Gould was a smart, loquacious, schlumpy orator whom I had the pleasure of taking a class from as an undergrad. Gould wrote extensively about natural history, evolution, and baseball. I recommend any of his books if you want to read complex, well-written articles on natural science. His writing takes a lot concentration and it is worth the effort you will need to put into it.

Gould died a few years ago of cancer many, many years too soon. He loved teaching undergraduates and I owe him a great debt, as do all thinking people in the world.

Punctuated equilibrium says that evolution happens in fits and starts rather than gradually over long times. A subset of the main population is isolated for some reason -- possibly geographical -- and undergoes a substantial change from its ancestor, after which the descendant does not change significantly.

This theory opposes the "classical" idea of evolution that changes should take place gradually over long times.

http://tidepool.st.usm.edu/crswr/gradpuncteq.html

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