View source for Stephen Jay Gould

{{Short description|American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = Stephen Jay Gould
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| image             = Stephen Jay Gould 2015, portrait (unknown date).jpg
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| birth_date        = {{birth date|1941|9|10}}
| birth_place       = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2002|5|20|1941|9|10}}
| death_place       = New York City, New York, U.S.
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| citizenship       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
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| fields            = [[Paleontology]], [[evolutionary biology]], [[history of science]]
| workplaces        = {{plainlist|
* [[Harvard University]]
* [[American Museum of Natural History]]
* [[New York University]]}}
| patrons           = 
| education         = {{plainlist|
* [[Antioch College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[University of Leeds]]
* [[Columbia University]] ([[PhD]])}}
| alma_mater        = 
| thesis_title      = Pleistocene and Recent History of the Subgenus ''Poecilozonites'' (''Poecilozonites'') (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) in Bermuda: An Evolutionary Microcosm
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/302264729/
| thesis_year       = 1967
| doctoral_advisors = {{plainlist|
* R. L. Batten
* J. Imbrie
* [[Norman D. Newell]]}}
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = {{ublist|[[Daniel Fisher (paleontologist)|Daniel Fisher]]|[[Linda Ivany]]|[[Jack Sepkoski]]|[[Kurt Wise]]}}
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = {{plainlist|
* [[Punctuated equilibrium]]
* [[Non-overlapping magisteria]]
* [[Spandrel (biology)|Spandrel]]
* [[Exaptation]]}}
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = {{plainlist|
* [[Linnean Society of London]]'s [[Darwin–Wallace Medal]] (2008)
* [[Paleontological Society Medal]] (2002)
* [[St. Louis Literary Award]] (1994)
* [[Sue Tyler Friedman Medal]] (1989)
* [[American Academy of Achievement]]'s Golden Plate Award (1982)
* [[Charles Schuchert Award]] (1975)
* [[Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science]] (1983, 1990)
* [[MacArthur Fellowship]]
* [[National Book Award]]
* [[National Book Critics Circle Award]]
* [[GSA Public Service Award]] (1999)}}
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| spouses           = {{plainlist|
* Deborah Lee (m. 1965; div. 1995; 2 children)
* [[Rhonda Roland Shearer]] (m. 1995; 2 stepchildren)}}
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}}

'''Stephen Jay Gould''' ({{IPAc-en|g|uː|l|d}} {{respell|GOOLD}}; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American [[Paleontology|paleontologist]], [[Evolutionary biology|evolutionary biologist]], and [[History of science|historian of science]]. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of [[popular science]] of his generation.<ref name="Shermer2002">{{Citation |last=Shermer |first=Michael |title=This View of Science |journal=Social Studies of Science |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=489–525 |year=2002 |postscript=. |url=http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/shermer_sjgould.pdf |doi=10.1177/0306312702032004001 |pmid=12503565 |s2cid=220879229}}</ref> Gould spent most of his career teaching at [[Harvard University]] and working at the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in New York. In 1996, Gould was hired as the [[Vincent Astor]] Visiting Research Professor of Biology at [[New York University]], after which he divided his time teaching between there and Harvard. 

Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of [[punctuated equilibrium]]<ref>{{cite web|title= Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D. Biography and Interview |website=achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=   https://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/#interview}}</ref> developed with [[Niles Eldredge]] in 1972.<ref name=punc1972>Eldredge, Niles, and S. J. Gould (1972). [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/eldredge.pdf "Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism."] In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., ''Models in Paleobiology''. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82–115.</ref> The theory proposes that most evolution is characterized by long periods of evolutionary stability, infrequently punctuated by swift periods of [[Cladogenesis|branching speciation]]. The theory was contrasted against [[phyletic gradualism]], the popular idea that evolutionary change is marked by a pattern of smooth and continuous change in the fossil record.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNfJyXKSDRcC&pg=PP8 | title=Rereading the Fossil Record: The Growth of Paleobiology as an Evolutionary Discipline| isbn=978-0226748580| last=Sepkoski| first=David| year=2012| publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>

Most of Gould's empirical research was based on the [[land snail]] genera ''[[Poecilozonites]]'' and ''[[Cerion (gastropod)|Cerion]]''. He also made important contributions to [[evolutionary developmental biology]], receiving broad professional recognition for his book ''[[Ontogeny and Phylogeny (book)|Ontogeny and Phylogeny]]''.<ref name="Minelli">{{Cite book |title=Stephen J. Gould: The Scientific Legacy |last=Müller |first=Gerd B. |year=2013 |isbn=978-88-470-5423-3 |editor-last=Danieli |editor-first=G. |pages=85–99 |chapter=Beyond Spandrels: Stephen J. Gould, EvoDevo, and the Extended Synthesis |doi=10.1007/978-88-470-5424-0_6 |editor-last2=Minelli |editor-first2=A. |editor-last3=Pievani |editor-first3=T.}}</ref> In evolutionary theory he opposed strict selectionism, [[sociobiology]] as applied to humans, and [[evolutionary psychology]]. He campaigned against [[creationism]] and proposed that [[science and religion]] should be considered two distinct fields (or "[[non-overlapping magisteria]]") whose authorities do not overlap.<ref name=noma>Gould, S. J. (1997). [http://www.blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/449/Gould%20Nonoverlapping%20Magisteria.htm "Nonoverlapping magisteria."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210615130751/http://blc.arizona.edu/courses/schaffer/449/Gould%20Nonoverlapping%20Magisteria.htm |date=June 15, 2021 }} ''Natural History'' 106 (March): 16–22.</ref>

Gould was known by the general public mainly for his 300 popular essays in ''[[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]]'' magazine,<ref name="tatt">{{cite web |last=Tattersall |first=Ian |title=Remembering Stephen Jay Gould |url=https://naturalhistorymag.com/perspectives/302413/remembering-stephen-jay-gould |access-date=January 19, 2024 |website=naturalhistorymag.com}}</ref> and his numerous books written for both the specialist and non-specialist.
In April 2000, the [[US Library of Congress]] named him a "[[Library of Congress Living Legend|Living Legend]]".<ref>{{cite web| author=Library of Congress |title=Living Legend: Stephen Jay Gould |website=[[Library of Congress]] |url= https://www.loc.gov/about/awardshonors/livinglegends/bio/goulds.html | access-date=June 7, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Celebrity Scientists: Out of the Lab and into the Limelight|last=Fahy|first=Declan|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2015}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[File:Tyrannosaurus AMNH 5027.jpg|right|thumb|260px|Gould's inspiration to become a paleontologist: ''T. rex'' specimen [[Specimens of Tyrannosaurus#AMNH 5027|AMNH 5027]], [[American Museum of Natural History]], New York City]]

Stephen Jay Gould was born in [[Queens]], [[New York (state)|New York]], on September 10, 1941. His father Leonard was a [[Court reporter|court stenographer]] and a [[World War II]] veteran of the [[United States Navy]]. His mother Eleanor was an artist, whose parents were [[Jewish]] immigrants living and working in the city's [[Garment District, New York City|Garment District]].<ref name="nhessay300">{{cite journal | last1 = Gould | first1 = S. J. | year = 2001 | title = I have landed | url = http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/master.html?http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/htmlsite/features/1200_feature.html | journal = Natural History | volume = 109 | issue = 10 | pages = 46–59 | df = mdy-all | access-date = June 1, 2018 }}</ref> Gould and his younger brother Peter were raised in [[Bayside, Queens|Bayside]], a middle-class neighborhood in the northeastern section of Queens.<ref>{{cite news |title=Peter D. Gould, 50, Broadway Designer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/18/obituaries/peter-d-gould-50-broadway-designer.html |work=The New York Times |date=October 18, 1994}}</ref> He attended [[List of public elementary schools in New York City#Region 3: Queens|P.S. 26]] elementary school and graduated from [[Jamaica High School]].<ref name="Yoon">{{cite news |last=Yoon |first=Carol Kaesuk |title=Stephen Jay Gould, 60, Is Dead; Enlivened Evolutionary Theory |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/us/stephen-jay-gould-60-is-dead-enlivened-evolutionary-theory.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 21, 2002}}</ref>

When Gould was five years old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the [[American Museum of Natural History]], where he first encountered ''[[Tyrannosaurus rex]]''. "I had no idea there were such things—I was awestruck," Gould once recalled.<ref name=Green86>Green, Michelle (1986). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/green_sjgould.html "Stephen Jay Gould: driven by a hunger to learn and to write".] ''People'' '''25''' (June 2): 109–114.</ref> It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleontologist.<ref>Milner, Richard (1990). ''The Encyclopedia of Evolution''. NY: Facts on File, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/biography.html p. 198.]</ref>

Raised in a [[Jewish culture|secular Jewish]] home, Gould did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an [[agnostic]].<ref>In a [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005479y January 25, 2001 interview] for [[BBC Radio 4]] Gould stated, "Atheists can be highly moral people, I trust. I am myself." (27m:37s); Biologist [[Jerry Coyne]]—who had Gould on his thesis committee—described him as a "diehard atheist if there ever was one." (Sam Harris 2015. [http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/faith-vs.-fact/ "Faith vs. Fact: An Interview with Jerry Coyne."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006211725/http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/faith-vs.-fact|date=October 6, 2015}} May 19. [12m:22s] samharris.org.) Gould's close friend [[Oliver Sacks]] labeled Gould a "Jewish atheist". (Oliver Sacks 2006. "Introduction." ''The Richness of Life''. W. W. Norton, [[iarchive:richnessoflifees0000goul/page/8|p. 8.]])</ref> When asked directly if he was an agnostic in [[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|''Skeptic'']] magazine, he responded:

{{blockquote|If you absolutely forced me to bet on the existence of a conventional anthropomorphic deity, of course I'd bet no. But, basically, [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]] was right when he said that agnosticism is the only honorable position because we really cannot know. And that's right. I'd be real surprised if there turned out to be a conventional God.}}

Though he "had been brought up by a [[Marxism|Marxist]] father"<ref>Gould, S. J. (1995). [https://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/i-Ch.2.html "The Pattern of Life's History."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430233503/https://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/i-Ch.2.html |date=April 30, 2019 }} In John Brockman (ed.) [https://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/d-Contents.html ''The Third Culture''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430233504/https://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/d-Contents.html |date=April 30, 2019 }}. New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 60.</ref> he stated that his father's politics were "very different" from his own.<ref name=SET>Gould, S. J. (2002). ''[[The Structure of Evolutionary Theory]]''. Cambridge: Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]], p. 1018. {{ISBN|0-674-00613-5}}</ref> In describing his own political views, he has said they "tend to the left of center".<ref name="Gould_dep">Gould, S. J. (1981). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20021016043451/http://www.antievolution.org/projects/mclean/new_site/depos/pf_gould_dep.htm "Official Transcript for Gould’s deposition in McLean v. Arkansas."]}} (Nov. 27). Under oath Gould stated: "My political views tend to the left of center. Q. Could you be more specific about your political views? A. I don't know how to be. I am not a joiner, so I am not a member of any organization. So I have always resisted labeling. But if you read my other book, ''The Mismeasure of Man'', which is not included because it is not about evolution, you will get a sense of my political views." p. 153.</ref> According to Gould the most influential political books he read were [[C. Wright Mills]]' ''[[The Power Elite]]'' and the political writings of [[Noam Chomsky]].<ref name="Gould_dep"/>

