High in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago called the Burgess Shale. It hold the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived -- a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in awesome detail. In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history.
From the author of The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker has been acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution in the last hundred years. In 1802 the Rev. William Paley's argued in Natural Theology that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Richard Da…
from the back cover: 'The Marquis lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper, with the words: Drive him fast to the grave. This is from JACQUES.' The French Revolution brings terror and death to many people. But even in these troubled times people can still love and be kind. They can be generous and true-hearted ...and brave.
IT was the time of the Revolutionary War - and Deborah Sampson wanted to join the army! In 1778, when Deborah Sampson was 18 years old, most girls her age were settling down and getting married. But Deborah had other ideas. She wanted to travel and have adventures - even if it meant joining the army and dressing like a man! In 1782, the Revolutionary War was still still going on. And no one s…