[the_af]

> enthronizing the in-retrospect-irrelevant Jay Gould

What? Stephen Jay Gould is not irrelevant.

> I knew his novels were kind of silly

They are not silly. They belong to a different era of Science Fiction, sure. But silly? (He did engage in intentionally goofy humor, of course, but I don't think that's what you meant).

> he was supposed to be a Scientist educating us in the scientific view of the world, goddamn it.

Asimov? He was!