The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History by the Author of Ever Since Darwin

A collection of 31 essays by the Harvard University paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. It is the second volume developed from his 27-year monthly column “This View of Life” in Natural History magazine.

The title essay uses the anatomy of the panda’s “thumb” (not actually a thumb) to discuss the paradox that poor “design” is a better argument for evolution than good design. The themes and topics of these marvellous essays include the female brain, the Piltdown Man hoax, Down syndrome, probability, common sense and the relationship between dinosaurs and birds.