Rating: 
Summary: Dramatic, Controversial, and Exceptionally Well
Review: This is exactly what you would expect from the combination of one of the great scientific prose writers of our generation and one of the most important, yet counterintuitive sources of data regarding the history of life. This fascinating, popularly written text focuses on the critters of the early Cambrian and a bold interpretation of their fossils that insinuate a rapid diversification of multicultural life, referred to by some as the "Cambrian explosion". It also becomes a platform from which Gould expands upon several of the general observations on Natural History that emerge as themes from his essay collections. His uncompromising fidelity to the data (interpreting what he sees rather than what he thinks he should see), his gift for weaving a narrative around a bunch of rocks, and the importance of the animals of the early Cambrian combine to make this a truly outstanding text. Far from widely accepted, this rendering has sparked debate in the paleontology community and is often referenced in popular scientific literature. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Another magnificent tome
Review: This is more than an explanation of one particular site of fossils. It is that but the ramifications of that site are stupendous, namely that life on Earth has undergone regular catasclysmic destruction. The Burgess Shale is perhaps the most valuable scientific find of a century in what it proves and disproves. The shale itself dates from 530 million years ago and teems with an extraordinary variety of life - life that was almost terminated by a rock from space. The important thing Gould determines is that if not for this near extinction, life would have developed in a completely different manner and humans - indeed vertebrates -would not be the dominant creatures. Must one conclude that our presence is a fluke or an accident? Those opting for a divine plan must surely question why their divinity went to all the trouble to create such an incredible variety of life only to have it destroyed. All we can do is work with what we have. The descriptions of the shale beings are incredibly interesting as is the discovery, loss and recovery of the site. Then there is Marianne Collins and her magnificent interpretations of the weird inhabitants of the shales. One must remember that most of these were crushed and smashed and had to be reconstructed not only physically but mentally. The Shale asks questions about Evolutions such as how can new species form so rapidly when classic theory calls for long eons in development? Which, if any of the Shale traits survived the destruction? In the end Gould attacks (for about the zillionth time) the standard evolutionary charts as not representative of the "true" status of beings with aphids on the bottom and humans at top. But then history is written by the winners and though our lifespan has been short and may be shorter still, we are still the only creatures that recognize that face. Perhaps that is why we design anthropomorthic charts and think in terms of low and high evolution.
Rating: 
Summary: Gould's genius
Review: This is the first book that I read of Steven Jay Gould. I recieved it as a child and never did much more than skim over a few pages. However, I later read through the whole thing and found that Gould describes things in an amazing way. He explains how unpredictable circumstances have had a lot to do with evolution. It hasn't always been a survival of the fittest. It has sometimes been a survival of the most lucky. This book introduces a lot of the fauna of the Burgess Shale, which is pretty wild. A lot more has been learned about these creatures since this book was written, and many of them have been classified. This book allows us a glimpse of the ancient past of life on earth.
Rating:
Summary: Gould's genius
Review: This is the first book that I read of Steven Jay Gould. I recieved it as a child and never did much more than skim over a few pages. However, I later read through the whole thing and found that Gould describes things in an amazing way. He explains how unpredictable circumstances have had a lot to do with evolution. It hasn't always been a survival of the fittest. It has sometimes been a survival of the most lucky. This book introduces a lot of the fauna of the Burgess Shale, which is pretty wild. A lot more has been learned about these creatures since this book was written, and many of them have been classified. This book allows us a glimpse of the ancient past of life on earth.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome implications of evolution
Review: Wonderful Life is a perfect book if you are interested at all in the story of evolution on this planet. This is science and compelling storytelling rolled into one. It is a fascinating look at the Burgess Shale fossils (discovered in Canada at the turn of this century) and how they were misclassified and then stored for nearly 80 years in the Smithsonian Institution. What really fires the reader's imagination in this book is the contemporary study of these fossils and how it shattered our view of life progressing steadily on to more complex organisms in a predictive manner. Evolution of lifeforms, instead, is a much more chancy situation that is not at all predictable. There is every chance that, if the tape of life were rewound and started again, humans would not evolve. Our being here is due to environmental conditions and opportunities that most surely would not happen again in history. Stephen Gould is a superb writer and this is one of his very best books
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