Stephen Jay Gould
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Stephen Jay Gould was an American biologist and historian of science who lived from 1941 to 2002 and became one of the most influential scientific voices of his time. He is remembered for his contributions to evolutionary biology and his ability to communicate complex scientific ideas to general audiences through his writing.
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Stephen Jay Gould (September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation. Gould spent most of his career teaching at Harvard University and working at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In the latter years of his life, Gould also taught biology and evolution at New York University near his home in SoHo. <a href="https
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Stephen Jay Gould (/ɡuːld/ GOOLD; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, historian of science, and one of the most widely read authors of popular science of his generation. He is considered by many to be one of the most influential figures in evolutionary biology. 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 developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972. The theory proposes that most evolution is characterized by long periods of evolutionary stability, infrequently punctuated by swift periods of 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.
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1941 births2002 deaths20th-century American essayists20th-century American science writers21st-century American science writersAlumni of the University of LeedsAmerican agnosticsAmerican critics of creationismAmerican developmental biologistsAmerican evolutionary biologistsAmerican historians of scienceAmerican male non-fiction writers