Gould's subject is nothing less than geology's signal contribution to human thought--the discovery of "deep time", a history so ancient that we can best comprehend it as metaphor.
Rarely has a scholar attained such popular acclaim merely by doing what he does best and enjoys most. But such is Stephen Jay Gould's command of paleontology and evolutionary theory, and his gift for brilliant explication, that he has brought dust and dead bones to life, and...