Word: essay
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...least progeny. Of course, a snob is Janus-faced. Note the contortions necessary to look up to the paragons who are above contempt while simultaneously looking down on the dopes beneath consideration...By a snob, of snobs, and for snobs; a nice example of the art of the essay...
...Stephen Jay Gould reinvented science writing. Before him we had the flowery exaltation of nature ("Far in the empty sky a solitary esophagus slept upon motionless wing," in Mark Twain's parody) and skin-deep attempts to bring science to the masses. Gould's essays were something else: witty, respectful of readers' intelligence, always finding a principle in a grain of sand and a law in a wildflower. That they were also a velvet glove for Gould's iron convictions drove many scientists crazy, but we all admired his explanatory gifts. My favorite essay was about Joe DiMaggio...
Gould’s greatest contribution to evolutionary science was his theory of “punctuated equilibrium,” but his brilliance was amplified by his contributions to the public discourse. He was extremely prolific, almost single-handedly saving the scientific essay, a dying breed of writing, in short articles where he combined apparently unrelated ideas into a cohesive scientific position. From his 300 consecutive monthly columns in Natural History magazine to his books on various aspects of evolutionary history, Gould remained committed throughout his career to translating science into terms the public could understand?...
Gould was a fighter; he was proud to be the only person to be cured of abdominal mesothelioma, a condition doctors told him was terminal. Perhaps it is Gould’s own essay, “The Median Isn’t the Message,” which best conveys his gallant ability to combat cancer by adopting a positive, therapeutic attitude...
...Gould underwent successful treatment for cancer that doctors had said was terminal. He recounted the experience in his renowned essay “The Median Isn’t the Message,” where he wrote of learning that, statistically speaking, he had a matter of months to live but decided to defy the odds...