Although not described as such, Stephen Jay Gould's book "Wonderful Life, The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History" is in fact case studies of all the aspects revealed in the case study of the discovery of, and subsequent reassessment of, a Cambrian largely soft bodied fossil assemblage. The importance of the message that Gould sends is that it illustrates the consequences that a closed mind can have on the value of 'original' research. As a cautionary tale that message applies to any research on any subject that treads new ground, no matter what is the subject of of that research.
One of these days a work will be published that exemplifies the importance of being wrong. The condemnation of speculative 'kite flying,' whether right or wrong, has the effect of closing possible new avenues of research, for who knows when the final definitive aspect of any research on any subject is actually reached?
That then is the real and major importance of this book, in addition of course, to its great value when describing early examples of animal life forms.

Geoffrey Fairclough. Author of "Rammmi's Children."

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