Paleontology's Public Intellectual

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. Even as a child, Gould was obsessed with dinosaurs. However, dinosaurs were not as 'cool' in the 40's as they are today. What nickname did Gould earn for his interests? Fossil face Bonehead Dinosaur breath Dino boy

2. Gould became a professor at a very young age- 26. At what university did he teach? UCLA Yale Harvard Columbia

3. At the age of 30 Gould and Niles Eldredge coauthored a paper on a new theory of evolutionary science quite different from strict Darwinism. What was this theory called? Punctuated equilibrium Founder effect Allopatric speciation Convergent evolution

4. Gould was most famous as an author of short essays on science. In which magazine were these essays originally published? Smithsonian The Scientist Science Natural History

5. One of Gould's books was titled 'The Panda's Thumb.' What did the panda's thumb have to do with evolution? An example of very gradual evolution An example of convergent evolution An example of imperfect design An example of paleontological detective work

6. One of Gould's works was called 'The Mismeasure of Man.' What was this book about? Physical differences between men and women Rate of growth of human skeletons The heredity of intelligence Physical differences between human races

7. Gould wrote many essays for the 'New York Review of Books.' However, many of them were not about books on science. What were they about? Stamp collecting Baseball Computers Education

8. Another of Gould's reviews for the 'New York Review of Books' was a scathing review of a book by Charles Murray. What was the subject of this book that so aroused Gould's ire? Theories of racial intelligence Warm-blooded dinosaurs Creationism in the public schools Astrology

9. Gould appeared as an expert witness in several court cases. What did the cases concern? Teaching creationism to schoolchildren Ownership of dinosaur fossils Affirmative action Generic drug marketing

10. Gould appeared as himself on one episode of a famous television series. Which one? The Cosby Show The Simpsons Star Trek-The Next Generation CSI

11. Fill in the blank for the following quote from Gould-'Teaching _____________is like teaching English but making grammar optional.' medicine without compassion science without ethics biology without evolution math without statistics

12. What were Gould's political views best characterized as? Middle of the road Conservative Liberal Apolitical

13. Which of the following was a hobby of Gould's? Mushroom hunting Singing in a choir Raising pigeons Knitting

14. In 1980, Gould was diagnosed with abdominal mesothelioma, a type of cancer. The cancer went into remission for some years, then returned. Gould worked very hard to finish his magnum opus, probably knowing that he had little time left. What was this book called? A Brief History of Evolution Equilibrium and Evolution The Structure of Evolutionary Theory Creationism- The False Doctrine

15. Another of Gould's most famous essays is called, 'The Median Isn't the Message.' What is the subject of this essay? Mediocrity in science education Fraud in science research The average person's views of science Statistics of cancer survival