"Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin" 1st/2nd HC/DJ 1996

Description: "Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin" was written by Stephen Jay Gould and published by Harmony Books in New York in 1996. This is a hardcover, first edition, first printing of this intriguing 244-page work by the acclaimed scientist and natural historian, featuring black-and-white charts and illustrations throughout. Synopsis: “Few would question the truism that humankind is the crowning achievement of evolution; that the defining thrust of life’s history yields progress over time from the primitive and simple to the more advanced and complex; that the disappearance of .400 hitting in baseball is a fact to be bemoaned; or that identifying an existing trend can be helpful in making important life decisions.“Few, that is, except Stephen Jay Gould who, in his new book ‘Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin,’ proves that all of these intuitive truths are, in fact, wrong.“All of these mistaken beliefs arise out of the same analytical flaw in our reasoning, our Platonic tendency to reduce a broad spectrum to a single, pinpointed essence,” says Gould. “This way of thinking allows us to confirm our most ingrained biases that humans are the supreme being on this planet; that all things are inherently driven to become more complex; and that almost any subject can be expressed and understood in terms of an average.”“In ‘Full House,’ Gould shows why a more accurate way of understanding our world (and the history of life) is to look at a given subject within its own context, to see it as a part of a spectrum of variation rather than as an isolated ‘thing’ and then to reconceptualize trends as expansion or contraction of this ‘full house’ of variation, and not as the progress or degeneration of an average value, or single thing.“When approached in such a way, the disappearance of .400 hitting becomes a cause for celebration, signaling not a decline in greatness but instead an improvement in the overall level of play in baseball; trends become subject to suspicion, and too often, only a tool of those seeking to advance a particular agenda; and the ‘Age of Man’ (a claim rooted in hubris, not in fact) more accurately becomes the ‘Age of Bacteria.’“The traditional mode of thinking has led us to draw many conclusions that don’t make satisfying sense,” says Gould. “It tells us that .400 hitting has disappeared because batters have gotten worse, but how can that be true when record performances have improved in almost any athletic activity?”“In a personal eureka!, Gould realized that we were looking at the picture backward, and that a simple conceptual inversion would resolve a number of the paradoxes of the conventional view. While ‘Full House’ deftly reveals the shortcomings of the popular reasoning we apply to everyday life situations, Gould also explores his beloved realm of natural history as well. Whether debunking the myth of the successful evolution of the horse (he grants that the story still deserves distinction, but as the icon of evolutionary failure); presenting evidence that the vaunted ‘progress of life’ is really random motion away from simple beginnings, not directed impetus toward complexity; or relegating the kingdoms of Animalai and Plantae to their proper positions on the genealogical chart for all of life (as mere twigs on one of the three bushes), ‘Full House’ asks nothing less than that we reconceptualize our view of life in a fundamental way.”The book is in fine, collectible condition, with no torn or bent pages, no scratches, stains or inscriptions, no remainder marks, no price-clipping, no bookplate, no ex-library, no book club edition, no flaws of any sort. It is as new.The dustjacket is in equally fine shape and is protected in a clear and removable archival cover.Please see the photos for a fuller description and author profile.BLK BOX 83PLEASE SEE THE OTHER TITLES NOW LISTED IN MY EBAY STORE: DISTANT VOYAGE BOOKSPAYPAL PREFERREDWill combine shipping.All items are well packed and are normally mailed within two days of payment being received.My 100% feedback rating is valuable to me. If you are satisfied with a transaction, please leave feedback and I will do the same.Questions welcome. Additional photographs on request.Note: Scrolling through my listings will locate books in these and many other categories:Animals; Art & Architecture; Biography; Children’s; Collecting & Collectibles; Entertainment, Film & Theater; Fiction; Food & Drink; Gardening; History; Military; Music; Natural History; Nautical; Photography; Science & Technology; Travel; Space; Sports; Transportation. New titles added almost daily.

Price: 15 USD

Location: Yorba Linda, California

End Time: 2024-12-21T06:14:26.000Z

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