I had learned that a dexterous, opposable thumb stood among the hallmarks of human success. We had maintained, even exaggerated, this important flexibility of our primate forebears, while most mammals had sacrificed it in specializing their digits. Carnivores run, stab, and scratch. My cat may manipulate me psychologically, but he'll never type or play the piano.

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About Stephen Jay Gould

Stephen Jay Gould was a 20th-century American biologist and historian of science. Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Science — Discovery, inquiry, and the wonders of the natural world

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