last chance and do that stuff. What a loss the world has suffered.

Oh I know I'm either going to get flammed or one of those "gosh are you stupid or have you just been living in a cave," but who is he?

Naturalist and author. Wrote about animals and evolutionary theory. Kind of like Oliver Sacks writes about mental health.

He's really cool because he is absolutely brilliant about his field(s), but he can write and speak about it in a way that is really easy to understand and interesting to the rest of us normal people. Here is one he is really well known for - http://comp.uark.edu/~mrstoke/2003/gould.html

That was a very interesting read, thank you.

Sfell, Don't feel bad, I didn't know who he was either. I have heard his name before, but never really found out who he was. I wish I had enough time to learn about all the things I am curious about.

Does anyone remember the show Northern Exposure? I always loved the character Chris, cause he was so philosophical and knew so much about books and stuff. I wish I could be like that.

I guess I will have to go find some of Stephen Jay Gould's writings to educate myself. :-)

That's what is so interesting about the internet. I do a lot of research online, and I always find myself going off into different areas. I bookmark sites that are too off-topic and then go back later. It's a great way to learn about history, philosophy, science, new authors. You have to check the sources though, but of course you can never know everything!

I started reading Gould in a biological anthropology class. He was really very easy to follow, without dumbing it down, you know? I heard he was a great speaker, and I'm just kicking myself for not going when he was here a few months ago.

That was an interesting article. I love that he showed a sense of humor, and his references to Dylan Thomas (Do not go gentle into that good night.)