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mwaskom's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
3.0
One of the better science books I’ve had to read for class. Idk if I would recommend wildly but we will see how much I retained in seminar tomorrow
nickedkins's review against another edition
5.0
There's a trap that a lot of science writing falls into: when the author finds the subject matter beautiful and awe-inspiring, they tell you "this is beautiful and awe-inspiring!". To give you context for some fact, they'll tell you numbers of Olympic swimming pools or football stadiums or Earth masses or lightyears. This is not interesting! You can't make me feel awe by telling me how much awe I should be feeling, and you have to do more than just say a very large or very small number.
Gould is the best writer I know at letting the awe build up organically. Here, he takes you through the whole story of how we know what we do about the Burgess Shale and the Cambrian explosion of animal diversity. He explains in great detail how the original workers were constrained by their worldview, and he presents that worldview in a compelling way, so that you can buy into it. Then, piece by piece, he reveals and explains the new evidence that nibbles away at that worldview, and eventually overturns it.
Because he really feels the need to convince you of what he's saying, he makes the case in considerable detail. There's such a huge volume of background information needed to explain, for example, why it's remarkable that Marella splendens, which looks a lot like a trilobite, is not a trilobite. Gould trusts that, if he gives you that information, the payoff will be sweeter and your understanding richer. It's this level of trust in the reader that I really appreciate.
Gould is the best writer I know at letting the awe build up organically. Here, he takes you through the whole story of how we know what we do about the Burgess Shale and the Cambrian explosion of animal diversity. He explains in great detail how the original workers were constrained by their worldview, and he presents that worldview in a compelling way, so that you can buy into it. Then, piece by piece, he reveals and explains the new evidence that nibbles away at that worldview, and eventually overturns it.
Because he really feels the need to convince you of what he's saying, he makes the case in considerable detail. There's such a huge volume of background information needed to explain, for example, why it's remarkable that Marella splendens, which looks a lot like a trilobite, is not a trilobite. Gould trusts that, if he gives you that information, the payoff will be sweeter and your understanding richer. It's this level of trust in the reader that I really appreciate.
duchessofreadin's review against another edition
This was a really interesting look into the Burgess Shale, and the many different studies that have gone on throughout the years. Beginning with the first, the next fifty years have given more information.
There is a lot of scientific terms, and the different lists were helpful in running down the information. Great book! I enjoyed it immensely.
There is a lot of scientific terms, and the different lists were helpful in running down the information. Great book! I enjoyed it immensely.
words_and_watercolours's review against another edition
4.0
I have had a long standing fascination with the Burgess Shale for a number of years and quite frankly I’m thoroughly embarrassed that it took me so long to read this book.
Though there are numerous parts of the text that are out of date it is a wonderful instalment on the incredible journey of the scientific endeavour surrounding the Burgess Shale. A science classic.
Though there are numerous parts of the text that are out of date it is a wonderful instalment on the incredible journey of the scientific endeavour surrounding the Burgess Shale. A science classic.
andrea_author's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the 2023 audiobook of this classic and was surprised that it didn't sound dated. Admittedly, I'm not up-to-date on the latest scholarship relating to the Cambrian period. But since the book largely focuses on the history of how the Burgess Shale fossils were interpreted, it captures and analyzes a snapshot of time in a way that illuminates not just the research but the process of research itself.
There's a wistful quality about this book, about the way it dismantles the Chain of Being from microorganisms to Homo sapiens sapiens as if it were a natural progression. Because the Cambrian shows other routes life could have taken. The reason some forms of life survived while others didn't may come down to luck.
The book also shows, in a compassionate way, how the worldview of scientists may affect their work and limit their interpretations of the data. This story is as much about people as it is about the Cambrian fossils.
If you're interested in how multicellular life began to flourish and create the world we know today, you won't want to miss this book.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
There's a wistful quality about this book, about the way it dismantles the Chain of Being from microorganisms to Homo sapiens sapiens as if it were a natural progression. Because the Cambrian shows other routes life could have taken. The reason some forms of life survived while others didn't may come down to luck.
The book also shows, in a compassionate way, how the worldview of scientists may affect their work and limit their interpretations of the data. This story is as much about people as it is about the Cambrian fossils.
