fiefoe

From the five essays I read, Stephen Jay Gould is, endearingly, very interested in evolution of words as well.

Repeated parts are coordinated in development.. It may be genetically more complex to enlarge a thumb and not to modify a big toe, than to increase both together.
It is, to use Michael Ghiselin's phrase, a contraption, not a lovely contrivance.
You cannot demonstrate evolution with perfection because perfection need not have a history.
The (2000 mile) migration of green turtles from Brazil to a speck of an island in the middle of the Atlantic...
... a freshwater clam with a decoy "fish" mounted on its rear end. This remarkable lure has a streamlined "body", side flaps simulating fins and tail, and an eyespot for added effect.
The only thing more difficult to explain than perfection is repeated perfection by very different animals. A fish on a clam's rear end and another in front of an anglerfish's nose...
The logarithmic spiral is the only curve that does not change its shape as it grows in size. (snail shells, ram's horns, the path of a moth to light)
Objects designed for definite purpose can, as a result of their structural complexity, perform many other tasks as well.

("Panda's Thumb") (Reply)