While attending [[Antioch College]] in [[Yellow Springs, Ohio]], in the early 1960s, Gould was active in the [[civil rights movement]] and often campaigned for [[social justice]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Perez | first1 = Myrna | year = 2013 | title = Evolutionary Activism: Stephen Jay Gould, the New Left and Sociobiology | url = https://www.docdroid.net/XjZM7Gv/stephen-gould-and-new-left-145q.pdf | journal = Endeavour | volume = 37 | issue = 2| pages = 104–11 | doi = 10.1016/j.endeavour.2012.10.002 | pmid = 23643447 }}</ref> When he attended the [[University of Leeds]] as a visiting undergraduate, he organized weekly demonstrations outside a [[Bradford]] dance hall which refused to admit [[black people]]. Gould continued these demonstrations until the policy was revoked.<ref>Gasper, Phil (2002). [http://www.isreview.org/issues/24/gould.shtml "Stephen Jay Gould:] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124063436/http://www.isreview.org/issues/24/gould.shtml |date=November 24, 2015 }} [[Dialectical Biologist]]". ''International Socialist Review'' '''24''' (July–August).</ref> Throughout his career and writings, he spoke out against [[Oppression|cultural oppression]] in all its forms, especially what he saw as the [[pseudoscience]] used in the service of racism and [[sexism]].<ref>[[Richard Lewontin|Lewontin, Richard]] and [[Richard Levins]] (2002). [http://www.monthlyreview.org/1102lewontin.htm "Stephen Jay Gould—what does it mean to be a radical?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317030153/http://www.monthlyreview.org/1102lewontin.htm |date=March 17, 2011 }} ''Monthly Review'' 54 (Nov. 1).</ref>

Interspersed throughout his scientific essays for ''Natural History'' magazine, Gould frequently referred to his non-scientific interests and pastimes. As a boy he collected [[baseball card]]s and remained an avid [[New York Yankees]] fan throughout his life.<ref name="mudville">Gould, S. J. (2003). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=XIJ-ay4GJ_kC&pg=PA Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville]''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co. See his essays: [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/4337 "The Streak of Streaks."]</ref> As an adult he was fond of [[science fiction film|science fiction]] movies but often lamented their poor [[storytelling]] and presentation of science.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1993). [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2483 "Dinomania".] ''New York Review of Books'' 40 (August 12): 51–56.</ref> His other interests included singing [[baritone]] in the [[Boston Cecilia]], and he was a great aficionado of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] operas.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gould | first1 = S. J. | year = 2000 | title = The True Embodiment of Everything That's Excellent: The Strange Adventure of Gilbert and Sullivan | url = http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_gilbert-sullivan.html | journal = The American Scholar | volume = 69 | issue = 20 | pages = 35–49 | access-date = August 11, 2016 | archive-date = April 30, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190430233506/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_gilbert-sullivan.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> He collected [[Book collecting|rare antiquarian books]], possessed an enthusiasm for [[architecture]], and delighted in city walks. He often traveled to Europe and spoke [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Russian language|Russian]], and [[Italian language|Italian]]. He sometimes alluded ruefully to his tendency to put on weight.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1983). ''[[Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes]]''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN|0-393-31103-1}}.</ref>

=== Later career ===

In 1998, Gould co-founded the [[Art Science Research Laboratory]] (ASRL) with artist and sculptor [[Rhonda Roland Shearer]], whom he had married in 1995.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guide to the Stephen Jay Gould Papers M1437 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt229036tr/entire_text/ |website=Online Archive of California |access-date=2025-09-27}}</ref> Based in New York City, the non-profit organization supports interdisciplinary work in art, science, and media studies. Its stated goal is to apply critical methods across different fields, including academic research and journalism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Art Science Research Laboratory |url=http://www.asrlab.org |website=asrlab.org |access-date=2025-09-27}}</ref>

Gould developed an interest in [[Marcel Duchamp]], particularly the French-American artist's use of optics and perception in his [[Readymades of Marcel Duchamp|readymades]]. With artist and journalist [[Rhonda Roland Shearer]], Gould examined the idea that Duchamp’s artistic experiments were relevant to scientific approaches to vision and representation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stephen Jay Gould and Marcel Duchamp |url=https://www.npr.org/2002/05/30/1144186/stephen-jay-gould-and-marcel-duchamp |work=NPR |date=2002-05-30 |access-date=2025-09-27}}</ref> Contemporary accounts of Gould’s career described him as a scientist whose work often extended into broader cultural and intellectual domains.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Keller |first=Monastersky R. |title=Profile: Stephen Jay Gould |journal=Science |volume=286 |issue=5442 |pages=1093–1095 |date=1999-11-12 |doi=10.1126/science.286.5442.1093 }}</ref>

===First bout of cancer===
In July 1982 Gould was diagnosed with [[peritoneal mesothelioma]], a deadly form of cancer affecting the [[Human abdomen|abdominal lining]] (the [[peritoneum]]). This cancer is frequently found in people who have ingested or inhaled [[asbestos]] fibers, a mineral which was used in the construction of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology.<ref>Rose, Steve (2002). [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/may/22/medicalscience.internationaleducationnews Obituary: Stephen Jay Gould.] ''The Guardian'' May 22.</ref><ref>Titus, Janet (1983). [http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1983/1/24/safety-precautions-for-asbestos-taken-at/ "Safety Precautions for Asbestos Taken at MCZ."] ''The Harvard Crimson'' January 24.</ref> After a difficult two-year recovery, Gould published a column for ''[[Discover (magazine)|Discover]]'' magazine in 1985 titled "The Median Isn't the Message", which discusses his reaction to reading that "mesothelioma is incurable, with a median mortality of only eight months after discovery."<ref name="Median">Gould, S. J. (1985). [https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/median-isnt-message/2013-01 "The Median Isn't the Message".] ''Discover'' 6 (June): 40–42.</ref> In his essay, he describes the actual significance behind this fact, and his relief upon recognizing that [[statistics|statistical averages]] are useful abstractions, and by themselves do not encompass "our actual world of variation, shadings, and continua".<ref name="Median"/>

Gould was also an advocate of [[medical cannabis]]. When undergoing his cancer treatments he smoked marijuana to help alleviate the long periods of intense and uncontrollable nausea. According to Gould, the [[Cannabis (drug)|drug]] had a "most important effect" on his eventual recovery. He later complained that he could not understand how "any humane person would withhold such a beneficial substance from people in such great need simply because others use it for different purposes".<ref>Bakalar, James and Lester Grinspoon (1997). ''Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_marijuana.html pp. 39–41.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126111710/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_marijuana.html |date=November 26, 2015 }}</ref> On August 5, 1998, Gould's testimony assisted in the successful lawsuit of [[HIV]] activist [[Jim Wakeford]], who sued the [[Government of Canada]] for the right to cultivate, possess, and use marijuana for medical purposes.<ref>Chwialkowska, Luiza (1995). [http://www.kryo.com/vote-al/sjgould.htm "Marijuana Helped to Save My Life, Prominent Harvard Scholar Says"] ''Ottawa Citizen''.</ref>

===Final illness and death===
In February 2002, a {{convert|3|cm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} lesion was found on Gould's [[chest radiograph]], and oncologists diagnosed him with [[Cancer staging|stage IV]] cancer. Gould died 10 weeks later on May 20, 2002, from a [[Metastasis|metastatic]] [[adenocarcinoma]] of the [[human lung|lung]], an aggressive form of cancer which had already spread to his brain, liver, and spleen.<ref name=HGdies>Harvard News Office (2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20020601144738/http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/05.16/99-gould.html "Paleontologist, author Gould dies at 60".] ''The Harvard Gazette''. (May 20). Retrieved on June 4, 2009.</ref> This cancer was unrelated to his previous bout of abdominal cancer in 1982,<ref>Associated Press (2005). [https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7926329 "Family of Stephen Jay Gould sues doctors, hospital."]</ref> though it is also associated with asbestos exposure. He died in his home "in a bed set up in the library of his [[SoHo]] loft, surrounded by his wife Rhonda, his mother Eleanor, and the many books he loved".<ref>Krementz, Jill (2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190152/http://www.asrlab.org/archive/jillPage.htm "Jill Krementz Photo Journal".] ''[[New York Social Diary]]''. Retrieved on June 4, 2009.</ref>

==Scientific career==
Gould began his higher education at [[Antioch College]], graduating with a double major in geology and philosophy in 1963.<ref name="Allen2008">Allen, Warren (2008). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160328015309/http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/Z5218X.pdf "The Structure of Gould".]}} In Warren Allen et al. ''Stephen Jay Gould: Reflections on His View of Life''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 24, 59.</ref> During this time, he also studied at the [[University of Leeds]] in the United Kingdom.<ref>Jones, Steve (2002). [https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/may/22/medicalscience.internationaleducationnews "Stephen Jay Gould."] ''The Guardian'' (May 22).</ref> After completing graduate work at [[Columbia University]] in 1967 under the guidance of [[Norman D. Newell|Norman Newell]],<ref>{{Cite book |last= International Palaeontological Union (I.P.U.) |year= 1968 |editor-last= Westermann |editor-first= G.E.G.|title= Directory of Palaeontologists of the World (excl. Soviet Union & continental China) |edition= 2|publisher=McMaster University |location=Hamilton, Ontario |page=41|url=https://archive.org/stream/ERIC_ED030579#page/n55/mode/2up|via=Internet Archive |access-date=  January 3, 2017}}</ref> he was immediately hired by [[Harvard University]], where he worked until the end of his life (1967–2002). In 1973, Harvard promoted him to professor of geology and [[curator]] of [[invertebrate paleontology]] at the institution's [[Museum of Comparative Zoology]].<ref name=Shermer2002/>

In 1982, Harvard awarded him the title of [[Alexander Agassiz]] Professor of Zoology. That same year, he received the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref> In 1983, he was awarded a fellowship at the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], where he later served as president (1999–2001). The AAAS news release cited his "numerous contributions to both scientific progress and the public understanding of science".<ref>Cooper, E. and D. Amber (1997). [https://web.archive.org/web/19980130074957/http://aaas.org/communications/gould.htm "Stephen Jay Gould Voted President-Elect of AAAS."] ''AAAS News''.</ref> He also served as president of the [[Paleontological Society]] (1985–1986) and of the [[Society for the Study of Evolution]] (1990–1991).<ref name=Shermer2002/>

In 1989, Gould was elected into the body of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]]. Through 1996–2002 Gould was [[Vincent Astor]] Visiting research professor of biology at [[New York University]]. In 2001, the [[American Humanist Association]] named him the Humanist of the Year for his lifetime of work.<ref name=Shermer2002/> In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the [[Darwin–Wallace Medal]], along with 12 other recipients. (Until 2008, this medal had been awarded every 50 years by the [[Linnean Society of London]].<ref>Linnean Society of London (2008). [https://www.linnean.org/the-society/medals-awards-prizes-grants/the-darwin-wallace-medal "The Darwin–Wallace Medal".] Retrieved on June 4, 2009.</ref>)

===Punctuated equilibrium===
[[Image:PunctuatedEquilibrium.png|thumb|The punctuated equilibrium model (above) consists of [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] stability followed by episodic bursts of evolutionary change via rapid cladogenesis. It is contrasted (below) to [[phyletic gradualism]], a more gradual, continuous model of evolution.]]{{main|Punctuated equilibrium}}{{see also|Unit of selection}}

