The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History

Table of contents

• The Flamingo's Smile *
• The Flamingo's Smile - Reflections in Natural History *
• Contents 7
• The Flamingo's Smile *
• Prologue 13
• Zoonomia (And Exceptions) *
• 1 - The Flamingo's Smile 23
• 2 - Only His Wings Remained 40
• 3 - Sex and Size 56
• 4 - Living with Connections 64
• 5 - A Most Ingenious Paradox 78
• Theory and Perception *
• 6 - Adam's Navel 99
• 7 - The Freezing of Noah 114
• 8 - False Premise, Good Science 126
• 9 - For Want of a Metaphor 139
• The Importance of Taxonomy *
• 10 - Of Wasps and Wasps 155
• 11 - Opus 100 167
• 12 - Human Equality is a Contingent Fact of History 185
• 13 - The Rule of Five 199
• Trends and Their Meaning *
• 14 - Losing the Edge 215
• 15 - Death and Transfiguration 230
• 16 - Reducing Riddles 245
• Politics and Progress *
• 17 - To Show an Ape 263
• 18 - Bound by the Great Chain 281
• 19 - The Hottentot Venus 291
• 20 - Carrie Buck's Daughter 306
• 21 - Singapore's Patrimony (And Matrimony) 319
• Darwiniana *
• 22 - Hannah West's Left Shoulder and the Origin of Natural Selection 335
• 23 - Darwin at Sea—and the Virtues of Port 347
• 24 - A Short Way to Corn 360
• Life Here and Elsewhere *
• 25 - Just in the Middle 377
• 26 - Mind and Supermind 392
• 27 - Seti and the Wisdom of Casey Stengel 403
• Extinction and Continuity *
• 28 - Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs 417
• 29 - Continuity 427
• 30 - The Cosmic Dance of Siva 438
• Bibliography 451
• Index 459

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