Gould was born and raised in New York district of Queens. His father, Leonard, was a court stenographer, and his mother, Eleanor - artist. When Gould was five years old, his father took him to the hall of dinosaurs at the American Museum of Natural History, where he first saw a tyrannosaurus. «I had no idea what happens in the world - I was struck by», - remembered Gould. At this point, Gould has decided that he would become paleontologists.
Being brought up in a secular Jewish family, Gould did not formally practiced any religion, preferring to be called agnostic (Jewish agnostic). His political views very different from those of his father, who was a strong Marxist. Throughout his career, he opposes discrimination in any form, especially in the form of pseudoscience in the service of racism and sexism. In the early 1970's, Gould entered into an academic organization of left-wing «Science for the people» (eng. "Science for the People"), which grew on the grounds of pacifism movements.
Gould was married twice. His first wife was the artist, Deborah Lee, who he met while studying at Antioch College. They married 3rd October 1965, but later divorced. The second time, Gould married the sculptor Ronda Roland Shearer in 1995. In Gould had two children from first marriage: Jesse and Eitan. On top of that, he brought up two children of their second wife - Jade and London.
In July 1982, Gould was diagnosed with «peritoneal mesothelioma», a deadly form of cancer that affects epithelium, lining abdominal cavity. After a rough treatment, which lasted about two years, Gould has published an article in the journal «Discover», under the title «Do not believe the midpoint» (engl. «The Median Isn't the Message»), in which he describes his reaction to the news that that patients with mesothelioma, the average live longer than eight months after diagnosis. He then explains that in reality stands behind these numbers, and describes a relief, he felt, realizing that the average values are nothing more than a convenient simplifications and do not cover all possible variations. Median - the middle point of this timeline, and it means that 50% of patients did not survive, and eight months, but the rest live longer, and possibly much longer. All that remained to him, so find out where on this scale is its own case. Given that Gould was diagnosed at a fairly early stage of disease, that he was young, optimistic and had access to the latest tools, he concluded that he had good chances to be among the «long». After the pilot course of treatment includes radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, Gould fully recovered, and his note was a source of hope for many cancer patients.
Gould has repeatedly spoken out in support of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. During his illness he had smoked marijuana to get rid of nausea caused by the treatment. In his view, the use of marijuana has been one of the key factors contributing to its recovery. In 1998, he testified at the trial of Jim Veykforda, Canadian activist use of marijuana in medicine.
Stephen J. Gould died on 20 May 2002 metastaznoy adenocarcinoma of the lung. According to «Harvard Gazette», he died «in his home, surrounded by loved ones - his wife Rhonda, mother of Eleanor, and their favorite books».