Early in his career, Gould and his colleague [[Niles Eldredge]] developed the theory of [[punctuated equilibrium]], which describes the rate of speciation in the fossil record as occurring relatively rapidly, which then alternates to a longer period of evolutionary stability.<ref name=punc1972/> It was Gould who coined the term "punctuated equilibria" though the theory was originally presented by Eldredge in his doctoral dissertation on [[Devonian]] [[trilobite]]s and his article published the previous year on [[allopatric speciation]].<ref>Eldredge, Niles (1971). [http://www.digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/6568/10.5531sd.paleo.8.pdf "The Allopatric Model and Phylogeny in Paleozoic Invertebrates."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630134537/http://www.digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/6568/10.5531sd.paleo.8.pdf |date=June 30, 2016 }} ''Evolution'' Vol. 25, No. 1 (Mar. 1971), pp. 156–167.</ref>

According to Gould, punctuated equilibrium revised a key pillar "in the central logic of [[Evolution|Darwinian theory]]".<ref name=SET/> Some evolutionary biologists have argued that while punctuated equilibrium was "of great interest to biology generally,"<ref>[[Richard Dawkins|Dawkins, Richard]] (1999). ''[[The Extended Phenotype]]'', Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, [https://web.natur.cuni.cz/filosof/markos/Publikace/Dawkins%20extended.pdf#page=111 p. 101.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808014558/https://web.natur.cuni.cz/filosof/markos/Publikace/Dawkins%20extended.pdf#page=111 |date=August 8, 2020 }}, {{ISBN|0-19-288051-9}}.</ref> it merely modified [[neo-Darwinism]] in a manner that was fully compatible with what had been known before.<ref name=PHT>{{Citation | doi = 10.1038/309401a0 | last1 = Maynard Smith | first1 = John | author-link = John Maynard Smith | year = 1984 | title = Paleontology at the high table | url = http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/maynard-smith_high-table.html | journal = Nature | volume = 309 | issue = 5967 | pages = 401–402 | bibcode = 1984Natur.309..401S | s2cid = 31031206 | postscript = .| url-access = subscription }}</ref>
Other biologists emphasize the theoretical novelty of punctuated equilibrium, and argued that evolutionary stasis had been "unexpected by most evolutionary biologists" and "had a major impact on paleontology and evolutionary biology".<ref name="Dynamics">[[Ernst Mayr|Mayr, Ernst]] (1992). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/mayr_punctuated.html "Speciational Evolution or Punctuated Equilibria".] In Steven Peterson and Albert Somit. ''The Dynamics of Evolution''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 21–48. {{ISBN|0-8014-9763-9}}.</ref>

Comparisons were made to [[George Gaylord Simpson]]'s work in ''[[Tempo and Mode in Evolution]]'' (1941), in which he also illustrated relatively sudden changes along evolutionary lines. Simpson describes the paleontological record as being characterized by predominantly gradual change (which he termed horotely), although he also documented examples of slow (bradytely), and rapid (tachytely) rates of evolution. Punctuated equilibrium and phyletic gradualism are not mutually exclusive (as Simpson's work demonstrates), and examples of each have been documented in different lineages. The debate between these two models is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and according to [[Richard Dawkins]] has been oversold by the media.<ref>Dawkins, Richard (1986) ''The Blind Watchmaker''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sPpaZnZMDG0C&pg=PA225 p. 225.]</ref>
Some critics jokingly referred to the theory of punctuated equilibrium as "evolution by jerks",<ref>Turner, John (1984). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6idhDboGmZoC&pg=PA34 "Why we need evolution by jerks."]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''New Scientist'' 101 (Feb. 9): 34–35.</ref>
which prompted Gould to describe [[phyletic gradualism]] as "evolution by creeps".<ref>Gould, S. J. and Steven Rose, ed. (2007). ''The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., [https://archive.org/details/richnessoflifees0000goul/page/6 p. 6.]</ref>

===Evolutionary developmental biology===
<!-- [[File:Neoteny.svg|thumb|right|175px|In one of his popular science essays, Gould (1979)<ref>Gould, S. J. (1979). [http://faculty.uca.edu/benw/biol4415/papers/Mickey.pdf "Mickey Mouse Meets Konrad Lorenz."] ''Natural History'' 88 (May): 30-36.</ref> uses an illustration by [[Konrad Lorenz]] to highlight our unconscious emotional response to juvenile features, even when they are found in animals (or [[Mickey Mouse|animated cartoons]]).]] -->
Gould made significant contributions to [[evolutionary developmental biology]],<ref name="Evolution1st4billionyrs">
Thomas, R.D.K. (2009). "Gould, Stephen Jay (1941–2002)". in M. Ruse and J. Travis (eds). ''Evolution: The First Four Billion Years''. Cambridge MA: Belknap Press. pp. 611–615.</ref> especially in his work ''[[Ontogeny and Phylogeny (book)|Ontogeny and Phylogeny]]''.<ref name="Allen2008"/> In this book he emphasized the process of [[heterochrony]], which encompasses two distinct processes: [[neoteny]] and terminal additions. Neoteny is the process where [[ontogeny]] is slowed down and the organism does not reach the end of its development. Terminal addition is the process by which an organism adds to its development by speeding and shortening earlier stages in the developmental process. Gould's influence in the field of evolutionary developmental biology continues to be seen today in areas such as the [[Feather#Evolution|evolution of feathers]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Prum | first1 = R.O. | last2 = Brush | first2 = A.H. | year = 2003 | title = Which Came First, the Feather or the Bird? | url = http://docdro.id/Q6DBh2u | journal = Scientific American | volume = 288 | issue = 3| pages = 84–93 | doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0303-84 | doi-broken-date = July 1, 2025 | pmid=12616863| bibcode = 2003SciAm.288c..84P | url-access = subscription }}</ref>

===Selectionism and sociobiology===
Gould was a champion of [[biological constraints]], internal limitations upon developmental pathways, as well as other non-selectionist forces in evolution. Rather than direct [[adaptation]]s, he considered many higher functions of the [[human brain]] to be the unintended [[Unintended consequence|side consequence]] of [[natural selection]].<ref name="Spandrels"/> To describe such co-opted features, he coined the term [[exaptation]] with paleontologist [[Elisabeth Vrba]].<ref>{{Citation | last1 = Gould | first1 = S. J. | last2 = Vrba | first2 = E. | year = 1982 | title = Exaptation—a missing term in the science of form | url = http://www2.hawaii.edu/~khayes/Journal_Club/fall2006/Gould_&_Vrb_1982_Paleobio.pdf | journal = Paleobiology | volume = 8 | issue = 1| pages = 4–15 | postscript = . | doi = 10.1017/S0094837300004310 | bibcode = 1982Pbio....8....4G | s2cid = 86436132 }}</ref> Gould believed this feature of human mentality undermines an [[Genetic determinism|essential premise]] of human [[sociobiology]] and [[evolutionary psychology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/spandrels-san-marco-and-panglossian-paradigm-critique-adaptationist-programme-1979-stephen-j |title="The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme" (1979), by Stephen J. Gould and Richard C. Lewontin &#124; Embryo Project Encyclopedia }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livescience.com/39688-exaptation.html |title=Exaptation: How Evolution Uses What's Available |website=[[Live Science]] |date=September 16, 2013 }}</ref>

====Against ''Sociobiology''====
In 1975, Gould's Harvard colleague [[E. O. Wilson]] introduced his analysis of animal behavior (including human behavior) based on a sociobiological framework that suggested that many social behaviors have a strong evolutionary basis.<ref>
Wilson, E. O. (1975). ''[[Sociobiology: The New Synthesis]]''. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.</ref> In response, Gould, [[Richard Lewontin]], and [[Sociobiology Study Group|others]] from the Boston area wrote the subsequently well-referenced letter to ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'' entitled, "Against 'Sociobiology'". This [[open letter]] criticized Wilson's notion of a "deterministic view of human society and human action".<ref>
Allen, Elizabeth, et al. (1975). [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/9017?sess=305fe41afae729849e1e7eb4b004bb81 "Against 'Sociobiology'".] [letter] ''[[New York Review of Books]]'' 22 (Nov. 13): 182, 184–186.</ref>

But Gould did not rule out sociobiological explanations for many aspects of animal behavior, and later wrote: "Sociobiologists have broadened their range of selective stories by invoking concepts of [[inclusive fitness]] and [[kin selection]] to solve (successfully I think) the vexatious problem of [[altruism]]—previously the greatest stumbling block to a Darwinian theory of social behavior... Here sociobiology has had and will continue to have success. And here I wish it well. For it represents an extension of basic Darwinism to a realm where it should apply."<ref>Gould, S. J. (1980). "Sociobiology and the Theory of Natural Selection". In G. W. Barlow and J. Silverberg, eds., ''Sociobiology: Beyond Nature/Nurture?'' Boulder CO: Westview Press, pp. 257–269.</ref>

{{anchor|Panglossian Paradigm|panglossian paradigm|Panglossian paradigm}}

====Spandrels and the Panglossian paradigm====
{{further|Spandrel (biology)}}
[[Image:Kostel Nejsvětější Trojice (Fulnek) – frs-002.jpg|thumb|left|A spandrel from the [[Most Holy Trinity Church, Fulnek|Holy Trinity Church]] in Fulnek, [[Czech Republic]]]]

With Richard Lewontin, Gould wrote an influential 1979 paper entitled, "[[The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm]]",<ref name="Spandrels">{{cite journal | last1 = Gould | first1 = S. J. | last2 = Lewontin | first2 = Richard | year = 1979 | title = The spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian paradigm: a critique of the adaptationist programme | journal = Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. | volume = 205 | issue = 1161| pages = 581–98 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.1979.0086 | pmid = 42062 | bibcode = 1979RSPSB.205..581G | s2cid = 2129408 }} for background see Gould's [http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/i-Ch.2.html "The Pattern of Life's History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414021048/http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/i-Ch.2.html |date=April 14, 2015 }} in John Brockman ''[http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/d-Contents.html The Third Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130235501/http://www.edge.org/documents/ThirdCulture/d-Contents.html |date=January 30, 2016 }}''. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1996, pp. 52–64. {{ISBN|0-684-82344-6}}.</ref>
which introduced the architectural term "[[spandrel]]" into evolutionary biology. In architecture, a spandrel is a triangular space which exists over the [[Haunch (arch)|haunch]]es of an arch.<ref>ITC (1908) ''International Library of Technology'' 38 (3): [https://books.google.com/books?id=Yp9IAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA7-PA22 22.]</ref><ref name="MarkSpandrel">Mark, Robert (1996). [https://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Mark-1996.pdf "Architecture and Evolution"] ''American Scientist'' (July–August): 383-389.</ref> Spandrels—more often called [[pendentive]]s in this context—are found particularly in classical architecture, especially Byzantine and Renaissance churches.

