fossil record. Traditional concepts of evo- 

 lution, at least in their translation to popu- 

 lar culture, favor a slow and stately proc- 

 ess, ruled by sensible adaptation along its 

 pathways and expanding out toward both 

 greater complexity of the highest forms 

 and more bountiful diversity throughout. 

 Such a view would coordinate all three 

 surprises in my three stories — for the 

 newly shortened Cambrian explosion is 

 decidedly unstately; the independence of 

 insects and flowers seems chaotically un- 

 coordinated; and the emergence of Homo 

 sapiens, if viewed as a historical event in a 

 single place, becomes quirky and chancy. 

 But my worldview accommodated and 

 anticipated all these phenomena of rate, 

 interaction, and place. 1 have come to see 

 stability as the norm for most times, and 

 evolutionary change as a relatively rapid 

 event punctuating the stillness and bring- 

 ing systems to new states. A faster Cam- 

 brian explosion feeds this expectation. I 

 view lineages as evolving largely indepen- 

 dently of one another. I do not deny, of 

 course, that species interact in adaptively 

 intricate ways. But each lineage is a 

 unique entity with its own idiosyncrasies; 

 and each evolutionary trajectory through a 



temporal series of environments encoun- 

 ters so many random effects of great mag- 

 nitude that 1 expect historical individuality 

 to overwhelm coordination. Grand scale 

 independence of insects and flowers (de- 

 spite the tight linkage of so many species 

 pairs today) conforms to this view. Finally, 

 I regard each species as a contingent item 

 of history with an unpredictable future. 1 

 anticipate that a species will arise in a sin- 

 gle place and then move along an unex- 

 pected pathway. In short, all my nonsur- 

 prises are coordinated by a worldview that 

 celebrates quick and unpredictable 

 changes in a fossil record featuring lin- 

 eages construed as largely independent 

 historical entities. I should also add that I 

 find such a world stunning and fascinating 

 in its chaotic complexity and historical 

 genesis — and I happily trade the comforts 

 of the older view for the joys of contem- 

 plating and struggling with such multifari- 

 ous intrigue. 



I've put myself in a tough spot. This 

 essay has veered dangerously close to un- 

 seemly self-congratulation. But I do not 

 write to claim that 1 have a "better" world- 

 view more attuned to solving the outstand- 

 ing problems of life's history. Nor do I as- 



sert the correctness of my position on the 

 three stories, for truth is the daughter of 

 time, and 1 may be proved wrong about all 

 of them. 1 developed this topic because I 

 regard the subject of worldviews, or para- 

 digms, as so important for the unification 

 of all creative human thought, and I wrote 

 of my own experience because personal 

 testimony has been an accepted staple of 

 the essay ever since Montaigne invented 

 the genre. (And now 1 must halt, lest you 

 parry with Shakespeare's observation that 

 the author "dost protest too much, me- 

 thinks.") 



Maybe my worldview, shared by many 

 scholars these days (for 1 came to it by as- 

 similation, not invention), has power as a 

 more fruitful outlook upon reality than 

 previous paradigms provided. Maybe my 

 horse is coming in. But maybe I am only 

 riding a gelding named "fashion," a nag 

 destined to stumble at the gate next season 

 at Hialeah as the Seabiscuit or Secretariat 

 of deterministic gradualism comes thun- 

 dering down the homestretch. 



Stephen Jay Gould teaches biology, geol- 

 ogy, and the history of science at Harvard 

 University. 



Enjoy arternoon tea. Witn ice. 



Notning's more reiieshing. Expioie Alaska's 

 great pristine territory aDoara tne 

 Cunaru Crown E)ynasly iram 

 May tnrougn September 

 ror 7 to 12 awe-uispiiing 

 days. On ixjara, witness eagles 

 soaring and wnales at play irom 

 spacious decks. As you sail irom quaint 



Seward to metropolitan \4ncouvei; you 11 ne 

 treated to the special amtiience larger 

 snips can't anord you. Like 

 personalized service and a 

 camaraderie among Mow 

 guests. We look rorward 

 to welcoming you aboard. And 

 Imow you'll enjoy leaving tne crowds nenind. 



7 to 12 day fares witn early Booking savings {4 montns in advance oi sailing) range trom $1,185 to $3,633 and 

 are per person, doucle occupancy, subject to availability and dependent on departure date. Port and handling 

 cnargcs arc $135 to $180 per person extra. Cunard Crown Dynasty is registered in Panama. ©1994 Cunard. 



ALASKA 



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Lose yourseii in tne expeirience, 

 not in tne crowd. 



50B 



23 



