Wonderful Life

The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History

By: Stephen Jay Gould

Narrated by: Jonathan Sleep

"[An] extraordinary book . . . Mr. Gould is an exceptional combination of scientist and science writer . . . He is thus exceptionally well placed to tell these stories, and he tells them with fervor and intelligence."-James Gleick, New York Times Book Review

High in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago called the Burgess Shale. It holds the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived—a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in awesome detail. In this book, Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history.

©1989 Stephen Jay Gould (P)2023 Tantor

Wonderful book!

Gould writes about evolution and natural history like nobody else. I often had to pause to write down some of his more poetic quotes. This conceptual examination of the Burgess Shale fauna covers not only the biology, but also the history of the individuals who made the important discoveries (and often incorrectly interpreted those discoveries). The narrator speaks a little too fast.

Audible version not great

Three stories: one about the animals of the Burgess shale, one about their discovery and description, and one about the implications for how we view ourselves in regards to evolution. It's a little dated but still quite good, and the animals themselves are good enough and weird enough for the price of admission.

The main problem is that for some reason Audible doesn't include a PDF with the images from the book, of which there are over 100. This seriously limits the experience. I'd recommend finding this title on a different platform, some of which do seem to include the images.

Very informative and insightful, even though its a little outdated.

The books is a very interesting and approachable examination of history and science. A lot of the science, especially towards the end is outdated. the core arguments still ring true though.

Science made interesting

Work of a paleontologist, rites of passage, terminology, concepts, theories. Narrator did a great job of making this a wonderful listen. However, next listen I'll have a text at my side to help with nomenclature and names.
I plan to listen to this a couple more times. He's a magnificent writer. Narrator, please consider recording this geologic writing: Tertiary Geology of the Grand Canyon District by Clarence E. Dutton.

Must Read

Mr. Gould is a talented writer with tremendous passion for the subject. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend to non-scientists like me

Too much detail

I am sure this is well researched. And maybe it is better in print. But I did not enjoy it. Way to much detail and at times verbose.

I listened to the first hour

I don’t know whether Mr. Gould’s book does much for the body of literature focused on the Burgiss. He did a good job of explaining why he thinks I should care about his interpretation during that first hour.

I’ll go elsewhere for Burgiss Shale information with the understanding that Mr. Gould may be on to something. I rest assured that if he is, someone else will tell me and I won’t have to bear the remaining eight hours of his book.