Dinosaur in a Haystack

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Dinosaur in a Haystack
Dinosaur in a Haystack (first edition).jpg
Cover
Author Stephen Jay Gould
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Natural history
PublisherHarmony Books
Publication date
December 12, 1995
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages480
ISBN 0-517-70393-9
OCLC 33892123
575 20
LC Class QH366.2 .G659 1995
Preceded by Eight Little Piggies  
Followed by Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms  

Dinosaur in a Haystack is a 1995 book by the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. It collects essays culled from Gould's monthly column "The View of Life" published in Natural History magazine, which Gould contributed for 27 years. The book deals with themes familiar to Gould's writing: evolution, science biography, probabilities, and strange oddities found in nature.

Contents

His essay "Poe's Greatest Hit" analyzes the controversial conchology textbook The Conchologist's First Book (1839), edited by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's volume on natural history sold out within two months, and was his only book republished during his lifetime. Essay "Dinomania" is a review of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park and Steven Spielberg's blockbuster film of the same name.

Reception

The book received favorable reviews in Publishers Weekly [1] and The New York Times . [2]

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