'So much of science proceeds by telling stories- and we are especially vulnerable to constraints of this medium because we so rarely recognize what we are doing' so says Stephen Jay Gould in 'Bully for Brontosaurus' his fifth volume of collected essays in science popularisation which do tell good stories about the various aspects of evolution and considerations for the intellectual world.
'Some people have seen me as a polymath, but I insist that I am a tradesman' the ever modest, ever humble Gould writes in the introduction implying the hard work involved in learning and the functionality of what is learned. Certainly by reading him you get a deeper appreciation of just how Darwin has changed culture and how much of his theory seeps into everything.
For Gould Homo sapiens is a 'tiny and accidental evolutionary twig' that conducts an 'interesting but dangerous experiment in consciousness' where 'the history of life is a tale of decimation and later stabilization of few surviving anatomies, not a story of steady expansion and progress'. Yet this does not seem to dim his enthusiasm for being part of it, to experience it at all, a privilege to be enjoyed if we can be aware enough to. His love for the subject is contagious as his interesting writing makes you interested in what he is writing about, popular without dumbing down or making concessions. It is a masterclass in communication.
Making the case for enlightenment Gould is in a tough fight against anti-intellectualism:
'We live in a profoundly non-intellectual culture, made all the worse by a passive hedonism abetted by the spread of wealth and the dissipation into countless electronic devices that impart the latest in entertainment and supposed information- all in short (and loud) doses of "easy learning"'.
In trying by 'noting popular trends and trying to divert some of their energy into rivulets that might benefit learning and education' he gives a tour to a world of ideas, interesting in and of themselves that may prick curiosity and lead someone further down the road of understanding of the world and it's workings for those people who haven't only let the world work for them. 'We must rage against the dying of the light- and although Dylan Thomas spoke of bodily death in his famous line, we may also apply his words to the extinction of wonder in the mind, by pressures of conformity in an anti-intellectual culture'
He is a dispeller of misconceptions about science, 'science is a method for testing claims about the natural world, not an immutable compendium of absolute truths', and gives descriptions of scientists,
'You might almost define a good scientist as a person with the horse sense to discern the largest answerable question- and to shun useless issues that sound grander', allowing readers a chance to change their perspective on how to view such matters that may give a greater clarity than previous prejudices afforded.
I've taken a lot of inspiration from Gould in writing my blogs; his friendliness, his kindness and his knowledge are all things that I aspire to personify in my writings. It's been highly enjoyable to read about the evolution of the typewriter, the furore around Darwin and current culture as he makes it easy for me. A dip-in book for those odd, loose moments hanging around the house that satisfies while being edifying.
The human race has been a very colourful experiment 'So why not keep this interesting thought experiment around, at least for another planetary second or two?'
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