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Quote 283 of 521

The book is dedicated to two colleagues with whom Gould co-authored
notable papers, Niles Eldredge and Elisabeth Vrba, but in spirit the
dedication celebrates not two people but three--"the Three
Musketeers/Prevailing with panache," the third musketeer being Gould
himself. What sort of person writes a gigantic book, filled with
history and biology and cultural arcana, staking his personal claim to
be the Second Coming of Charles Darwin, and then congratulates himself
in the dedication? Well, there is no such "sort" of person. Stephen
Jay Gould was like nobody else.

"The Man Who Knew Too Much:  Stephen Jay Gould's
		   Opus Posthumous", by David Quammen, Harper's, June
		   2003. 

Tags: stephenjaygould nileseldredge gouldco threemusketeers giganticbook charlesdarwin vrba musketeer arcana panache secondcoming elisabeth dedication colleagues biology spirit