In Wonderful Life, Gould tells the story of the reinterpretation of the unusual fossils of the Burgess Shale: "a grand and wonderful story of the highest intellectual merit — with no one killed, no one even injured or scratched, but a new world revealed." Reviewing Wonderful Life for Nature, Richard A. Fortey wrote, "There is no question about the historical importance of the Burgess Shale, and Gould is right when he says that it deserves a place in the public consciousness along with big bangs and black holes .... A compelling story, told with characteristic verve."