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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 later years of his life, Gould also taught biology and evolution at New York University. Gould's most significant contribution to evolutionary biology was the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which he developed with Niles Eldredge in 1972.〔Eldredge, Niles, and S. J. Gould (1972). ("Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism." ) In T.J.M. Schopf, ed., ''Models in Paleobiology''. San Francisco: Freeman, Cooper and Company, pp. 82–115.〕 The theory proposes that most evolution is marked by long periods of evolutionary stability, which is punctuated by rare instances of branching evolution. 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. Most of Gould's empirical research was based on the land snail genera ''Poecilozonites'' and ''Cerion''. He also contributed to evolutionary developmental biology, and has received wide praise for his book ''Ontogeny and Phylogeny''. In evolutionary theory he opposed strict selectionism, sociobiology as applied to humans, and evolutionary psychology. He campaigned against creationism and proposed that science and religion should be considered two distinct fields (or "magisteria") whose authorities do not overlap.〔Gould, S. J. (1997). ("Nonoverlapping magisteria". ) ''Natural History'' 106 (March): 16–22.〕 Gould was known by the general public mainly from his 300 popular essays in the magazine ''Natural History'', and his books written for a non-specialist audience. In April 2000, the US Library of Congress named him a "Living Legend".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Living Legend: Stephen Jay Gould )〕 ==Biography== Stephen Jay Gould was born and raised in the community of Bayside, a neighborhood of the northeastern section of Queens in New York City. His father Leonard was a court stenographer, and his mother Eleanor was an artist whose parents were Jewish immigrants living and working in the city's Garment District.〔Gould, S. J. (2001). ("I have landed." ) ''Natural History'' 109 (10): 46–59.〕 When Gould was five years old his father took him to the Hall of Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History, where he first encountered ''Tyrannosaurus rex''. "I had no idea there were such things—I was awestruck," Gould once recalled.〔Green, Michelle (1986). ("Stephen Jay Gould: driven by a hunger to learn and to write". ) ''People'' 25 (June 2): 109–114.〕 It was in that moment that he decided to become a paleontologist. Raised in a secular Jewish home, Gould did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic. Biologist Jerry Coyne, who had Gould on his thesis committee, described him as a "diehard atheist if there ever was one."〔Harris, Sam (2015) ("Faith vs. Fact: An Interview with Jerry Coyne." ) May 19. (12m:22s) www.samharris.org.〕 Gould's personal friend Oliver Sacks called him a "Jewish atheist".〔Sacks, Oliver (2006) Introduction. ''The Richness of Life''. W. W. Norton & Company, (p. 8. )〕 When asked whether he was an agnostic in an interview in Skeptic magazine, he responded: :"If you absolutely forced me to bet on the existence of a conventional anthropomorphic deity, of course I'd bet no. But, basically, Huxley was right when he said that agnosticism is the only honorable position because we really cannot know. And that's right. I'd be real surprised if there turned out to be a conventional God. :"I remember a story about Clarence Darrow, who was quite atheistic. Somebody asked him: "Suppose you die and your soul goes up there and it turns out the conventional story is true after all?" Darrow's answer was beautiful, and I love the way he pictured it with the 12 apostles in the jury box and with his reputation for giving long speeches (he spoke two straight days to save Leopold and Loeb). He said that for once in his life he wasn't going to make a long speech. He was just going to walk up to them, bow low to the judge's bench, and say, "Gentlemen, I was wrong."" Though he "had been brought up by a Marxist father", he stated that his father's politics were "very different" from his own.〔Gould, S. J. (2002). ''The Structure of Evolutionary Theory''. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00613-5〕 In describing his own political views, he has said they "tend to the left of center."〔Gould, S. J. (1981). ("Official Transcript for Gould’s deposition in McLean v. Arkansas". ) (Nov. 27). Under oath Gould stated: "My political views tend to the left of center. Q. Could you be more specific about your political views? A. I don't know how to be. I am not a joiner, so I am not a member of any organization. So I have always resisted labeling. But if you read my other book, The Mismeasure of Man, which is not included because it is not about evolution, you will get a sense of my political views." p. 153.〕 According to Gould the most influential political books he read were C. Wright Mills' ''The Power Elite'' and the political writings of Noam Chomsky.〔 While attending Antioch College in the early 1960s, Gould was active in the civil rights movement and often campaigned for social justice. When he attended the University of Leeds as a visiting undergraduate, he organized weekly demonstrations outside a Bradford dance hall which refused to admit Blacks. Gould continued these demonstrations until the policy was revoked.〔Gasper, Phil (2002). ("Stephen Jay Gould: ) Dialectical Biologist". ''International Socialist Review'' 24 (July–August).〕 Throughout his career and writings, he spoke out against cultural oppression in all its forms, especially what he saw as the pseudoscience used in the service of racism and sexism.〔Lewontin, Richard and Richard Levins (2002). ("Stephen Jay Gould—what does it mean to be a radical?" ) ''Monthly Review'' 54 (Nov. 1).〕 Interspersed throughout his scientific essays for ''Natural History'' magazine, Gould frequently referred to his nonscientific interests and pastimes. As a boy he collected baseball cards and remained a New York Yankees fan throughout his life. As an adult he was fond of science fiction movies, but often lamented the poor quality of their presentation of science and of their storytelling.〔Gould, S. J. (1993). ("Dinomania". ) ''New York Review of Books'' 40 (August 12): 51–56.〕 His other interests included singing in the Boston Cecilia, and he was a great aficionado of Gilbert and Sullivan operas.〔Gould, S. J. (2000) "The True Embodiment of Everything That’s Excellent: The Strange Adventure of Gilbert and Sullivan". ''The American Scholar'' 69 (20): 35–49.〕 He collected rare antiquarian books and textbooks. He often traveled to Europe, and spoke French, German, Russian, and Italian. He admired Renaissance architecture. He sometimes alluded ruefully to his tendency to put on weight.〔Gould, S. J. (1983). ''Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-31103-1.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Stephen Jay Gould」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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