The reason I can be sure you are wrong about Gould is that I have read him. He was a great admirer and defender of Darwin. Gould simply has a hypothesis that states that small genetic differences can have huge effects in the final form of a creature, giving the outward appearance of varying rates of change.
The rate of environmental change can also result in different rates of selection. The only thing Gould says taht differs from Darwin is that we now have more and better information about specific histories.