If you're interested in how multicellular life began to flourish and create the world we know today, you won't want to miss this book.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
dgildag's review against another edition
5.0
A lifelong paleontology enthusiast, this was my first serious venture into the weird and wonderful world of the Burgess Shale. Gould uses the strange creatures of this 530 million year old fossil deposit to outline his thesis of contingency as a driving force of evolution. He argues that if we were to “replay the tape of life” it would be unlikely that humans as we know ourselves would arise again.
At this time, I will not comment on the books scientific accuracy. As mentioned, I had only a passing knowledge of the Burgess Shale and Cambrian fauna before starting this book and cannot speak comprehensively to its accuracy as a scientific text (at the bottom I have linked a paper that revisits Wonderful Life through the lens of recent developments in evolutionary biology and serves as a useful companion to this book). I will focus here on its stylistic merits as a scientific text.
Although my interests revolve around science, I have always struggled with nonfiction. A captivating theses can quickly get lost in detailed analysis of multiple threads of evidence, causing the payoff of the conclusion to often feel more of a relief at being finished rather than the thrill of epiphany. Wonderful Life caused no such struggle.
Gould situates his theory in a captivating story (somewhat ironic as he is advocating for an ahistorical, contingency-centric interpretation of life on Earth) that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Even the second third of the book, dedicated to the morphological minutiae of the varied Burgess fauna, which in most books would quickly become a scientific slog, remains engaging. This is mainly due to Gould’s continued insistence on the consequence of the discoveries his book examines. Although many of the findings discussed were made in forgotten cabinets through independent investigations of seemingly unremarkable rocks, Gould’s enthusiasm is contagious and creates an unexpected page-turner out of what could easily be a series of dry, technical monographs.
Although grandiose claims and genera bombast run rampant, Wonderful Life still manages to maintain scientific rigor in its arguments. Always teetering on the edge of pretentiontiousness, it is this pomoposity that makes the work so engaging to even those whose knowledge of natural history may start and end at T. rex.
Although some ideas of Wondeful Life may be dated, there is no reason to relegate its reading to extinction. Wonderful Life serves as a captivating introduction into evolutionary theory, philosophy of science, and paleontology. While emphasizing the improbability of our human life, Wonderful Life gives the reader a greater appreciation of our existence in the universe and our place among the many varied and wonderful branches of life on Earth.
PS The 2007 reprint features a cover image of Silurian eurypterids and placoderms - Gould would never!
Wonderful Life Revisited (Erwin, 2014): https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/Wonderful%20Life%20revised.pdf
At this time, I will not comment on the books scientific accuracy. As mentioned, I had only a passing knowledge of the Burgess Shale and Cambrian fauna before starting this book and cannot speak comprehensively to its accuracy as a scientific text (at the bottom I have linked a paper that revisits Wonderful Life through the lens of recent developments in evolutionary biology and serves as a useful companion to this book). I will focus here on its stylistic merits as a scientific text.
Although my interests revolve around science, I have always struggled with nonfiction. A captivating theses can quickly get lost in detailed analysis of multiple threads of evidence, causing the payoff of the conclusion to often feel more of a relief at being finished rather than the thrill of epiphany. Wonderful Life caused no such struggle.
Gould situates his theory in a captivating story (somewhat ironic as he is advocating for an ahistorical, contingency-centric interpretation of life on Earth) that keeps the reader engaged throughout. Even the second third of the book, dedicated to the morphological minutiae of the varied Burgess fauna, which in most books would quickly become a scientific slog, remains engaging. This is mainly due to Gould’s continued insistence on the consequence of the discoveries his book examines. Although many of the findings discussed were made in forgotten cabinets through independent investigations of seemingly unremarkable rocks, Gould’s enthusiasm is contagious and creates an unexpected page-turner out of what could easily be a series of dry, technical monographs.
Although grandiose claims and genera bombast run rampant, Wonderful Life still manages to maintain scientific rigor in its arguments. Always teetering on the edge of pretentiontiousness, it is this pomoposity that makes the work so engaging to even those whose knowledge of natural history may start and end at T. rex.
Although some ideas of Wondeful Life may be dated, there is no reason to relegate its reading to extinction. Wonderful Life serves as a captivating introduction into evolutionary theory, philosophy of science, and paleontology. While emphasizing the improbability of our human life, Wonderful Life gives the reader a greater appreciation of our existence in the universe and our place among the many varied and wonderful branches of life on Earth.
PS The 2007 reprint features a cover image of Silurian eurypterids and placoderms - Gould would never!
Wonderful Life Revisited (Erwin, 2014): https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/Wonderful%20Life%20revised.pdf