Book review: ‘Hen's Teeth & Horse's Toes’ by Stephen Jay Gould

Science essays. The third of Stephen Jay Gould’s long-running series of popular science essay collections that first appeared in his monthly column in Natural History magazine, Hen's Teeth & Horse's Toes covers topics which include: evolutionary oddities (e.g. the eponymous horse's toes); evolutionary adaptations; essays on a number of scientists; the Piltdown Man forgery; science… Continue reading Book review: ‘Hen's Teeth & Horse's Toes’ by Stephen Jay Gould

Book review: ‘On Photography’ by Susan Sontag

Wonderful insights marred by pretentious language. I first encountered the late Susan Sontag on the much-missed, long-defunct late-night BBC 2 Arts programme The Late Show. Sontag was being interviewed by a clearly besotted Michael Ignatieff. She came across as a fascinating and charming intellectual with plenty of interesting stuff to say. Ever since, as a… Continue reading Book review: ‘On Photography’ by Susan Sontag

Published

Rare treat

Just about the only benefit of spending hundreds of hours chasing your farmer friend's cattle across field and moor is that, every once in a while, you get to eat your arch-nemesis.