8.2 /10 1 Votes
Publisher Harmony Books Pages 480 Dewey Decimal 575 20 OCLC 33892123 | 4.1/5 Goodreads Publication date December 12, 1995 ISBN 0-517-70393-9 Originally published 12 December 1995 Page count 480 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) Preceded by Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History Genres Mathematics, Essay, Non-fiction, Science Similar Works by Stephen Jay Gould, Science books, Evolution books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dinosaur in a Haystack (1995) is the seventh volume of collected essays by the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. The essays were culled from his monthly column "The View of Life" published in Natural History magazine, which Gould contributed for 27 years. The book deals with themes familiar to Gould's writing: evolution, science biography, probabilities, and strange oddities found in nature.
His essay "Poe's Greatest Hit" analyzes the controversial conchology textbook The Conchologist's First Book (1839), edited by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's volume on natural history sold out within two months, and was his only book republished during his lifetime. Essay "Dinomania" is a review of Michael Crichton's novel and Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film, Jurassic Park.
Reception
Gould's book received favorable reviews in Publishers Weekly and The New York Times.