When visiting [[Venice]] in 1978, Gould noted that the spandrels of the [[St Mark's Basilica|San Marco]] cathedral, while quite beautiful, were not spaces planned by the architect. Rather the spaces arise as "necessary architectural byproducts of mounting a dome on rounded arches." Gould and Lewontin thus defined "[[spandrel (biology)|spandrels]]" in the evolutionary biology context to mean any biological feature of an organism that arises as a necessary side consequence of other features, which is not directly selected for by natural selection. Proposed examples include the "masculinized genitalia in female [[Hyenas#Appearance and biology|hyenas]], exaptive use of an [[Umbilicus (mollusc)|umbilicus]] as a brooding chamber by snails, the shoulder hump of the giant [[Irish Elk|Irish deer]], and several key features of human mentality".<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.94.20.10750 |pmid=11038582|pmc=23474 |title=The exaptive excellence of spandrels as a term and prototype |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=94 |issue=20 |pages=10750–10755 |year=1997 |last=Gould |first=S. J. |bibcode=1997PNAS...9410750G |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In [[Voltaire]]'s ''[[Candide]]'', [[Candide#Synopsis|Dr. Pangloss]] is portrayed as a clueless scholar who, despite the evidence, insists that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds". Gould and Lewontin asserted that it is [[Panglossian]] for evolutionary biologists to view all traits as atomized things that had been naturally selected for, and criticised biologists for not granting theoretical space to other causes, such as phyletic and developmental [[Biological constraints|constraints]]. The relative frequency of spandrels, so defined, versus adaptive features in nature, remains a controversial topic in [[evolutionary biology]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Maynard Smith |first=John |date=November 30, 1995 |title=Genes, Memes, & Minds |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1703 |newspaper=[[The New York Review of Books]] |pages=46–48 |quote=By and large, I think their [Spandrels] paper had a healthy effect. ... Their critique forced us to clean up our act and to provide evidence for our stories. But adaptationism remains the core of biological thinking.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|first=Ernst|last=Mayr|author-link=Ernst Mayr|url=http://academic.reed.edu/biology/courses/bio342/2010_syllabus/2010_readings/Mayr_1983.pdf|title=How to Carry Out the Adaptationist Program?|journal=[[The American Naturalist]]|date=March 1983|volume=121|issue=3|pages=324–334|doi=10.1086/284064|bibcode=1983ANat..121..324M |s2cid=3937726}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=George C.|last=Williams|author-link=George C. Williams (biologist)|title=Natural Selection: Domains, Levels, and Challenges|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=New York City|date=1992|isbn=978-0195069334}}</ref>
An illustrative example of Gould's approach can be found in [[Elisabeth Lloyd]]'s case study suggesting that the female orgasm is a by-product of shared developmental pathways.<ref name="caseofthefemaleorgasm">{{cite book |last=Lloyd |first=Elisabeth Anne |title=The Case of The Female Orgasm: Bias in the science of evolution |publisher=Harvard University Press |publication-place=Cambridge, Mass. |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-674-04030-4 |oclc=432675780 |page={{page needed|date=June 2022}} |url=https://archive.org/details/caseoffemaleorga0000lloy |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Gould also wrote on this topic in his essay "Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples," prompted by Lloyd's earlier work.<ref name="MaleNipples">Gould, S.J. (1992). [https://www.pdf-archive.com/2018/03/26/sjgould-male-nipples-and-clitoral-ripples/sjgould-male-nipples-and-clitoral-ripples.pdf "Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922040512/https://www.pdf-archive.com/2018/03/26/sjgould-male-nipples-and-clitoral-ripples/sjgould-male-nipples-and-clitoral-ripples.pdf |date=September 22, 2019 }} In ''[[Bully for Brontosaurus]]: Further Reflections in Natural History''. New York: W. W. Norton. pp. 124–138.</ref>

Gould was criticized by philosopher [[Daniel Dennett]] for using the term spandrel instead of pendentive,<ref>Dennett, Daniel (1995) ''Darwin's Dangerous Idea''. New York: Penguin Books, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Y77BAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA274 p. 272.]</ref> a spandrel that curves across a right angle to support a dome. Robert Mark, a professor of civil engineering at Princeton, offered his expertise in the pages of ''[[American Scientist]]'', noting that these definitions are often misunderstood in [[architectural theory]]. Mark concluded, "Gould and Lewontin's misapplication of the term spandrel for pendentive perhaps implies a wider latitude of design choice than they intended for their analogy. But Dennett's critique of the architectural basis of the analogy goes even further astray because he slights the technical rationale of the architectural elements in question."<ref name="MarkSpandrel"/>

===Evolutionary progress===
{{See also|Abiogenesis|Largest-scale trends in evolution|Orthogenesis}}

Gould favored the argument that evolution has no inherent drive towards long-term "[[Largest-scale trends in evolution|progress]]". Uncritical commentaries often portray evolution as a [[March of Progress (illustration)|ladder of progress]], leading towards bigger, faster, and smarter organisms, the assumption being that evolution is somehow driving organisms to get more complex and ultimately more like humankind. Gould argued that evolution's drive was not towards [[complexity]], but towards [[biodiversity|diversification]]. Because life is constrained to begin with a [[abiogenesis|simple starting point]] (like bacteria), any diversity resulting from this start, by random walk, will have a skewed distribution and therefore be perceived to move in the direction of higher complexity. But life, Gould argued, can also easily adapt towards simplification, as is often the case with [[parasite]]s.<ref name=FullHouse>Gould, S. J. (1996). ''[[Full House: The Spread of Excellence From Plato to Darwin]]''. New York: Harmony Books.</ref>

In a review of ''[[Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin|Full House]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]] approved of Gould's general argument, but suggested that he saw evidence of a "tendency for lineages to improve cumulatively their adaptive fit to their particular way of life, by increasing the numbers of features which combine together in adaptive complexes. ... By this definition, adaptive evolution is not just incidentally progressive, it is deeply, dyed-in-the-wool, indispensably progressive."<ref>{{Citation |doi=10.2307/2411179 |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |year=1997 |title=Human chauvinism |url=http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Reviews/1997-06fullhouse.shtml |journal=Evolution |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=1015–1020 |postscript=. |jstor=2411179 |s2cid=87940833 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601215949/http://www.simonyi.ox.ac.uk/dawkins/WorldOfDawkins-archive/Dawkins/Work/Reviews/1997-06fullhouse.shtml |archive-date=June 1, 2008|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Cultural evolution===
{{See also|Cultural evolution|Lamarckism|Memetics|Sociocultural evolution}}

Gould's arguments against progress in evolutionary biology did not extend towards a notion of progress in general or notions of [[cultural evolution]]. In ''[[Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin|Full House]]'', Gould compares two notions of progress against one another. While the first concept of progress, evolutionary progress, is argued to be invalid for a number of biological considerations, Gould permits that evolution may operate in human cultural evolution through a [[Lamarckism#In sociocultural evolution|Lamarckian]] mechanism. Gould goes on to argue that the disappearance of the 0.400 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] in baseball is paradoxically due to the inclusion of better players in the league, rather than players becoming worse over time. In his view such a process is likely reflective in a number of cultural phenomena including sports, the visual arts, and music where, unlike in biological systems, the realm of aesthetic possibilities is constrained by a "right wall" of human limits and aesthetic preferences.<ref>{{cite interview |last=Gould |first=Jay |interviewer=[[Michael Krasny (talk show host)|Michael Krasny]] |title=Stephen Jay Gould |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |publisher=Mother Jones Magazine |location=San Francisco |date=January 1997}}</ref> Gould later goes on to state that his arguments for biological evolution should not be applied to cultural change lest they be employed by, "so-called 'political correctness' as a doctrine that celebrates all indigenous practice, and therefore permits no distinctions, judgements, or analyses."<ref name=FullHouse/>

===Cladistics===
Gould never embraced [[cladistics]] as a method of investigating evolutionary lineages and process, possibly because he was concerned that such investigations would lead to neglect of the details in historical biology, which he considered all-important. In the early 1990s this led him into a debate with [[Derek Briggs]], who had begun to apply quantitative cladistic techniques to the [[Burgess Shale]] fossils, about the methods to be used in interpreting these fossils.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1991). [http://uahost.uantwerpen.be/funmorph/raoul/macroevolutie/gould1991.pdf "The disparity of the Burgess Shale arthropod fauna and the limits of cladistic analysis".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127211824/http://uahost.uantwerpen.be/funmorph/raoul/macroevolutie/Gould1991.pdf |date=January 27, 2018 }} ''Paleobiology'' 17 (October): 411–423.</ref> Around this time cladistics rapidly became the dominant method of classification in evolutionary biology. Inexpensive but increasingly powerful personal computers made it possible to process large quantities of data about organisms and their characteristics. Around the same time the development of effective [[polymerase chain reaction]] techniques made it possible to apply cladistic methods of analysis to biochemical and genetic features as well.<ref>Baron, Christian and J. T. Høeg (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LalmQ4346O0C&pg=PA3 "Gould, Scharm and the Paleontologocal Perspective in Evolutionary Biology".] In S. Koenemann and R.A. Jenner, ''Crustacea and Arthropod Relationships''. CRC Press. pp. 3–14. {{ISBN|0-8493-3498-5}}.</ref>

===Technical work on land snails===
[[File:Cerion_watlingense_land_snail_shells_(modern%3B_northeastern_San_Salvador_Island,_eastern_Bahamas)_(15043406837).jpg|thumb|right|305px|''Cerion'' shells from [[San Salvador Island]], [[the Bahamas]]]]
Most of Gould's empirical research pertained to [[land snails]]. He focused his early work on the [[Bermuda|Bermudian]] genus [[Bermuda Land Snail|''Poecilozonites'']], while his later work concentrated on the [[Caribbean|West Indian]] genus ''[[Cerion (gastropod)|Cerion]]''. According to Gould "''Cerion'' is the land snail of maximal diversity in form throughout the entire world. There are 600 described species of this single genus. In fact, they're not really species, they all interbreed, but the names exist to express a real phenomenon which is this incredible morphological diversity. Some are shaped like golf balls, some are shaped like pencils. ... Now my main subject is the evolution of form, and the problem of how it is that you can get this diversity amid so little genetic difference, so far as we can tell, is a very interesting one. And if we could solve this we'd learn something general about the evolution of form."<ref>Wolpert, Lewis and Alison Richards (1998). ''A Passion For Science''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/wolpert_sjg-interview.html pp. 139–152.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924110401/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/wolpert_sjg-interview.html |date=September 24, 2015 }} {{ISBN|0-19-854212-7}}.</ref>

Given ''Cerion''{{'s}} extensive geographic diversity, Gould later lamented that if [[Christopher Columbus]] had only catalogued a single ''Cerion'' it would have ended the scholarly debate about which island Columbus had first set foot on in America.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1996). "A Cerion for Christopher". ''Natural History'' 105 (Oct.): 22–29, 78—79.</ref>

===Influence===
Gould is one of the most frequently cited scientists in the field of evolutionary theory. His 1979 "spandrels" paper has been cited more than 5,000 times.<ref>Google Scholar. [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=8886524888381702203 https://scholar.google.com]. Retrieved on June 12, 2011.</ref> In ''[[Paleobiology (journal)|Paleobiology]]''—the flagship journal of his own speciality—only [[Charles Darwin]] and [[George Gaylord Simpson]] have been cited more often.<ref>{{cite web |last=Prothero |first=Donald |author-link=Donald Prothero |title=Skeptic Festschrift lecture for Stephen Jay Gould |url=http://shop.skeptic.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SS&Product_Code=av093&Category_Code |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707153119/http://shop.skeptic.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SS&Product_Code=av093&Category_Code |archive-date=July 7, 2015 |access-date=July 6, 2015 |website=Skeptic.com |publisher=Skeptic Society}}</ref> Gould was also a considerably respected historian of science. Historian [[Ronald Numbers]] has been quoted as saying: "I can't say much about Gould's strengths as a scientist, but for a long time I've regarded him as the second most influential historian of science (next to [[Thomas Kuhn]])."<ref>{{Citation |last=Shermer |first=Michael |title=This View of Science |journal=Social Studies of Science |volume=32 |issue=4 |page=518 |year=2002 |postscript=. |url=http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/shermer_sjgould.pdf |doi=10.1177/0306312702032004001 |pmid=12503565 |s2cid=220879229}}</ref> Gould's undergraduate course, Science B-16: History of the Earth and Life, was taught in a Harvard Science Center lecture hall with a 250-seat capacity. Science B-16 was so oversubscribed that an annual lottery was held to see which students would be allowed to enroll in the course. If a student was denied course enrollment three times, then their fourth entry into the lottery provided them with a guaranteed seat in the class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gould Suggests Darwin Revisions {{!}} Sports {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1985/11/2/gould-suggests-darwin-revisions-pprofessor-of/ |access-date=2023-09-21 |website=The Crimson}}</ref>

