Stephen Jay Gould, Questioning the Millennium, 1st Ed., 1st Printing, 1997

Description: Stephen Jay Gould, Questioning the Millennium, 1st Ed., 1st Printing, 1997 Title Author Date Printing ISBN Questioning the Millennium Stephen Jay Gould 1997 Stated 1st Edition; First Printing 0-609-60076-1 Questioning the Millennium by Stephen Jay Gould, published by Harmony Books, New York, 1997, 8 in. x 5-3/8 in., 190 pages. Hardcover in excellent near mint condition with dust jacket in excellent condition near mint condition. Questioning the Millennium is a 1997 book by the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould that deals with the definition and calculation of the millennium, and its meaning in Western culture. In this beautiful inquiry into time and its milestones, he shares his interest and insights with his readers. Refreshingly reasoned, erudite, and absorbing, the book asks and answers the three major questions that define the approaching calendrical event: First, what exactly is this concept of a millennium and how has its meaning shifted? How did the name for a future thousand year reign of Christ on earth get transferred to the passage of a secular period of a thousand years in current human history? When does the new millennium begin: January 1, in the year 2000 or 2001? And finally, why must our calendars be so complex, leading to our search for arbitrary regularity, including a fascination with millennia? As always, Gould brings into his essays a wide range of compelling historical and scientific fact, including a brief history of millennia fevers, calendrical traditions and idiosyncrasies from around the world, the story of a sixth-century monk whose errors in chronology plague us even today, and the heroism of a young autistic man who has developed the extraordinary ability to calculate dates deep into the past and the future. Ranging over a wide terrain of phenomena - from the arbitrary regularities of human calendars to the unpredictability of nature, from the vagaries of pop culture to the birth of Christ - Stephen Jay Gould holds the mirror up to our millennial passions to reveal our foibles, absurdities, and uniqueness - in other words, our humanity. Reviews"Stephen Jay Gould's slim and attractive meditation, Questioning the Millennium, is a trip to the beach. Mr. Gould focuses his wit and style on matters of definition and calculation of the millennium and on their enduring fascination" -- Robert Eisner, New York Times Book Review "Questioning the Millennium. . . beguiles and entertains, even as it teaches us to reconsider our preconceptions about the natural world. Mr. Gould eloquently charts both those pitfalls to knowledge and our stubborn, foolish and occasionally glorious efforts, though science, religion and philosophy, to continue to try to understand" -- Michiko Kakutani, New York Times Foreseeing much ado over the arrival of the year 2000, Mr. Gould provides "A Rationalist's Guide" to the countdown. He covers the calendrical history--some of it practical, some of it absurd--that has put us when we think we are. He implies, courteously, that for much of the world's population A.D. 2000 has neither religious nor historical significance and is, in fact, not 2000 at all. He presents a sound defense against dateline hysteria. -- The Atlantic Monthly, Phoebe-Lou Adams "Gould poses three questions about the millennium in this delicious science-historical jeu d'esprit. . . . [This] may be the most enjoyable millennium book of the second millennium." --Booklist "With a humorous Everyman approach, Gould juggles a mind-boggling array of various calendrical concepts as he explains why creating a reliable calendar was one of man's greatest struggles. Whether nailing down the precise date of the birth of Christ or airing his suspicion that God is a New York Yankees fan, Gould teaches rather than preaches."--Entertainment Weekly "In Questioning the Millennium, a collection of three witty and erudite essays bearing the catchy journalistic titles "What?" "When?" and "Why?," the noted paleontologist and science popularizer ponders the meaning of the upcoming calendar hoopla. As always, he is irreverent, idiosyncratic and original" --San Francisco Examiner "In Stephen Jay Gould's recent book Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown, the subtitle says it all. The year 2000 is both precise and arbitrary, in the same way that a repeat of 1900 would be." --Fred Moramarco, Newsweek Editorial ReviewsFrom Library JournalGould is the latest thinker to publish his ruminations on the coming millennium. Unlike others, he spares readers the standard litany of predictions and rallying cries to embrace the future. Instead, in three essays entitled "What?," "When?," and "Why?," Gould wryly analyzes why humans are so fascinated by the year 2000. It is no great revelation that millennial passions are fueled in part by apocalyptic yearnings as well as by an innate human compulsion to measure and organize time, but, as always, Gould puts his own clever spin on these observations. Hard-core fans may be disappointed, for this book contains more religion and numerology than science..- Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib., Coral Gables, Fla.