Stephen Jay Gould

Explore 6 quotes by Stephen Jay Gould

A man does not attain the status of Galileo merely because he is persecuted; he must also be right.

Stephen Jay Gould

More information about this quote

Topic

Persecution Science

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Ever Since Darwin

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Velikovsky In Collision." Natural History, Mar. 1975.

In science, "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent."

Stephen Jay Gould

Evolution as Fact and Theory

Buy Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes at Amazon Buy Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Science

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Evolution as Fact and Theory

Medium

Essay

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1983 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. "Evolution as Fact and Theory." Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes. W. W. Norton & Company, 1983, ch. 19.

Life is a copiously branching bush, continually pruned by the grim reaper of extinction, not a ladder of predictable progress.

Stephen Jay Gould

Buy Wonderful Life at Amazon Buy Wonderful Life at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Randomness Life

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Wonderful Life

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. W. W. Norton & Co., 1989, ch. 1.

We are glorious accidents of an unpredictable process with no drive to complexity, not the expected results of evolutionary principles that yearn to produce a creature capable of understanding the mode of its own necessary construction.

Stephen Jay Gould

More information about this quote

Topic

Intelligent life Human evolution Evolution Randomness

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Full House

Language

English

Time

1996 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin. Harmony Books, 1996, pt. 4, ch. 14.

Science is an integral part of culture. It's not this foreign thing, done by an arcane priesthood. It's one of the glories of the human intellectual tradition.

Stephen Jay Gould

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of science Science

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

The Independent

Genre

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. Independent. 24 Jan. 1990.

Wind back the tape of life to the early days of the Burgess Shale; let it play again from an identical starting point, and the chance becomes vanishingly small that anything like human intelligence would grace the replay.

Stephen Jay Gould

Buy Wonderful Life at Amazon Buy Wonderful Life at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Intelligent life Randomness Evolution

Author

Stephen Jay Gould

Source

Wonderful Life

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1989 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. W. W. Norton & Co., 1989, preface.