===''The Structure of Evolutionary Theory''===
Shortly before his death, Gould published ''[[The Structure of Evolutionary Theory]]'' (2002), a long treatise recapitulating his version of modern evolutionary theory. In an interview for the Dutch TV series ''Of Beauty and Consolation'' Gould remarked, "In a couple of years I will be able to gather in one volume my view of how evolution works. It is to me a great consolation because it represents the putting together of a lifetime of thinking into one source. That book will never be particularly widely read. It's going to be far too long, and it's only for a few thousand professionals—very different from my popular science writings—but it is of greater consolation to me because it is a chance to put into one place a whole way of thinking about evolution that I've struggled with all my life."<ref>de Mythe, Johannes (2000). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzchANB76jA&t=46m07s&index=3&list=PL267ZaxyqR0ueMV5oBgIPzMd9MZFoSvxf ''Van de Schoonheid en de Troost'']. Episode 13. Hilversum, Netherlands.</ref>

===As a public figure===
Gould became widely known through his popular essays on [[evolution]] in the ''[[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]]'' magazine. His essays were published in a series entitled ''This View of Life'' (a phrase from the concluding paragraph of [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[On the Origin of Species|Origin of Species]]'') from January 1974 to January 2001, amounting to a continuous publication of 300 essays.<ref name=tatt/> Many of his essays were reprinted in collected volumes that became [[bestseller|bestselling books]] such as ''[[Ever Since Darwin]]'' and ''[[The Panda's Thumb (book)|The Panda's Thumb]]'', ''[[Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes]]'', and ''[[The Flamingo's Smile]]''.

A passionate advocate of evolutionary theory, Gould wrote prolifically on the subject, trying to communicate his understanding of contemporary evolutionary biology to a wide audience. A recurring theme in his writings is the history and development of pre-evolutionary and [[History of evolutionary thought|evolutionary thought]]. He was also an enthusiastic baseball fan and [[sabermetrician]] (analyst of baseball statistics), and made frequent reference to the sport in his essays. Many of his baseball essays were anthologized in his posthumously published book ''Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville'' (2003).<ref name="mudville"/>

Although a self-described Darwinist, Gould's emphasis was less [[gradualism|gradualist]] and [[reductionism|reductionist]] than most [[neo-Darwinism|neo-Darwinists]]. He fiercely opposed many aspects of [[sociobiology]] and its intellectual descendant [[evolutionary psychology]]. He devoted considerable time to fighting against [[creationism]], [[creation science]], and [[intelligent design]]. Most notably, Gould provided expert testimony against the equal-time creationism law in ''[[McLean v. Arkansas]]''. Gould later developed the term "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA) to describe how, in his view, science and religion should not comment on each other's realm. Gould went on to develop this idea in some detail, particularly in the books ''Rocks of Ages'' (1999) and ''The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox'' (2003). In a 1982 essay for ''Natural History'' Gould wrote:

{{blockquote|Our failure to discern a universal good does not record any lack of insight or ingenuity, but merely demonstrates that nature contains no moral messages framed in human terms. Morality is a subject for philosophers, theologians, students of the humanities, indeed for all thinking people. The answers will not be read passively from nature; they do not, and cannot, arise from the data of science. The factual state of the world does not teach us how we, with our powers for good and evil, should alter or preserve it in the most ethical manner.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1982). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_nonmoral.html "Nonmoral Nature".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117022650/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_nonmoral.html |date=November 17, 2015 }} ''Natural History'' 91 (Feb.): 19–26.</ref>}}

Gould also spoke out against creationist misuse of his work and theory, especially with respect to how his theory of punctuated equilibrium relates to the presence of transitional fossils or forms:

{{blockquote|It is infuriating to be quoted again and again by creationists—whether through design or stupidity, I do not know—as admitting that the fossil record includes no transitional forms. Transitional forms are generally lacking at the species level but are abundant between larger groups. The evolution from reptiles to
mammals . . . is well documented.<ref name="Evolution as fact and theory">Gould, S. J. (1981). [https://wise.fau.edu/~tunick/courses/knowing/gould_fact-and-theory.html "Evolution as fact and theory".] ''Discover'' '''2''' (May): 34–37.</ref>}}

An [[A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism|anti-evolution petition]] drafted by the [[Discovery Institute]] inspired the [[National Center for Science Education]] to create a pro-evolution counterpart called "[[Project Steve]]," which is named in Gould's honor.<ref>[[National Center for Science Education]] (2003). [http://ncse.com/taking-action/list-steves "Project Steve."] www.ncse.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.</ref> In 2011 the executive council of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)]] selected Gould for inclusion in CSI's "Pantheon of Skeptics" created to remember the legacy of deceased CSI fellows and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Pantheon of Skeptics|url=http://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics|website=CSI|publisher=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]]|access-date=April 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131054129/http://www.csicop.org/about/the_pantheon_of_skeptics|archive-date=January 31, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Gould also became a noted public face of science, often appearing on television. In 1984 Gould received his own ''[[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA]]'' special on [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]].<ref>[[PBS]] (1984). "Stephen Jay Gould: This View of Life". NOVA. December 18.</ref> Other appearances included interviews on [[CNN]]'s ''[[Crossfire (U.S. TV program)|Crossfire]]'' and ''[[Talkback Live]]'',<ref>CNN. [http://collection.cnn.com/content/clip/370179205_x01.do Talkback Live] August 9, 1996; [http://collection.cnn.com/content/clip/370192151_x01.do Crossfire] August 17, 1999.</ref> [[NBC]]'s ''[[Today (NBC program)|The Today Show]]'', and regular appearances on PBS's [[Charlie Rose (TV series)|''Charlie Rose'']] show. Gould was also a guest in all seven episodes of the Dutch talk series ''[[A Glorious Accident]]'', in which he appeared with his close friend [[Oliver Sacks]].<ref>Kayzer, Wim (1993) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnpoLqNklL8&index=5&list=PL267ZaxyqR0ueMV5oBgIPzMd9MZFoSvxf ''Een schitterend ongeluk''.].  Netherlands: VPRO. See also Oliver Sacks (2007). [https://archive.org/details/richnessoflifees0000goul Forward.] In Steven Rose, ed. ''The Richness of Life''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, p. xi.</ref> In 1999, Gould became the first recipient of the [[GSA Public Service Award]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2000 |title=The 1999 GSA Annual Meeting |url=https://rock.geosociety.org/gsatoday/archive/10/1/pdf/gt0001.pdf |journal=GSA Today |publisher=Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colo., 200X-..: 24 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=25 |issn=1052-5173 |oclc=819174734}}</ref>

Gould was featured prominently as a guest in [[Ken Burns]]'s [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] documentary ''[[Baseball (documentary)|Baseball]]'', as well as [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS's]] ''[[Evolution (TV series)|Evolution]]'' series. Gould was also on the Board of Advisers to the influential [[Children's Television Workshop]] television show ''[[3-2-1 Contact]]'', where he made frequent guest appearances.<ref>PBS (1987). ''3-2-1 Contact.'' "Dinosaur Detectives" October 27. "Mammals: Rats and Bats" November 2.</ref>

Since 2013, Gould has been listed on the Advisory Council of the [[National Center for Science Education]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ncse.com/about/advisory-council |title=Advisory Council |website=ncse.com |date=July 15, 2008 |publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810112828/https://ncse.com/about/advisory-council |archive-date=August 10, 2013 |access-date=October 30, 2018}}</ref>

In 1997, he voiced a cartoon version of himself on the television series ''[[The Simpsons]]''. In the episode "[[Lisa the Skeptic]]", Lisa finds a skeleton that many people believe is an [[Apocalypse|apocalyptic]] angel. Lisa contacts Gould and asks him to test the skeleton's [[DNA]]. The fossil is discovered to be a marketing gimmick for a new mall.<ref>[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]. ''[[The Simpsons]]''. "[[Lisa the Skeptic]]", November 23, 1997. [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/audio/gould_simpsons-lisa-the-skeptic.mp3 Audio clip.]</ref> During production, the only phrase Gould objected to was a line in the script that introduced him as the "world's most brilliant paleontologist".<ref name="Scully">Scully, Mike (2006). ''The Simpsons''. Season 9 DVD Commentary for "Lisa the Skeptic". DVD. 20th Century Fox.</ref> In 2002, the show paid tribute to Gould after his death, dedicating the [[Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge|season 13 finale]] to his memory. Gould had died two days before the episode aired.

== The "Darwin Wars" ==
Gould received many accolades for his scholarly work and popular expositions of natural history,<ref>Shermer, Michael (2002). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/shermer_sjgould.pdf "This View of Science"]. ''Social Studies of Science'' 32 (4): 518.
:"Awards include a National Book Award for ''The Panda's Thumb'', a National Book Critics Circle Award for ''The Mismeasure of Man'', the Phi Beta Kappa Book Award for ''Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes'', and a [[Pulitzer Prize]] Finalist for ''Wonderful Life'', on which Gould commented "close but, as they say, no cigar." Forty-four honorary degrees and 66 major fellowships, medals, and awards bear witness to the depth and scope of his accomplishments in both the sciences and humanities: Member of the National Academy of Sciences, President and Fellow of AAAS, MacArthur Foundation 'genius' Fellowship (in the first group of awardees), Humanist Laureate from the Academy of Humanism, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the European Union of Geosciences, Associate of the Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle Paris, the Schuchert Award for excellence in paleontological research, Scientist of the Year from ''Discover'' magazine, the Silver Medal from the Zoological Society of London, the Gold Medal for Service to Zoology from the Linnean Society of London, the Edinburgh Medal from the City of Edinburgh, the Britannica Award and Gold Medal for dissemination of public knowledge, Public Service Award from the Geological Society of America, Anthropology in Media Award from the American Anthropological Association, Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers, Distinguished Scientist Award from UCLA, the Randi Award for Skeptic of the Year from the Skeptics Society, and a ''Festschrift'' in his honour at Caltech."</ref> but a number of biologists felt his public presentations were out of step with mainstream evolutionary thinking.<ref>
These are the first two paragraphs, with notes, from an unpublished [http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Debate/CEP_Gould.html "Letter to the Editor of ''The New York Review of Books''"] by [[Leda Cosmides]] and [[John Tooby]] (July 7, 1997). They wrote in comment on two NYRB articles by Gould (June 12 and 26).

:John Maynard Smith, one of the world's leading evolutionary biologists, recently summarized in the NYRB the sharply conflicting assessments of Stephen Jay Gould: "Because of the excellence of his essays, he has come to be seen by non-biologists as the pre-eminent evolutionary theorist. In contrast, the evolutionary biologists with whom I have discussed his work tend to see him as a man whose ideas are so confused as to be hardly worth bothering with, but as one who should not be publicly criticized because he is at least on our side against the creationists." (NYRB, November 30, 1995, p. 46). No one can take any pleasure in the evident pain Gould is experiencing now that his actual standing within the community of professional evolutionary biologists is finally becoming more widely known. If what was a stake was solely one man's self-regard, common decency would preclude comment.

