Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002)

"The need for analysis is timeless because the errors of biological determinism are so deep and insidious, and because the argument appeals to the worst manifestations of our common nature."

Gould revised, updated, and expanded his original collection to directly take on The Bell Curve, one of the most onerous and egregious use of falsified information published under the name of science in recent memory. Gould uses his expertise and candor to refute the horse pucky of Murray and Herrnstein. The book wouldn't deserve my mention in a review except that, unlike Gould hopes, The Bell Curve has not faded into memory. Instead, thanks to Sam Harris and other "New Atheists," the book got a revival and has taken on new life. So, it seems, that Gould's book should be required reading. We live in a terrible time, when the lies of race science are somehow beginning to take a main stage again. There will likely never be time when books like Gould's are not needed.… (mehr)