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Large 8vo, pp. 479. Publisher's cloth in the original dust jacket. Illustrated. Index. Bibl. ref.
This is the sixth in Gould's great series of reflections on biology, history and culture. These essays were originally published in the Natural History magazine. The paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould examines diverse and diverting topics. The title piece refers to toes, and we learn that five is not necessarily the optimum number. Gould re-examines the work of astronomer Edmund Halley and 16th-century Irish Archbishop James Ussher, who pinpointed the moment of creation (Oct. 23, 4004 B.C.); He also finds an "invisible hand" connecting William Paley, Charles Darwin and Adam Smith. Fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
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