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Created page with "[[File:StephenGould.jpg|thumb|right|Stephen Jay Gould <br /> <br /> <small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.j..."
[[File:StephenGould.jpg|thumb|right|Stephen Jay Gould
<br />
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<small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg Wikimedia commons], see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg license agreement])</small> ]]
'''Stephen Jay Gould''' (1941 – 2002) was an American [[paleontologist]], [[author]], and [[professor]] at [[Harvard University]]. Stephen Gould was one of the originators of the [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|theory of punctuated equilibrium]] within the [[theory of evolution]], a position that has led to confrontations with other [[evolutionists]]. He was known for his regular columns in ''Natural History'' magazine, collected in dozens of books. Gould also wrote ''The Mismeasure of Man'', ''Wonderful Life'' and ''The Structure of Evolutionary Theory''. Along with his evolutionary theories, he is perhaps best known as a historian of science.
Although there is a certain degree of public confusion as far as the whether or not Gould was an [[atheism|atheist]] or [[agnosticism|agnostic]], his late widow Dr. Gould-Rhonda R. Shearer wrote: "For the record, my late husband, Stephen Jay Gould, told me many times that he was an agnostic and not an 'atheist'. Eleanor, Steve's late mother, was an atheist."<ref>http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-1739</ref><ref>http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/03/20/a-review-of-the-dawkins-delusion-by-alister-mcgrath/</ref>
== ''The Mismeasure of Man'' ==
Gould's most popular work, by far, was his 1981 book ''The Mismeasure of Man''. It is an attack on the idea that intelligence is a single, physically real and objectively measurable phenomenon, and argues that attempts to measure intelligence as such are fundamentally unscientific, racist, and contrary to liberal ideals. The book was widely praised by many academics on the left as making an important statement against racism, but criticized as politically-driven [[junk science]] by experts in the field.{{fact}}
==Non-Overlapping Magisteria==
He is also well known for his concept of [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria|non-overlapping magisteria]], which suggested that science and religion occupy two entirely separate "magisteria". He claimed that in each of these fields either [[religion]] or [[science]] reigned supreme and that the other should not, indeed could not, set foot therein. <ref>[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html SJG Archive - Non-Overlapping Magisteria]</ref> This distinction was Gould's approach to making an accommodation between religion and science and allow them to live and grow side by side. In his view, proponents of religion can believe whatever they want as long as they concede that their beliefs have no relevance to the objective measurements of science.
== Quotes ==
Gould was fond of citing [[Sigmund Freud]], with this being one of his favorites:
<blockquote>
Sigmund Freud often remarked that great revolutions in the history of science have but one common, and ironic, feature: they knock human arrogance off one pedestal after another of our previous conviction about our own self-importance. In Freud's three examples, Copernicus moved our home from center to periphery, Darwin then relegated us to "descent from an animal world"; and, finally (in one of the least modest statements of intellectual history), Freud himself discovered the unconscious and exploded the myth of a fully rational mind.<ref>http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/gould_quotations.html</ref>
</blockquote>
== See also ==
*[[Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese]]
== References ==
<References/>
== External links ==
*[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ The Unofficial Stephen Jay Gould Archive]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Stephen Jay}}
[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Agnostics]]
<br />
<br />
<small>(photo obtained from [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg Wikimedia commons], see [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_Jay_Gould_%28by_Kathy_Chapman%29.jpg license agreement])</small> ]]
'''Stephen Jay Gould''' (1941 – 2002) was an American [[paleontologist]], [[author]], and [[professor]] at [[Harvard University]]. Stephen Gould was one of the originators of the [[Theory of Punctuated Equilibrium|theory of punctuated equilibrium]] within the [[theory of evolution]], a position that has led to confrontations with other [[evolutionists]]. He was known for his regular columns in ''Natural History'' magazine, collected in dozens of books. Gould also wrote ''The Mismeasure of Man'', ''Wonderful Life'' and ''The Structure of Evolutionary Theory''. Along with his evolutionary theories, he is perhaps best known as a historian of science.
Although there is a certain degree of public confusion as far as the whether or not Gould was an [[atheism|atheist]] or [[agnosticism|agnostic]], his late widow Dr. Gould-Rhonda R. Shearer wrote: "For the record, my late husband, Stephen Jay Gould, told me many times that he was an agnostic and not an 'atheist'. Eleanor, Steve's late mother, was an atheist."<ref>http://www.worldviewtimes.com/article.php/articleid-1739</ref><ref>http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2007/03/20/a-review-of-the-dawkins-delusion-by-alister-mcgrath/</ref>
== ''The Mismeasure of Man'' ==
Gould's most popular work, by far, was his 1981 book ''The Mismeasure of Man''. It is an attack on the idea that intelligence is a single, physically real and objectively measurable phenomenon, and argues that attempts to measure intelligence as such are fundamentally unscientific, racist, and contrary to liberal ideals. The book was widely praised by many academics on the left as making an important statement against racism, but criticized as politically-driven [[junk science]] by experts in the field.{{fact}}
==Non-Overlapping Magisteria==
He is also well known for his concept of [[Non-Overlapping Magisteria|non-overlapping magisteria]], which suggested that science and religion occupy two entirely separate "magisteria". He claimed that in each of these fields either [[religion]] or [[science]] reigned supreme and that the other should not, indeed could not, set foot therein. <ref>[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html SJG Archive - Non-Overlapping Magisteria]</ref> This distinction was Gould's approach to making an accommodation between religion and science and allow them to live and grow side by side. In his view, proponents of religion can believe whatever they want as long as they concede that their beliefs have no relevance to the objective measurements of science.
== Quotes ==
Gould was fond of citing [[Sigmund Freud]], with this being one of his favorites:
<blockquote>
Sigmund Freud often remarked that great revolutions in the history of science have but one common, and ironic, feature: they knock human arrogance off one pedestal after another of our previous conviction about our own self-importance. In Freud's three examples, Copernicus moved our home from center to periphery, Darwin then relegated us to "descent from an animal world"; and, finally (in one of the least modest statements of intellectual history), Freud himself discovered the unconscious and exploded the myth of a fully rational mind.<ref>http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/gould_quotations.html</ref>
</blockquote>
== See also ==
*[[Evolutionists who have had problems with being overweight and/or obese]]
== References ==
<References/>
== External links ==
*[http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ The Unofficial Stephen Jay Gould Archive]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Stephen Jay}}
[[Category:Biologists]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Agnostics]]