The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History

New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 1987. Reprint. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 5x1x8. Reprint. 1987 Trade Paperback. 476 pp. "Evolutionary theory is the theme that binds together these essays on such seemingly disparate topics as the feeding habits of flamingos, flowers and snails that change from male to female and sometimes back again, and the extinction from baseball of the .400 hitter." Contents: Zoonomia (And Exceptions) Reversals - The Flamingo's Smile; Only His Wings Remained; Sex and Size; Boundaries- Living with Connections; A Most Ingenious Paradox; Theory and Perception - Two Admirable Cretionists - Adam's Navel; The Freezing of Noah; The Cloven Hoofprint of Theory - False Premise, Good Science; For Want of a Metaphor; The Importance of Taxonomy - Of Wasps and WASPs; Opus 100; Human Equality Is a Contingent Fact of History; The Rule of Five; Trends and Their Meaning - Losing the Edge; Postscript: Strike Three for Babe; Death and Transfiguration; Reducing Riddles - Politics and Progress - The Chain of Being - To Show an Ape; Bound by the Great Chain; The Hottentot Venus; Eugenics Past and Present - Carrie Buck's Daughter; Singapore's Patrimony (and Matrimony); Darwiniana - Hannah West's Left Shoulder and the Origin of Natural Selection; Darwin at Sea-and the Virtues of Port; A Short Way to Corn; Life Here and Elsewhere - Just in the Middle; Mind and Supermind; SETI and the Wisdom of Casey Stengel; Extinction and Continuity - Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs; Continuity; The Cosmic Dance of Siva; Bibliography; Index.