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Struggle in The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

Struggle in The Structure of Evolutionary Theory boundary 2 / Fall 2003 knowledged how ‘‘highly controversial’’ 4 his notions of species selection and his (and Niles Eldredge’s 5) theory of punctuated equilibrium—the central topics of The Structure of Evolutionary Theory—are, but he did not cope with criticism. He complained that his ‘‘legitimate claims have been so poorly attended by evolutionary scientists who cannot discern the beat of this different drummer while their brains and ears remain tuned only to the sounds of general theory’’ (1339), and he did little to conciliate his critics. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory fails utterly to dispel Gould’s reputation as a ‘‘somewhat woolly thinker,’’ 6 and even the most devoted fans of his popular books and essays in Natural History Magazine 7 will be awash in this 1343page stream of consciousness. But Gould did not write The Structure of Evolutionary Theory to explain himself to contemporary evolutionary scientists or to satisfy the masses. He wrote for his ‘‘successors,’’ in the expectation that they would ‘‘improve this matrix’’ (48).8 His ‘‘magnum opus . . . [and] definitive statement on evolutionary theory’’ 9 was meant for ‘‘later scholars [who] often need a historical primer of definitions to identify certain claims properly’’ (455). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png boundary 2: an international journal of literature and culture Duke University Press

Struggle in The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

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Publisher
Duke University Press
Copyright
Copyright 2003 by Duke University Press
ISSN
0190-3659
eISSN
1527-2141
DOI
10.1215/01903659-30-3-213
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

boundary 2 / Fall 2003 knowledged how ‘‘highly controversial’’ 4 his notions of species selection and his (and Niles Eldredge’s 5) theory of punctuated equilibrium—the central topics of The Structure of Evolutionary Theory—are, but he did not cope with criticism. He complained that his ‘‘legitimate claims have been so poorly attended by evolutionary scientists who cannot discern the beat of this different drummer while their brains and ears remain tuned only to the sounds of general theory’’ (1339), and he did little to conciliate his critics. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory fails utterly to dispel Gould’s reputation as a ‘‘somewhat woolly thinker,’’ 6 and even the most devoted fans of his popular books and essays in Natural History Magazine 7 will be awash in this 1343page stream of consciousness. But Gould did not write The Structure of Evolutionary Theory to explain himself to contemporary evolutionary scientists or to satisfy the masses. He wrote for his ‘‘successors,’’ in the expectation that they would ‘‘improve this matrix’’ (48).8 His ‘‘magnum opus . . . [and] definitive statement on evolutionary theory’’ 9 was meant for ‘‘later scholars [who] often need a historical primer of definitions to identify certain claims properly’’ (455).

Journal

boundary 2: an international journal of literature and cultureDuke University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2003

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