Prominent author and scientist Stephen Jay Gould will make his first appearance in the Detroit area at two symposia during the September inaugural week celebration of Wayne State University's ninth president, Irvin D. Reid.

Both presentations will be Wednesday, Sept. 16, in WSU's Community Arts Auditorium.

In the 3 p.m. symposium, Concepts of Time, Gould will respond to papers by art and art history Assistant Professor Nancy Locke and Matthew Kapell, doctoral candidate in anthropology. This session, intended primarily for the academic community, will be followed by a question and answer period.

At 7:30 p.m. Gould will present a general-interest lecture, The Fact of Evolution and the Politics of Creationism. The public is invited. Both events are free.

Gould has published numerous books and collections of essays, including Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown; Full House: The Spread of Excellence from Plato to Darwin; Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes; The Mismeasure of Man; and Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History.

His works have won awards in both the humanities and the sciences, including the National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism, the National Book Award and the National Book Critic's Circle Award.

Professor of geology and paleontology at Harvard University, Gould also is president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is best known in the scientific and academic community for his contributions to evolutionary theory but enjoys a more general reputation as an interpreter of science and its complex social consequences. He also is well-known for his column This View of Life in Natural History Magazine, and numerous Discover magazine articles.

The symposia are sponsored by the Graduate School; Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs; the colleges of education, science, nursing, liberal arts, lifelong learning, and fine, performing and communication arts; the School of Medicine; the Graduate Student Council; and the departments of chemistry and communication:

For more information, call the Graduate School at (313) 577-8050.