The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “Stephen Jay Gould”

Stephen Jay Gould’s Charming Poem for Oliver Sacks’s Birthday, Read by Bill Hayes
Stephen Jay Gould’s Charming Poem for Oliver Sacks’s Birthday, Read by Bill Hayes

In loving praise of “this man, who’s in love with a cycad but once could have starred in a bike ad.”

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The Paradox of Intellectual Promiscuity: Stephen Jay Gould on What Nabokov’s Butterfly Studies Reveal About the Unity of Creativity
The Paradox of Intellectual Promiscuity: Stephen Jay Gould on What Nabokov’s Butterfly Studies Reveal About the Unity of Creativity

“There is no science without fancy, and no art without facts.”

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Uncommon Genius: Stephen Jay Gould on Why Dot-Connecting Is the Key to Creativity
Uncommon Genius: Stephen Jay Gould on Why Dot-Connecting Is the Key to Creativity

“The trick to creativity, if there is a single useful thing to say about it, is to identify your own peculiar talent and then to settle down to work with it for a good long time.”

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Remembering One of the Greatest Science Writers of All Time
Remembering One of the Greatest Science Writers of All Time

From Darwin to baseball, or what Nabokov’s butterflies have to do with living the American dream.

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The Venus Hottentot: Elizabeth Alexander Reads Her Stirring Poem About the Roots of Racism and the Misuses of Science
The Venus Hottentot: Elizabeth Alexander Reads Her Stirring Poem About the Roots of Racism and the Misuses of Science

“Elegant facts await me.”

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Stephen Jay Gould, the Greatest Science Essayist of All Time, on Evolution and Storytelling
Stephen Jay Gould, the Greatest Science Essayist of All Time, on Evolution and Storytelling

“Any decent writer writes because there’s some deep internal need to keep learning.”

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Charles Bukowski, Arthur C. Clarke, Annie Dillard, John Cage, and Others on the Meaning of Life
Charles Bukowski, Arthur C. Clarke, Annie Dillard, John Cage, and Others on the Meaning of Life

“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

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