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Gould poses three questions about the millennium in this delicious science-historical jeu d'esprit: What does millennium mean? When does a millennium arrive? Why are we interested in it and other divisions of time? Millennium, he demonstrates, is a Christian concept that once meant the thousand years after the Second Coming but that, as Jesus proved indefinitely tardy, came to mean a thousand years at whose end he would finally show up and, later, any thousand years ended by a year of three zeros, such as 2000. Which broaches the second question and its cognate, Will the coming millennium begin at midnight New Year's Day 2000 or midnight New Year's Eve 2000? If the former, then the first century has only 99 years; if the latter, cancel that December 31, 1999, millennium bash you had planned. Which date one chooses, Gould discloses, involves a class-cultural decision. To address the third question, Gould examines the reasons for and the difficulties of cramming natural cycles into linear calendars and then turns to the phenomenon of day-date calculation (the ability to instantly ascertain on what day of the week a given date occurred) by an autistic young man. There is an emotional rabbit punch at the very end of the book--but don't let that warning scare you away from what may be the most enjoyable millennium book of the second millennium. Ray Olson About the Author Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) was an internationally renowned and influential evolutionary biologist, a best-selling author equally respected by academic and general interest readers, and certainly one of the most influential and most acclaimed science essayists of the 20th century. Gould was the Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Professor of Geology at Harvard University, the curator for Invertebrate Paleontology in the University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Vincent Astor Visiting Professor of Biology at New York University. He published over twenty books, received the National Book and National Book Critics Circle Awards, and a MacArthur Prize Fellow, and continues to influence critical scientific thinking and evolutionary theory well into the 21st century. Note to Buyers: I am selling my entire expansive geological reference library assembled over a 40-year period, including every one of my Stephen Jay Gould hardcover books, many of them signed by the author. These are relatively rare First Edition, First Printings, not latter printings or reprints, all with original dust jackets. Also on auction is my complete geological reference library, composed of original mid- to late 1800s to early 1900s New Jersey Geological Survey (NJGS) Annual Reports and Special Reports, USGS Professional Papers and Bulletins related to Atlantic Coastal Plain geology, stratigraphy, and paleontology, and long out-of-print New Jersey Geological Survey groundwater reference reports published by the NJGS from a time when they issued print versions of the State’s most important geological studies (so please see my other auctions or search for "Stephen Jay Gould" or “Geology" or under my eBay account "Rockman58"). FYI, I am also selling my entire Queen and ELO record (LPs and 45s) collection, sheet music, history of the bands, and concert our programs and also the rare Star Trek TOS TV and movie memorabilia collection.*Combining multiple sales of books for combined shipping is absolutely possible if they are purchased during the same week. Please ignore the combined shipping invoice that eBay might send you, all they do is add all the shipping costs together - I will combine your purchases and quote you a revised shipping price. Thanks.***Please note: if you are bidding on a used or antique book. I do my best to accurately describe each book and identify any flaws it may have. If you have specific questions regarding its condition, please ask. I grade the books from visual inspection by browsing through to check for major defects but each page is not individually graded. Unless stated otherwise, some books will contain signs of wear and age which is normal within their age category. Note also that it is difficult to photograph slightly brownish pages of these antiquated references as my camera wants to correct that color to white; as such, any book from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s will generally have a very normal page browning even if my photos appear to be whitish or pinkish.*****I have highlighted the Media Mail option for maximum cost savings for shipping books; however, please note that those delivery times can be as much as 7-10 days, per the USPS, depending on your location relative to where I am in southeast Pennsylvania.*******Please consider All Sales to be Final, with no returns. Please be sure that this is the item you are looking for prior to bidding. If you have any questions about the content or condition of an item, please ask prior to placing a bid. Also, I can work with you to combine shipping on multiple auction wins to save you extra shipping costs. ****

Price: 5.99 USD

Location: Downingtown, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2023-10-15T20:42:40.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.67 USD