Well, it was a good first Gould for me – I don’t know that it would be for everyone.

What he’s doing in the book is using statistical analysis (and a baseball analogy; you might like that!) to argue that the “progress” we see in evolutionary processes (unicellular bacteria —> conscious humans) is a result of random events coupled with a “left wall” of simplicity (meaning it’s hard for creatures to get much simpler than bacteria, but they’ve got a long way to go in the other direction) and increasing variety. What he is driving at is that we shouldn’t see the arrival of man as the inevitable glorious pinnacle of a long and relatively straight journey from simplicity to complexity.

Except he is much clearer and more interesting than that.

Anyway, you can borrow it when you come to peek at and see if you like. Your eyes will appreciate the unveiling. ;-)