# Is "Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown" by Stephen Jay Gould a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown by Stephen Jay Gould (Harmony Books, 1997) is identified by: Harmony Books (Crown Publishing Group), New York, 1997. The 1997 Harmony/Crown edition is the true first; the 1999 revised edition is a later text and not the first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Harmony Books (Crown Publishing Group), New York, 1997
- First edition, first printing has the number line reading to 1, ISBN 0-609-60076-1, and a priced first-issue jacket; illustrated with full-page plates
- A revised edition with a new extended preface followed in 1999
- Publisher imprint reads Harmony Books
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Stephen Jay Gould |
| Publisher | Harmony Books |
| Year | 1997 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Harmony Books (Crown Publishing Group), New York, 1997 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Harmony Books (Crown Publishing Group), New York, 1997. First edition, first printing has the number line reading to 1, ISBN 0-609-60076-1, and a priced first-issue jacket; illustrated with full-page plates. A revised edition with a new extended preface followed in 1999.

## Is this the true first?
The 1997 Harmony/Crown edition is the true first; the 1999 revised edition is a later text and not the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No prominent book-club edition point of concern.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown* by Stephen Jay Gould a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/questioning-the-millennium-a-rationalists-guide-to-a-precise
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.