Wonderful Life the Burgess

1 About this book

What would the world have been like, if George Bailey of "It's A Wonderful Life" hadn't been born?

George was lucky enough to have an angel that could roll back the tape of life and show him how things would have been different. He learned that one contingency changes everything.

In "Wonderful LIfe", an homage to the American classic film, "It's A Wonderful Life", Stephen J. Gould plays the role of the angel, rolling back the tape of life a half billion years for his readers through the lens of the Burgess Shale (British Columbia), arguably the most important fossil site on the planet. His theme of contingency plays out as he discusses the many unique forms of life that might have, if things had gone differently, become the dominant forms on this planet, and how they contrast with those of today -- the one's that survived.

Good for readers who want: evolution, philosophy, and history.

• Evolution
• Extinction (Biology)
• Philosophy
• History
• Natural history
• Evolution, history
• Life
• Paleontology