:But as Maynard Smith points out, more is at stake. Gould "is giving non-biologists a largely false picture of the state of evolutionary theory"—or as Ernst Mayr says of Gould and his small group of allies—they "quite conspicuously misrepresent the views of [biology's] leading spokesmen".{{ref|a}} Indeed, although Gould characterizes his critics as "anonymous" and "a tiny coterie," nearly every major evolutionary biologist of our era has weighed in a vain attempt to correct the tangle of confusions that the higher profile Gould has inundated the intellectual world with.{{ref|b}} The point is not that Gould is the object of some criticism—so properly are we all—it is that his reputation as a credible and balanced authority about evolutionary biology is non-existent among those who are in a professional position to know.

:1.{{note|a}} Mayr, Ernst (1988) ''Toward a new philosophy of biology''. Harvard University Press, [https://books.google.com/books?id=5f5kg_w2dJ4C&pg=PA535 pp. 534-535.]
:2.{{note|a}} These include [[Ernst Mayr]], [[John Maynard Smith]], [[George C. Williams (biologist)|George Williams]], [[W. D. Hamilton|Bill Hamilton]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[E. O. Wilson|E.O. Wilson]], [[Tim Clutton-Brock]], [[Paul H. Harvey|Paul Harvey]], [[Brian Charlesworth]], [[Jerry Coyne]], [[Robert Trivers]], [[John Alcock (behavioral ecologist)|John Alcock]], [[Randy Thornhill]], and many others.

Note: Where Tooby and Cosmides quote Ernst Mayr, Mayr does not mention Gould by name, but is speaking generally of the critics of the [[Neo-Darwinism|Neo-Darwinian]] Synthesis. Also, the list of major biologists provided by Tooby and Cosmides may not be fairly represented. E.g., Mayr, Williams, Dawkins, and Coyne have expressed public admiration for Gould as a scientist.

<br/>In the first of his two articles that provoked Tooby and Cosmides, Gould had commented on the November 1995 review of his work by Maynard Smith: Gould, [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1997/jun/12/darwinian-fundamentalism/?page=2 "Darwinian Fundamentalism"], ''New York Review of Books'' 44 (June 12, 1997): 34–37.

:A false fact can be refuted, a false argument exposed; but how can one respond to a purely ad hominem attack? This harder, and altogether more discouraging, task may best be achieved by exposing internal inconsistency and unfairness of rhetoric.
::[quotation of Smith's criticism of Gould, November 1995 NYRB]
:It seems futile to reply to an attack so empty of content, and based only on comments by anonymous critics; [...] Instead of responding to Maynard Smith's attack against my integrity and scholarship, citing people unknown and with arguments unmentioned, let me, instead, merely remind him of the blatant inconsistency between his admirable past and lamentable present. Some sixteen years ago he wrote a highly critical but wonderfully [https://books.google.com/books?id=YrbfBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA93 supportive review] of my early book of essays, ''The Panda's Thumb'', stating: "I hope it will be obvious that my wish to argue with Gould is a compliment, not a criticism." He then attended my series of Tanner Lectures at Cambridge in 1984 and wrote in a report for ''Nature'', and under the remarkable title "[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/maynard-smith_high-table.html Paleontology at the High Table]," the kindest and most supportive critical commentary I have ever received. He argued that the work of a small group of American paleobiologists had brought the entire subject back to theoretical centrality within the evolutionary sciences. [...]
:So we face the enigma of a man who has written numerous articles, amounting to tens of thousands of words, about my work—always strongly and incisively critical, always richly informed (and always, I might add, enormously appreciated by me). But now Maynard Smith needs to canvass unnamed colleagues to find out that my ideas are "hardly worth bothering with". He really ought to be asking himself why he has been bothering about my work so intensely, and for so many years.</ref> The public debates between Gould's supporters and detractors have been so quarrelsome that they have been dubbed "The Darwin Wars" by several commentators.<ref>Brown, Andrew (1999). ''The Darwin Wars: The Scientific Battle for the Soul of Man''. London: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-8050-7137-7}}</ref><ref name="Sterelny">{{Citation | title=Dawkins vs. Gould: Survival of the Fittest | author= Sterelny, Kim|author-link=Kim Sterelny |year=2007 | publisher=Icon Books| location = Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-1-84046-780-2| title-link= Dawkins vs. Gould}} Also {{ISBN|978-1-84046-780-2}}</ref>

[[John Maynard Smith]], the eminent British evolutionary biologist, was among Gould's strongest critics. Maynard Smith thought that Gould misjudged the vital role of adaptation in biology, and was critical of Gould's acceptance of [[Unit of selection#Species selection and selection at higher taxonomic levels|species selection]] as a major component of biological evolution.<ref>Maynard Smith, John (1981). [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v03/n11/john-maynardsmith/did-darwin-get-it-right "Did Darwin get it right?"] ''The London Review of Books'' '''3''' (11): 10–11; Also reprinted in ''Did Darwin Get it Right?'' New York: Chapman and Hall, 1989, pp. 148–156.</ref> In a review of [[Daniel Dennett]]'s 1995 book ''[[Darwin's Dangerous Idea]]'', Maynard Smith wrote that Gould "is giving non-biologists a largely false picture of the state of evolutionary theory".<ref>Maynard Smith, John (1995). [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1703 "Genes, Memes, & Minds".] ''The New York Review of Books'' 42 (Nov. 30): 46–48.</ref> But Maynard Smith was not consistently negative, writing in a review of ''[[The Panda's Thumb (book)|The Panda's Thumb]]'' that "Stephen Gould is the best writer of popular science now active... Often he infuriates me, but I hope he will go right on writing essays like these."<ref>Maynard Smith, John (1981). "Review of ''The Panda's Thumb''" ''The London Review of Books'' pp. 17–30; Reprinted as [http://scilib-biology.narod.ru/MaynardSmith/DarwinRight/Right.htm#11 "Tinkering"] in his ''Did Darwin Get It Right?'' New York: Chapman and Hall. 1989, pp. 94, 97.</ref> Maynard Smith was also among those who welcomed Gould's reinvigoration of evolutionary paleontology.<ref name = PHT/>

One reason for criticism was that Gould appeared to be presenting his ideas as a revolutionary way of understanding evolution, and argued for the importance of mechanisms other than [[natural selection]], mechanisms which he believed had been ignored by many professional evolutionists. As a result, many non-specialists sometimes inferred from his early writings that Darwinian explanations had been proven to be unscientific (which Gould never tried to imply). Along with many other researchers in the field, Gould's works were sometimes deliberately taken out of context by [[Creationism|creationists]] as "proof" that scientists no longer understood how organisms evolved.<ref name=Wright1999>Wright, Robert (1999). [http://www.nonzero.org/newyorker.htm "The Accidental Creationist: Why Stephen J. Gould is bad for evolution".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105114219/http://www.nonzero.org/newyorker.htm |date=November 5, 2009 }} ''[[The New Yorker]]'' 75 (Dec. 13): 56–65.</ref> Gould himself corrected some of these misinterpretations and distortions of his writings in later works.<ref name="Evolution as fact and theory" />

The conflicts between Richard Dawkins and Gould were popularized by philosopher [[Kim Sterelny]] in his 2001 book ''[[Dawkins vs. Gould]]''. Sterelny documents their disagreements over theoretical issues, including the prominence of [[gene selection]] in evolution. Dawkins argues that natural selection is best understood as competition among genes (or replicators), while Gould advocated [[Group selection#Multilevel selection theory|multi-level selection]], which includes selection amongst [[gene]]s, [[Transposon|nucleic acid sequences]], [[cell lineage]]s, [[organism]]s, [[deme (biology)|demes]], [[species]], and [[clade]]s.<ref name="Sterelny"/>

Dawkins accused Gould of deliberately underplaying the differences between rapid [[Gradualism#Geology and biology|gradualism]] and [[macromutation]] in his published accounts of [[punctuated equilibrium]].<ref>Dawkins, Richard (1998). ''[[Unweaving the Rainbow]]''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,  [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZudTchiioUoC&pg=PA202 pp. 196–197]. "It is when we ask what happens during the sudden bursts of species formation that the confusion... arises... Gould is aware of the difference between rapid gradualism and macromutation, but he treats the matter as though it were a minor detail, to be cleared up after we have taken on board the overarching question of whether evolution is episodic rather than gradual."</ref> He also devoted entire chapters to critiquing Gould's account of evolution in his books ''[[The Blind Watchmaker]]'' and ''[[Unweaving the Rainbow]]'', as did Daniel Dennett in his 1995 book ''[[Darwin's Dangerous Idea]]''. Other biologists contemporary to Gould went further, as in the case of [[Robert Trivers]] who classified it as "intellectual fraud".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fraud in the Imputation of Fraud {{!}} Psychology Today|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-folly-fools/201210/fraud-in-the-imputation-fraud|access-date=2022-01-24|website=psychologytoday.com|language=en}}</ref>

===Cambrian fauna===
In his book ''[[Wonderful Life (book)|Wonderful Life]]'' (1989), Gould famously described the [[Cambrian]] fauna of the [[Burgess Shale]], emphasizing their bizarre anatomical designs, their sudden appearance, and the role chance played in determining which members survived. He used the Cambrian fauna as an example of the role [[contingency (evolutionary biology)|contingency]] has in shaping the broader pattern of evolution.

His view of contingency was criticized by [[Simon Conway Morris]] in his 1998 book ''The Crucible of Creation''.<ref name=Conway1998>{{cite journal |last1=Conway Morris |first1=S. |last2=Gould |first2=S. J. |year=1998 |title=Showdown on the Burgess Shale |url=http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/naturalhistory_cambrian.html |journal=Natural History |volume=107 |pages=48–55 |access-date=January 4, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210200047/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/naturalhistory_cambrian.html |archive-date=December 10, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Conway Morris stressed members of the Cambrian fauna that resemble modern taxa. He also argued that [[convergent evolution]] has a tendency to produce "similarities of organization" and that the forms of life are restricted and channelled. In his book ''Life's Solution'' (2003), Conway Morris argued that the appearance of human-like animals is also likely.<ref>Conway Morris, Simon (2003). [https://archive.org/details/lifessolutionine01conw ''Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe.''] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> Paleontologist [[Richard Fortey]] noted that prior to the release of ''Wonderful Life'', Conway Morris shared a similar thesis to Gould's, but after ''Wonderful Life'' Conway Morris revised his interpretation and adopted a more [[Evolutionary progress|deterministic]] position on the history of life.<ref>[[Fortey, Richard]] (1998). [http://www.lrb.co.uk/v20/n19/fort01_.html "Shock Lobsters".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823073156/http://www.lrb.co.uk/v20/n19/fort01_.html|date=August 23, 2009}} ''London Review of Books'' 20 (Oct. 1).</ref>

Paleontologists [[Derek Briggs]] and [[Richard Fortey]] have also argued that much of the Cambrian fauna may be regarded as [[stem group]]s of living taxa,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1666/0094-8373(2005)031[0094:WSSSGA]2.0.CO;2 |last1=Briggs |first1=Derek |author-link=Derek Briggs |author-link2=Richard Fortey |last2=Fortey |first2=Richard |year=2005 |title=Wonderful Strife: systematics, stem groups, and the phylogenetic signal of the Cambrian radiation |url=http://systematicbiology.co.nf/BriggsFortey05_CambrianRadiation.pdf |journal=Paleobiology |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=94–112 |s2cid=44066226 |access-date=June 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812024700/http://systematicbiology.co.nf/BriggsFortey05_CambrianRadiation.pdf |archive-date=August 12, 2016 |url-status=dead }} [https://archive.today/20130415152549/http://www.psjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1666/0094-8373(2005)031%5B0094:WSSSGA%5D2.0.CO;2 Abstract]</ref> though this is still a subject of intense research and debate, and the relationship of many Cambrian taxa to modern phyla has not been established in the eyes of many palaeontologists.<ref>Kemp, Thomas (2016). ''Origin of Higher Taxa''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LJZPDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 p. 88.]</ref>

