Stephen Jay Gould
Palaeontologist and science writer (1941 to 2002) whose The Mismeasure of Man (1981) attacked biological determinism and the ranking of people by a single measure of intelligence.
Stephen Jay Gould did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
Their wordsScience is rooted in creative interpretation.
↗The Mismeasure of Man (W. W. Norton, 1981)archive.org All 4 from this book
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Their wordsFacts are not pure and unsullied bits of information; culture also influences what we see and how we see it.
↗The Mismeasure of Man (W. W. Norton, 1981)archive.org All 4 from this book
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Their wordsTheories, moreover, are not inexorable inductions from facts.
↗The Mismeasure of Man (W. W. Norton, 1981)archive.org All 4 from this book
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Their wordsBiological determinism is, in its essence, a theory of limits.
↗The Mismeasure of Man (W. W. Norton, 1981)archive.org All 4 from this book