I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "AS A YOUNG CHILD, THINKING AS BIG AS BIG CAN BE AND getting absolutely nowhere for the effort, I would often lie awake at night,..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Papa Joe, Karl Marx (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gould, whose name has become synonymous with evolutionary biology, once again collects 31 essays from his Natural History column. Gould completed his 300th column for the magazine on the doubly significant 2001 millennium and centennial of his family's arrival at Ellis Island (thus the title, borrowed from his grandfather's journal entry that day). Several of these essays explore the ambiguous relations of art, science and the natural world. Gould compels readers to see the natural world outside the frame of the familiar, to seek the quirky outside the canonical, to challenge our assumptions. This is evident when he gleefully reports on the Human Genome Project, showing our genetic stuff to be only twice what a roundworm needs "to manufacture its utter, if elegant, outward simplicity." His essays affirm his belief in the power of science to overcome past error, and as always, he is intolerant of the misapplication as well as the rejection of science, dismissing left- and right-wing claims about Darwin as brusquely as he does the anti-evolutionist Kansas Board of Education, whose yellow brick road "can only spiral inward toward restriction and ignorance." Gould is at the peak of his abilities in this latest menagerie of wonders.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the tenth and final anthology of Gould's essays from Natural History magazine. Through the writings in this series, Gould has influenced public opinion on science in numerous ways that other scientists, who eschew the essay as a vehicle for technical communication, cannot even approach. As in all of the volumes, Gould writes on Darwinism, evolutionary theory, the history of science, and the joys of doing scientific research. Somewhat more in this volume than in the others, he expresses his personal thoughts and experiences, such as in the titular essay and in the concluding short piece, "September 11, 2001." Some critics wince at his often turgid prose and argue that he depicts his opinions as facts, but this volume, which coincides with the publication of his magnum opus, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, deserves to be celebrated as a career accomplishment. Gould's many fans and foes alike should congratulate him for these achievements and also for having the grace to know when to move on. This anthology belongs in all public and academic libraries. Gregg Sapp, Science Lib., SUNY at Albany
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1st edition (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609601431
• ISBN-13: 978-0609601433
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #404,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The passing of an era, May 21, 2002

By	"michaeleve" (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

That's how one review in the media described this - the tenth and final collection of Gould's essays written for Natural History. Another commented on the fact that Gould knew when to move on - to give up writing scientific essays, even though he is widely recognized as being the first to "popularize" science using this format. Most scientists avoid writing essays, largely they argue, because it's inappropriate for science. You wouldn't be too far off however if you thought that perhaps it's also because Gould had already mastered the genre, and absolutely no scientist wishes to come second to Gould. If you know only one thing about the "science wars" it's a good bet it's you know that mentioning the name Stephen Jay Gould to many scientists is akin to waving a red flag at a bull.

Much of science reading will be that much duller now. Gould's death from cancer earlier this week makes this last group of 30 essays truly his final collection. It's thus likely to be much more popular that many previous ones. All the more so when you start reading and see here that Gould is much more personal, ranges further and deeper with his philosophical thinking, and refreshingly is less polemical in his views. Although on this last point in an essay on the Human Genome Project and its revelation that our genome contains only about a third of the number of genes predicted, Gould takes his mandatory swipe at the "Dawkinsian" scientists and says that the HGP shows "the failure of reductionism".

Another essay I enjoyed is Gould's discussion of recent feathered dinosaur finds and their significance to understanding the origins of flight. Also interesting is his thinking on the supposed incompatibilty of the humanities and science (he sees a commonality of motive, if not methodology) These are just two of the more contentious topics in their respective areas of science and so it's natural that Gould would tackle them with gusto. His usual self-confident, opinionated, the-world-according-to-Gould, style of writing remains on display and still has the capacity to annoy. This time though it's definitely tempered by Gould's openess and willingness to share more of himself.

Gould begins and ends talking about family and connectedness through time and the similarity of the tree of life with that of a family tree. Gould speaks of his continuation of the dreams that his beloved grandfather arrived on these shores with on September 11, 1901. Stephen writes poignantly of the aborted celebration of the centenary of his grandfather's arrival at Ellis Island; his flight to New York on September 11, 2001 was diverted for obvious reasons. Read the following tribute to his grandfather and then allow yourself to see a different Gould than the abrasive and boastful one we thought he was. "Dear Papa Joe, I have been faithful to your dream of persistence and attentive to a hope that the increments of each worthy generation may buttress the continuity of evolution...I have finally won the right to restate your noble words and to tell you that their inspiration still lights my journey: I HAVE LANDED. But I also can't help wondering what comes next!"

Goodbye Stephen Jay Gould. Both you and your books will be greatly missed

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History, May 25, 2002

By	Joe Zika "Khemprof" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould is his best to date... and I'm sorry to say his last, as he died May 20, 2002. God Rest Your Soul, Stephen.

I Have Landed is a collection of essays, (thirty-one to be exact), and the scope and breath of these essays is broad. Gould has a way with words to bring complex subjects, casting new light upon them and bringing them to the common man with understanding and enlightenment. The book is divided into eight segments or groupings all of which are compelling and forthright. We see Gould's musing narrative and storytelling ability which brings together themes that have defined his career, humanistic disciplines, his mini intellectual biographies, intellectual palentology, and topics that bring obvious delight to him.

As the reader goes from one subject to the next, we see that Gould has command and is ushering us on with his famous wit. This book is truly Gould's most revealing and personal opus. A brilliant mind, with good humor making the reader feel at home.

I've enjoyed reading Gould's essays through the years, as others have, and as all good things come to and end... let me say adieu my friend.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh God Steve Just Died, May 20, 2002

By	guy richardson (Reno, NV USA) - See all my reviews

I'm crying as I write this because Steve Gould just died of cancer, and he was a friend. No, I never met him, but I've read his essays for years and he was a brilliant man who wrote to you as if you were smart, too, but you just didn't know the inside terminology. This is the last book of his collected science essays from Natural History magazine, but his subjects are much wider than science. There's a lot of biology here, and a lot of why you should care about biology, but the most important thing is that this book -- like all of Steve's books -- is like listening to a friend who's fascinating. Each chapter here was a Natural History column and the subjects range from baseball to evolution. I know this is rambling on and I'm sorry. I will miss him, my smart friend Steve. As much as you can love someone you know only from his writing, I loved him. That's the kind of writer -- and scientist -- he was. He cared passionately about knowledge.