Richard Dawkins disagrees with the view that new phyla suddenly appeared in the Cambrian, arguing that for a new [[phylum]] "to spring into existence, what actually has to happen on the ground is that a child is born which suddenly, out of the blue, is as different from its parents as a snail is from an earthworm. No zoologist who thinks through the implications, not even the most ardent saltationist, has ever supported any such notion."<ref>Dawkins, Richard (1998). ''Unweaving the Rainbow'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZudTchiioUoC&pg=PA202 p. 202.]</ref> In the ''Structure of Evolutionary Theory'' Gould stresses the difference between phyletic splitting and large anatomical transitions, noting that the two events may be separated by millions of years. Gould argues that no paleontologist regards the Cambrian explosion "as a genealogical event—that is as the actual time of initial splitting", but rather it "marks an anatomical transition in the overt phenotypes of bilaterian organisms".<ref name=SETp1156>Gould, S. J. (2002). ''[[The Structure of Evolutionary Theory]]''. Cambridge: Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]], p. 1156. {{ISBN|0-674-00613-5}}</ref>

=== Opposition to sociobiology and evolutionary psychology ===
Gould also had a long-running public feud with [[E. O. Wilson]] and other evolutionary biologists concerning the disciplines of [[sociobiology|human sociobiology]] and [[evolutionary psychology]], both of which Gould and Lewontin opposed, but which [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]], and [[Steven Pinker]] advocated.<ref name=Gould1997>Gould, S. J. (1997). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/reviews/gould_pluralism.html "Evolution: The pleasures of pluralism".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110121332/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/reviews/gould_pluralism.html |date=November 10, 2016 }} ''The New York Review of Books'' 44 (June 26): 47–52.</ref> These debates reached their climax in the 1970s, and included strong opposition from groups such as the [[Sociobiology Study Group]] and [[Science for the People]].<ref>Wilson, E. O. (2006). ''Naturalist'' New York: Island Press, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TZH2nHEPSjYC&pg=PA337 p. 337] {{ISBN|1-59726-088-6}}.</ref> Pinker accuses Gould, Lewontin, and other opponents of evolutionary psychology of being "radical scientists", whose stance on human nature is influenced by politics rather than science.<ref>{{Citation |author=Pinker, Steven |title=The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature |publisher=Penguin Books |location=New York |year= 2002|isbn=978-0-14-200334-3 | author-link = Steven Pinker|title-link=The Blank Slate }}</ref> Gould stated that he made "no attribution of motive in Wilson's or anyone else's case" but cautioned that all human beings are influenced, especially unconsciously, by our personal expectations and biases. He wrote:

{{blockquote|I grew up in a family with a tradition of participation in campaigns for [[social justice]], and I was active, as a student, in the civil rights movement at a time of great excitement and success in the early 1960s. Scholars are often wary of citing such commitments. … [but] it is dangerous for a scholar even to imagine that he might attain complete neutrality, for then one stops being vigilant about personal preferences and their influences—and then one truly falls victim to the dictates of prejudice. [[Objectivity (science)|Objectivity]] must be operationally defined as fair treatment of data, not absence of preference.<ref>Gould S. J. (1996). [http://selfdefinition.org/science/25-greatest-science-books-of-all-time/17.%20Stephen%20Jay%20Gould%20-%20The%20Mismeasure%20of%20Man%20(1981)%20-%20Revised%20edition%20-%20missing%20last%20page.pdf ''The Mismeasure of Man: Revised and Expanded Edition'']. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151129135810/http://selfdefinition.org/science/25-greatest-science-books-of-all-time/17.%20Stephen%20Jay%20Gould%20-%20The%20Mismeasure%20of%20Man%20(1981)%20-%20Revised%20edition%20-%20missing%20last%20page.pdf |date=November 29, 2015 }} New York: W. W. Norton & Co., p. 36. {{ISBN|0-14-025824-8}}</ref>}}

Gould's primary criticism held that human sociobiological explanations lacked evidential support, and argued that adaptive behaviors are frequently assumed to be genetic for no other reason than their supposed universality, or their adaptive nature. Gould emphasized that adaptive behaviors can be passed on through [[Sociocultural evolution|culture]] as well, and either hypothesis is equally plausible.<ref name="BioPotent">Gould, S. J. (1992). [https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/Gould%20Potentiality%20v%20Determinism.pdf "Biological potentiality vs. biological determinism".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016033137/https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/Gould%20Potentiality%20v%20Determinism.pdf |date=October 16, 2021 }} In ''Ever Since Darwin''. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., pp. 251–259.</ref> Gould did not deny the relevance of biology to human nature, but reframed the debate as "biological potentiality vs. biological determinism". Gould stated that the [[human brain]] allows for a wide range of behaviors. Its flexibility "permits us to be aggressive or peaceful, dominant or submissive, spiteful or generous… Violence, sexism, and general nastiness ''are'' biological since they represent one subset of a possible range of behaviors. But peacefulness, equality, and kindness are just as biological—and we may see their influence increase if we can create social structures that permit them to flourish."<ref name="BioPotent"/>

=== ''The Mismeasure of Man'' (1981) ===
{{Main|The Mismeasure of Man}}

Gould was the author of ''[[The Mismeasure of Man]]'' (1981), a [[History of science|history]] and inquiry of [[psychometrics]] and [[Intelligence quotient|intelligence testing]], generating perhaps the greatest controversy of all his books and receiving both widespread praise<ref>In 1981 ''The Mismeasure of Man'' won the National Book Critics Circle Award for non-fiction. It was voted as the 17th-greatest science book of all time by ''Discover'' magazine vol. 27 (December 8, 2006); 9th-best skeptic book by [[The Skeptics Society]] (Frank Diller, "Scientists' Nightstand" ''American Scientist''); and ranked 24th place for the best non-fiction book by the [[Modern Library]].</ref> and extensive criticism.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Korb |first=Kevin B. |date=August 1994 |title=Stephen Jay Gould on intelligence |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0010027794900647 |journal=[[Cognition (journal)|Cognition]] |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=111–123 |doi=10.1016/0010-0277(94)90064-7 |pmid=7924200 |s2cid=10514854 |access-date=30 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Humphreys |first=Lloyd |date=Autumn 1983 |title=The Mismeasure of Man |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014662168300700114 |journal=[[American Journal of Psychology]] |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=407–416 |doi=10.2307/1422323 |jstor=1422323 |access-date=30 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>[[Steve Blinkhorn|Blinkhorn, Steve]] (1982). [http://www.skepticfiles.org/evolut/mismeasr.htm "What Skulduggery?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123074026/http://www.skepticfiles.org/evolut/mismeasr.htm |date=November 23, 2015 }} ''Nature'' '''296''' (April 8): 506.</ref> Gould investigated the methods of nineteenth century [[craniometry]], as well as the history of [[Intelligence quotient|psychological testing]]. Gould wrote that both theories developed from an unfounded belief in [[biological determinism]], the view that "social and economic differences between human groups—primarily [[Race (classification of human beings)|races]], classes, and sexes—arise from inherited, inborn distinctions and that society, in this sense, is an accurate reflection of biology."<ref>Gould, S. J. (1981). ''The Mismeasure of Man''. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. p. 20.</ref> The book was reprinted in 1996 with the addition of a new foreword and a critical review of ''[[The Bell Curve]]''.

In 2011, a study conducted by six [[anthropology|anthropologists]] criticized Gould's claim that [[Samuel George Morton|Samuel Morton]] unconsciously manipulated his skull measurements, arguing that his analysis of Morton was influenced by his opposition to racism.<ref>Gould, S. J. (1978). [https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/gould-science.pdf "Morton's Ranking of Races by Cranial Capacity."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117020629/https://cbs.asu.edu/sites/default/files/PDFS/gould-science.pdf |date=November 17, 2015 }} ''Science'' 200 (May 5): 503–509.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lewis | first1 = J. | last2 = DeGusta | first2 = D. | last3 = Meyer | first3 = M.R. | last4 = Monge | first4 = J.M. | last5 = Mann | first5 = A.E. | last6 = Holloway | first6 = R.L. | year = 2011 | title = The Mismeasure of Science: Stephen Jay Gould versus Samuel George Morton on Skulls and Bias | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 9 | issue = 6| article-number= e1001071 | doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001071 | pmid=21666803 | pmc=3110184 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>Wade, Nicholas (2011). [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/science/14skull.html "Scientists Measure the Accuracy of a Racism Claim."] ''The New York Times'' (June 14): D4.</ref> The group's paper was reviewed in an editorial in the journal ''Nature'', which pointed out that the paper's authors might have been influenced by their own motivations, recommending a degree of caution, stating "the critique leaves the majority of Gould's work unscathed," and noted that "because they couldn't measure all the skulls, they do not know whether the average cranial capacities that Morton reported represent his sample accurately."<ref name="Nature2011">Editorial (2011). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v474/n7352/full/474419a.html "Mismeasure for mismeasure."] ''Nature'' 474 (23 June): 419.</ref> The journal stated that Gould's opposition to racism may have biased his interpretation of Morton's data, but also noted that "Lewis and his colleagues have their own motivations. Several in the group have an association with the [[University of Pennsylvania]], to whom Morton donated his collection of skulls, and have an interest in seeing the valuable but understudied skull collection freed from the stigma of bias and did not accept Gould's theory "that the scientific method is inevitably tainted by bias".<ref name="Nature2011"/>

In 2014, the group's paper was critically reviewed in the journal ''[[Evolution & Development]]'' by University of Pennsylvania philosopher professor [[Michael Weisberg]], who tended to support Gould's original accusations, concluding that "there is prima facie evidence of a racial bias in Morton's measurements". Weisberg concludes that although Gould did make several errors and overstated his case in a number of places, Morton's work "remains a cautionary example of racial bias in the science of human differences".<ref>Weisberg, M. (2014), Remeasuring man. Evolution & Development, 16: 166–178. doi: 10.1111/ede.12077</ref> In 2015, biologists and philosophers Jonathan Kaplan, [[Massimo Pigliucci]], and Joshua Banta published an article arguing that no meaningful conclusions could be drawn from Morton's data. They agreed with Gould, and disagreed with the 2011 study, insofar as Morton's study was seriously flawed, but they agreed with the 2011 study insofar as Gould's analysis was in many ways not better than Morton's.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kaplan | last2 = Michael | first2 = Jonathan | last3 = Pigliucci | first3 = Massimo | last4 = Alexander Banta | first4 = Joshua | year = 2015 | title = Gould on Morton, Redux: What can the debate reveal about the limits of data? | url = http://philpapers.org/archive/KAPGOM.pdf | journal = Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences | volume = 30 | pages = 1–10 | access-date = April 28, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151010154000/http://philpapers.org/archive/KAPGOM.pdf | archive-date = October 10, 2015 | url-status = dead }}</ref> University of Pennsylvania anthropology doctoral student Paul Wolff Mitchell published an analysis of Morton's original, unpublished data, which neither Gould nor subsequent commentators had directly addressed. Mitchell concluded that Gould's specific argument about Morton's unconscious bias in measurement is not supported, but that it was true, as Gould had claimed, that Morton's racial biases influenced how he reported and interpreted his measurements, arguing that Morton's interpretation of his data was arbitrary and tendentious: Morton investigated averages and ignored variations in skull size so large that there was significant overlap.<ref>Mitchell, P.W. (2018). [https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2007008 "The fault in his seeds: Lost notes to the case of bias in Samuel George Morton's cranial race science."] ''Public Library of Science Biology'' 16 (10): e2007008.</ref> A contemporary of Morton, [[Friedrich Tiedemann]], had collected almost identical skull data and drawn conclusions opposite to Morton's on the basis of this overlap, arguing strongly against any conception of a racial hierarchy.<ref>Ars Technica [https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/theres-new-evidence-confirming-bias-of-the-father-of-scientific-racism/ "There’s new evidence confirming bias of the “father of scientific racism”]</ref><ref>Mitchell, P.W. and Michael, J.S. (2019). [https://www.academia.edu/39865634/Bias_Brains_and_Skulls_Tracing_the_Legacy_of_Scientific_Racism_in_the_Nineteenth-Century_Works_of_Samuel_George_Morton_and_Friedrich_Tiedemann "Bias, Brains, and Skulls Tracing the Legacy of Scientific Racism in the Nineteenth-Century Works of Samuel George Morton and Friedrich Tiedemann"] In Jackson, Christina, and Thomas, Jamie (eds.). Embodied Difference: Divergent Bodies in Public Discourse. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littefield. pp. 77–98. {{ISBN|978-1-4985-6386-4}}. Retrieved 2019-07-26.</ref>

