熊猫的拇指 (1980)

《熊猫的拇指：自然史沉思录》（英语：The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History，1980年）是哈佛大学古生物学家斯蒂芬·杰·古尔德31篇随笔的结集。这是第二部由古尔德发表在《自然史》每月专栏《这种生命观》所发表的文章挑选结集而来的书。这些文章中反复出现的主题是进化及其教义、科学传记、可能性和常识。

首篇文章《熊猫的拇指》描述了一个矛盾，有时劣等的设计比好的设计能更好的充当进化论的论据，解剖学上熊猫的“拇指”其实根本就不是拇指，而是由桡籽骨构成。其他文章讨论到女性大脑、皮尔当人骗局、唐氏综合症以及恐龙与鸟类的关系。

该书获1981年美国国家图书奖。

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Books of the Times - by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

Back to Evolution - by P. B. Medawar, The New York Review of Books

The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History (1980) is a collection of 31 essays by the Harvard University paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. It is the second volume culled from his 27-year monthly column "This View of Life" in Natural History magazine.

Recurring themes of the essays are evolution and its teaching, science biography, probabilities and common sense.

The title essay (of 1978, originally titled "The panda's peculiar thumb") presents the paradox that poor design is a better argument for evolution than good design, as illustrated by the anatomy of the panda's "thumb"—which is not an actual thumb at all, but an extension of the radial sesamoid bone. Topics addressed in other essays include the female brain, the Piltdown Man hoax, Down syndrome, and the relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

The Panda's Thumb won the 1981 U.S. National Book Award in Science.

Reviews

Books of the Times - by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times