This has been on my shelf for a long time - it's just always felt too hefty to delve into. I don't know what I was afraid of - Stephen Jay Gould is a very accessible writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book.

I knew little about the topics covered in this book, except for some sketchy background about Darwin, Da Vinci and defenestration(!) Gould brings his erudition and wide knowledge of more than just science to bear on each topic, expounding and expanding in equal measure, building up new perspectives in places and revealing forgotten or unknown details in others.

I've read in other reviews that some of his earlier collections of essays are superior and will be keeping an eye out for them.