==Non-overlapping magisteria==
{{Main|Non-overlapping magisteria}}
In his book ''[[Rocks of Ages (book)|Rocks of Ages]]'' (1999), Gould put forward what he described as "a blessedly simple and entirely conventional resolution to ... the supposed conflict between science and religion".<ref name=RoA>Gould, S. J. (2002). ''[[Rocks of Ages|Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life]]''. New York: Ballantine Books.</ref> He defines the term ''magisterium'' as "a domain where one form of teaching holds the appropriate tools for meaningful discourse and resolution".<ref name=RoA/> The non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) principle therefore divides the magisterium of science to cover "the empirical realm: what the Universe is made of (fact) and why does it work in this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry."<ref name=RoA/> He suggests that "NOMA enjoys strong and fully explicit support, even from the primary cultural stereotypes of hard-line traditionalism" and that NOMA is "a sound position of general consensus, established by long struggle among people of goodwill in both magisteria".<ref name=RoA/>

This view has not been without criticism, however. In his book ''[[The God Delusion]]'', [[Richard Dawkins]] argues that the division between religion and science is not so simple as Gould claims, as few religions exist without claiming the existence of [[miracle]]s, which "by definition violate the principles of science".<ref name="DawkinsTGD">Dawkins, Richard (2006). ''[[The God Delusion]]''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yq1xDpicghkC&pg=PA83 p. 83.]</ref> Dawkins also opposes the idea that religion has anything meaningful to say about ethics and values, and therefore has no authority to claim a [[magisterium]] of its own.<ref name="DawkinsTGD"/> He goes on to say that he believes Gould is "bending over backwards to be nice to an unworthy but powerful opponent".<ref>Dawkins, Richard (2006). ''[[The God Delusion]]''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yq1xDpicghkC&pg=PA81 p. 81.]</ref> Similarly, [[secular humanism|humanist]] philosopher [[Paul Kurtz]] argues that Gould was wrong to posit that science has nothing to say about questions of ethics. In fact, Kurtz claims that science is a much better method than religion for determining moral principles.<ref name="Kurtz">{{cite web |last=Grothe |first=D. J. |author-link=D. J. Grothe |date=December 11, 2005 |title=Paul Kurtz – Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? |url=http://www.pointofinquiry.org/paul_kurtz_science_and_religion_are_they_compatible/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201105906/http://www.pointofinquiry.org/paul_kurtz_science_and_religion_are_they_compatible/ |archive-date=February 1, 2014 |access-date=January 18, 2014 |work=[[Point of Inquiry]] Podcast |publisher=[[Center for Inquiry]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Gould married artist Deborah Lee on October 3, 1965.<ref name="Yoon"/> Gould met Lee while they were students together at [[Antioch College]].<ref name=Green86/> They had two sons, Jesse and Ethan, and were married for 30 years.<ref>Golden, Frederic (1996) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-08-ls-51756-story.html "A Kinder, Gentler Stephen Jay Gould"] ''Los Angeles Times'' Oct 8.</ref> His second marriage in 1995 was to artist and sculptor [[Rhonda Roland Shearer]],  to whom he was married until his death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1999-12-21 |title=A CONVERSATION WITH: STEPHEN JAY GOULD; Primordial Beasts, Creationists and the Mighty Yankees (Published 1999) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/21/science/conversation-with-stephen-jay-gould-primordial-beasts-creationists-mighty.html |access-date=2025-10-16 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-05-21 |title=Stephen Jay Gould, 60, Is Dead; Enlivened Evolutionary Theory (Published 2002) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/us/stephen-jay-gould-60-is-dead-enlivened-evolutionary-theory.html |access-date=2025-10-16 |language=en}}</ref>

==Publications==

===Articles===
Gould's publications were numerous. One review of his publications between 1965 and 2000 noted 479 peer-reviewed papers, 22 books, 300 essays,<ref name="nhessay300"/> and 101 "major" book reviews.<ref name=Shermer2002/>

===Books===
The following is a list of books either written or edited by Stephen Jay Gould, including those published after his death in 2002. While some books have been republished at later dates, by multiple publishers, the list below comprises the original publisher and publishing date.
{{col-begin}}{{col-2}}
* 1977. {{citation|title=Ontogeny and Phylogeny|location= Cambridge MA|publisher= Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-63940-9|title-link= Ontogeny and Phylogeny (book)|year= 1977}} [https://archive.org/details/ontogenyphylogen00goul <!-- quote="Stephen Jay Gould". --> online preview]
* 1977. {{citation|title=Ever Since Darwin|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-06425-4|title-link= Ever Since Darwin|year= 1977}}
* 1980. {{citation|title=The Panda's Thumb|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-01380-1|title-link= The Panda's Thumb (book)|year= 1980}}
* 1980. {{cite book|title=The Evolution of Gryphaea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k4ykb5el47kC&q=%22'The+Evolution+of+Gryphaea%22|location= New York|publisher= Arno Press|isbn=978-0-405-12751-9|author1=Gould, Stephen Jay|date=December 1980}}
* 1981. {{citation|title=The Mismeasure of Man|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-31425-0|title-link= The Mismeasure of Man|year= 1996}}
* 1983. {{citation|title=Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-01716-8|title-link= Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes|year= 1983}}
* 1985. {{citation|title=The Flamingo's Smile|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-02228-5|title-link= The Flamingo's Smile|year= 1985}}
* 1987. {{citation|title=Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle|location= Cambridge MA|publisher= Harvard Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-674-89198-2|title-link= Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle|year= 1987}} [https://archive.org/details/timesarrowtimesc00step_0 <!-- quote="Stephen Jay Gould". --> online preview]
* 1987. {{citation|title=An Urchin in the Storm: Essays about Books and Ideas|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-02492-0|title-link= An Urchin in the Storm|year= 1987}}
* 1987. (with [[Rosamond Wolff Purcell]]) {{citation|title=Illuminations: A Bestiary|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-30436-7|date= January 10, 1987}}
* 1989. {{citation|title=Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-02705-1|title-link= Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History|year= 1989|bibcode= 1989wlbs.book.....G}}. 347 pp.
* 1991. {{citation|title=Bully for Brontosaurus|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-02961-1|title-link= Bully for Brontosaurus|year= 1991}}. 540 pp.
* 1992. (with Rosamond Wolff Purcell) {{citation|title= Finders, Keepers: Eight Collectors|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn= 978-0-393-03054-9|year= 1992|url= https://archive.org/details/finderskeepers00rosa}}
* 1993. {{citation|title=Eight Little Piggies|location=New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn=978-0-393-03416-5|title-link=Eight Little Piggies|year=1993}}
* 1993. ''The Book of Life''. Preface, pp.&nbsp;6–21. New York: W. W. Norton (S. J. Gould general editor, 10 contributors). {{ISBN|0-393-05003-3}} [http://palaeo-electronica.org/2001_1/books/life.pdf review citing original publishing date]
{{col-2}}
* 1995. {{citation|title=Dinosaur in a Haystack|location=New York|publisher= Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-517-70393-9|title-link=Dinosaur in a Haystack|year=1995}}
* 1996. {{citation|title=Full House: The Spread of Excellence From Plato to Darwin|location=New York|publisher= Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-517-70394-6|title-link=Full House: The Spread of Excellence From Plato to Darwin|year=1996|bibcode=1996fhse.book.....G}}
* 1997. {{citation|title=Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown |location=New York|publisher= Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-609-60541-7|title-link=Questioning the Millennium|year=1999}}
* 1998. {{citation|title=Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms|location= New York|publisher=Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-609-60141-9|title-link= Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms|year= 1998}}
* 1999. {{citation|title=Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life|location=New York|publisher= Ballantine Books|isbn=978-0-345-43009-0|title-link=Rocks of Ages|date=January 1, 1999}}
* 2000. {{citation|title=The Lying Stones of Marrakech|location=New York|publisher= Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-609-60142-6|title-link=The Lying Stones of Marrakech|year=2000}}
* 2000. {{citation|title=Crossing Over: Where Art and Science Meet|location=New York|publisher=Three Rivers Press|isbn=978-0-609-80586-2|year=2000|url=https://archive.org/details/crossingoverwher00goul}}
* 2002. {{citation|title=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory|location=Cambridge MA|publisher= Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-00613-3|title-link=The Structure of Evolutionary Theory|date=March 21, 2002}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=nhIl7e61WOUC&q=%22Stephen+Jay+Gould%22 online preview]
* 2002. {{citation|title=I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History |location= New York|publisher= Harmony Books|isbn=978-0-609-60143-3|title-link= I Have Landed|year= 2002}}
* 2003. {{citation|title= Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|isbn= 978-0-393-05755-3|year= 2003|url= https://archive.org/details/triumphtragedyin00step}}
* 2003. {{citation|title=The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox|location= New York|publisher= Harmony Books| isbn=978-0-609-60140-2|title-link= The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox|year= 2003}}
* 2006. {{citation|title=The Richness of Life: the Essential Stephen Jay Gould|location=London|publisher=Jonathan Cape|isbn=978-0-09-948867-5|year=2007}} This is an anthology of Gould's writings edited by Paul McGarr and [[Steven Rose]], introduced by Steven Rose.
* 2007. {{citation|title=Punctuated Equilibrium|location= Cambridge MA|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-02444-1|year= 2007}} [http://palaeo-electronica.org/2007_3/books/equal.htm Book review]
{{col-end}}

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140920031429/http://www.stephenjaygould.org Archive.org entry for former website www.stephenjaygould.org (Dated September 9, 2014)]
* [https://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/#interview Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D., Biography and Interview] with [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]]
* [https://searchworks.stanford.edu/catalog?f%5Bcollection%5D%5B%5D=sp673gr4168 Stephen J. Gould Rare Books Collection] – Stanford University
* {{Charlie Rose guest|499}}
* {{C-SPAN|23793}}
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt229036tr Stephen Jay Gould papers] at [[Stanford University Libraries]]
* {{IMDb name|id=0332500|name=Stephen Jay Gould}}

{{Presidents of the American Association for the Advancement of Science}}
{{SJGould}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Evolutionary biology|History of science|Paleontology}}
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{{good article}}

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