Eight Little Piggies

"There is no scientist today whose books I look forward to reading with greater anticipation of enjoyment and enlightenment than Stephen Jay Gould."—Martin Gardner Among scientists who write, no one illuminates as well as Stephen Jay Gould doesthe wonderful workings of the natural world. Now in a new volume of collected essays—his sixth since Ever Since Darwin—Gould speaks of the importance of unbroken connections within our own lives and to our ancestralgenerations. Along with way, he opens to us the mysteries of fish tails, frog calls, and other matters, and shows once and for all why we must take notice when a seemingly insignificant creature is threatened, like the land snail Partula from Moorea, whose extinction he movingly relates.

This collection of essays ranges from history to the latest theories in biology, from controversies over palaeontology to the origins of language. The title is a pun and as always with Gould, the joke has a point that illustrates the largest pattern of life's history. For millennia, the animals that populated the Earth had four toes on each foot, or six. If evolution had taken a tiny shift - if man's ancestors had inherited a couple of genes in a different form - our canonical number, based on man's fingers and toes, might be eight instead of ten. Stephen Jay Gould has also written Wonderful Life, Bully for Brontosaurus and Finders Keepers.

Considered by many during his lifetime as the most well-known scientist in the world, Stephen Jay Gould left an enormous and influential body of work. A Harvard professor of paleontology, evolutionary biology, and the history of science, Gould provided major insights into our understanding of the history of life. He helped to reinvigorate paleontology, launch macroevolution on a new course, and provide a context in which the biological developmental stages of an organism's embryonic growth could be integrated into an understanding of evolution. This book is a set of reflections on the many areas of Gould's intellectual life by the people who knew and understood him best: former students and prominent close collaborators. Mostly a critical assessment of his legacy, the chapters are not technical contributions but rather offer a combination of intellectual bibliography, personal memoir, and reflection on Gould's diverse scientific achievements. The work includes the most complete bibliography of his writings to date and offers a multi-dimensional view of Gould's life-work not to be found in any other volume.

"Provocative and delightfully discursive essays on natural history. . . . Gould is the Stan Musial of essay writing. He can work himself into a corkscrew of ideas and improbable allusions paragraph after paragraph and then, uncoiling, hit it with such power that his fans know they are experiencing the game of essay writing at its best."--John Noble Wilford, New York Times Book Review

A magical wonderland of thoughts and dreams unwind in this adventure of verse and rhyme. Journey through the eyes and heart of a child to the moon and stars and beyond to where dreams and wishes come true for child and adult alike.

Help students in grades PK–K make connections and reinforce learning while keeping the classroom manageable using Giant Book of Preschool Activities. This 304-page book provides practice for the skills and functions needed for early childhood development. With more than 26 themes and 500 activities, this book makes it practically impossible to run out of ideas for teaching social, motor, memory, and auditory skills. The book includes ideas for movement, rhyming, circles, counting, games, and centers and comes with reproducibles, literature selections, Web site suggestions, and an index of activities by skill. This book supports NAEYC standards and aligns with state, national, and Canadian provincial standards.

Creative Themes for Every Day is the perfect compilation of self-directed, hands-on educational resources that reinforce all aspects of classroom learning. Aligning to NAEYC program standards, this book focuses on movement, art, cognitive skills, and dramatic play that will help build a strong foundation for kindergarten and beyond. Its 160 pages include hundreds of hands-on activities and themed learning experiences for school and home.

"Gould himself is a rare and wonderful animal—a member of the endangered species known as the ruby-throated polymath. . . . [He] is a leading theorist on large-scale patterns in evolution . . . [and] one of the sharpest and most humane thinkers in the sciences." --David Quammen, New York Times Book Review