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I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History
I Have Landed The End of a Beginning in Natural History Author:Stephen Jay Gould Gould writes about the themes that have defined his career, which his readers have come to expect and celebrate, casting new light upon them and conveying the ideas that science professionals exchange among themselves (minus the technical jargon). Here, of course, is Charles Darwin, from his centrality to any sound scientific education to little... more »-known facts about his life. Gould touches on subjects as far-reaching and disparate as feathered dinosaurs, the scourge of syphilis and the frustration of the man who identified it, and Freudís 'evolutionary fantasy'. He writes brilliantly of Nabokovís delicately crafted drawings of butterflies and the true meaning of biological diversity. And in the poignant title essay, he details his grandfatherís journey from Hungary to America, where he arrived on September 11, 1901. It is from his grandfatherís journal entry of that day, stating simply 'I have landed,' that the bookís title was drawn. This landing occurred 100 years to the day before our greatest recent tragedy, also explored, but with optimism, in the concluding section of the book.« less