The Structure of Evolutionary Theory

978 THE STRUCTURE OF EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

3. In sociology, Savage and Lombard's (1983) model "of the process of
   change in the structure of work groups" cites a key prod from punctuated
   equilibrium:

Social scientists, at least in small-group studies, generally follow the

uniformitarians' view. In recent years studies in several fields have led to

revisions in arguments about these classic views. Paleobiology...

continues to provide some of the most specific and convincing of the newer

studies. Even though the field is far removed from the study of changes in

work groups in South America, it is informative to examine some of them.

Writing in 1972 about the fossil record of mollusks, Eldredge and Gould

concluded that in the development of a new species "the alternative picture

[to gradual and continuous change is] of stasis punctuated by episodic

events."

4. In history, Levine (1991) used our term and concept to center his argument
   about the history of working-class families in an article entitled: "Punctuated
   Equilibrium: The modernization of the proletarian family in the age of ascendant
   capitalism."


5. In literary criticism, Moretti (1996) cited punctuated equilibrium to
   epitomize the history of the epic as a literary genre, the principal subject of his
   book: "It is an undulating curve; a discontinuous history that soars, then gets stuck.
   Overall, it is the conception illustrated by Gould and Eldredge with the theory of
   'punctuated equilibria'" (Moretti, 1996, p. 75).


6. In art history, Bahn and Vertut (1988) used punctuated equilibrium to
   refute the standard gradualist and progressivist views of the greatest scholars of
   Paleolithic cave painting, the Abbe H. Breuil and Andre Leroi-Gourhan (see
   further comments on pp. 953-956).


7. In the dubious, but popular, literature of "self help" Connie Gersick's
   fascinating and thought-provoking work (see pp. 958-959) links individual and
   organizational growth to patterns of punctuated equilibrium. But her subtlety was
   badly sandbagged in the news bulletin of the University of California (where she
   teaches at UCLA) for February 21, 1989: "Gersick likened this transition to a
   midlife crisis, which, she said, is part of a phenomenon known as 'punctuated
   equilibrium'... For organizations which rely on the results of creative efforts,
   Gersick notes that understanding the transitions within the creative process can
   help groups to work more effectively. 'Managers may be able to build more
   punctuation points into the process.'"


8. In humor (and to restore equilibrium after the last quotation), Weller
   properly situates punctuated equilibrium between gradualism and true saltationism
   in his book Science Made Stupid (for another example, see Fig. 9-37).
   These citations obviously vary greatly in cogency and utility, but they do
   indicate that punctuated equilibrium has struck a chord of consonance with themes
   in contemporary culture that many analysts view as central and troubling. Some
   usages amount to mere misguided metaphorical fluff, but others may direct and
   focus major critiques. In any case, since people are not stupid