The flamingo's smile: reflections in natural history

The flamingo's smile --

Only his wings remained --

Sex and size --

Living with connections --

A most ingenious paradox --

Adam's navel --

The freezing of Noah --

False premise, good science --

For want of a metaphor --

Of wasps and WASPs --

Opus 100 --

Human equality is a contingent fact of history --

The rule of five --

Losing the edge --

Postscript : strike three for Babe --

Death and transfiguration --

Reducing riddles --

To show an ape --

Bound by the great chain --

The hottentot venus --

Carrie Buck's daughter --

Singapore's patrimony (and matrimony) --

Hannah West's left shoulder and the origin of natural selection --

Darwin at sea- and the virtues of port --

A short way to corn --

Just in the middle --

Mind and supermind --

SETI and the wisdom of Casey Stengel --

Sex, drugs, disasters, and the extinction of dinosaurs --

Continuity --

The cosmic dance of Siva.