The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002 (The Best American Series) [Paperback]

Natalie Angier (Editor), Tim Folger (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2002

Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002, edited by Natalie Angier, is another "eclectic, provocative collection" (Entertainment Weekly). Malcolm Gladwell, Joy Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Burkhard Bilger, Dennis Overbye, and many more of the best and brightest writers on science and nature explore such topics as the rise and fall of Islamic science, disappearing cancers, and the meaning of mountain lions in the back yard.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Science writers weigh in on a number of hot-button issues in this eloquent, accessible and often illuminating anthology. Culled from periodicals like the New Yorker, Discover, Harper's, Scientific American and the Atlantic Monthly, these 27 articles tackle everything from conservation and cancer to artificial intelligence and the origins of life. "Welcome to Cancerland," Barbara Ehrenreich's blistering review of our commercial breast cancer culture-which, she argues, celebrates "survivorhood by downplaying mortality" and infantilizes the afflicted in order to promote obedience-is the boldest and most controversial of these offerings. A close second is Frederick C. Crews's "Saving Us from Darwin," a lengthy but erudite consideration of the evolution vs. creationism debate. Several of the remaining entries offer eye-opening perspectives on humankind's impact on wildlife and the environment. In "Wall Street Losses, Wall Street Gains," Anne Matthews describes how songbirds, fixated and confused by the twinkling lights atop New York's tallest skyscrapers, circle the buildings until they fall to their death from exhaustion; H. Bruce Franklin ("The Most Important Fish in the Sea") focuses on the familiar topic of overfishing, which has led to an increased number of "dead zones" in the Atlantic; and Gordon Grice's "Is That a Mountain Lion in Your Backyard?" ponders the return of displaced mountain lions in the Western states. In her introduction to this collection, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Angier writes, "[S]cience writing has matured and is seated comfortably at the literary dining table." These fine works more than prove her point.--cience writing has matured and is seated comfortably at the literary dining table." These fine works more than prove her point.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Tim Folger, series editor for this meritorious annual, notes that the only drawback to having Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Angier, author of the vibrant and utterly trustworthy Woman: An Intimate Geography (1998), serve as this year's guest editor is the disqualification of her own essays. But Angier's personal and reflective introduction is every bit as lucid and arresting as the outstanding essays she's selected, evincing as it does her signature wit, glory in language, and passion for science. Clarity is the quality Angier looks for first, and she has found 27 prime examples in science and nature essays as consistent in excellence as they are wildly diverse in subject. Frederick C. Crews dissects the newest, most insidious form of creationism. H. Bruce Franklin explains the importance of the "foul" fish menhaden. Blaine Harden chronicles Congo's illegal coltan mining, and other superb writers discuss everything from french fries to urban wildlife, the Bhutan yeti, the SAT, brain death, and dark energy, and the reader's mind expands and fills with light, just as Angier intended. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618134786
• ISBN-13: 978-0618134786
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #328,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a new year of science, February 25, 2003

By 

[e-mail] "[e-mail]" (Beaumont, tx USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002 (The Best American Series) (Paperback)

The Best American Science and Nature Writing series is always a great joy to pick up. This is the way to keep up with general science without spending hundreds of dollars on magazines and journals (well, not really, but it is a good series of books to read). This year Natalie Angier, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of _Woman: An Intimate Geography_ is the guest editor. None of the essays stand out as newborn classics, but they are good essays. And they cover the range of fields.

Anthropology - Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's "Mothers and Others"

Biology - Frederick C. Crews' "Saving Us from Darwin" originally published in The New York Review of Books (Crews attacks every form of creationism and the blending of science and religion, including Gould, but offers us no alternative idea or solution-that's what kept this essay from being an instant classic); H. Bruce Franklin's "The Most Important Fish in the Sea" (ecology/conservation science); Gordon Grice's "Is That a Mountain Lion in Your Backyard?"; "The Dirt in the New Machine" by Blaine Harden (which is both an ecology and technology essays); "Life's Rocky Start", an essay on the origin of life on earth and the importance of minerals, by Robert M. Hazen; Anne Matthews' "Wall Street Losses, Wall Street Gains" which is about birdwatching and the World Trade Towers; Chet Raymo "A Little Reminder of Reality's Scale" (a brief piece from the Boston Globe); Peter Stark's embarrassing piece (at least he should be embarrassed by this half poorly written `fiction' with facts on jellyfish-the most poisonous one there is) titled "The Sting of the Assassin"; Joy Williams' "One Acre" about her little plot in Florida that she tried to keep ecologically safe and sound

Medicine - Barbara Ehrenreich's essay about her fight with breast cancer "Welcome to Cancerland" (a great essay that is also included in the Best American Essays"; Gary Greenberg's touching essay "As Good as Dead" (about a young boy who has a brain tumor in his head and his incredible courage to continue living and dreaming and planning for his future); Judith Newman's"I Have Seen Cancer's Disappear"

Psychology - Roy F. Baumeister's "Violent Pride" (written in a pseudo-highschool-science fair report style. This could have been a great study, but...): Malcolm Gladwell's "Examined Life" (about the SATs and test taking); "Dumb, Dumb, Duh Dumb" by Steve Mirsky (again, about our test scores); Daniel Smith "Shock and Disbelief" which is about ECT of things-yes, the pros of electroconvulsive therapy

Physics - K.C. Cole's "Mind Over Matter" (originally in the L.A. Times); the heavy material of Dark Matter by Karen Wright ("Very Dark Energy" which first appeared in Discover

Computers - Clive Thompson's "The Know-It-All Machine" which goes into artificial intelligence

And the others: Burkhard Bilger's essay on eating odd animals, "Braised Shank of Free-Range Possum"; "In the Realm of Virtual Reality" by Richard Conniff and Harry Marshall, which discusses pseudozoology (creatures like the Yeti and such); Garret Keizer's essay on sound and noise, "Sound and Fury" (from Harper's); Verlyn Klinkenborg's odd newspaper column, "The Pursuit of Innocence in the Golden State", which is about California, but more on a two sentence sociological statement; Robert Kunzig's "Ripe for Controversy" which discusses cheese and health regulations' Dennis Overbye's "How Islam Won, and Lost, the Lead in Science" ; Eric Schlosser's "Why McDonald's Fries Taste So Good"

and above all, these essays are easy enough for the layperson, but good for the expert as well.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb collection of Articles, February 12, 2003

By 

Robert Kall "Rob Kall of Opednews.com" (Newtown, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002 (The Best American Series) (Paperback)

As a longtime science and health writer, when I saw this title, it leaped out at me. What a good way to see the articles that are considered the best-- to see what kinds of articles mainstream magazines are buying, in terms of topic, style, approach, etc.

It's been a delightful surprise to discover that this book is just loaded with brilliantly written, fascinating articles covering an incredible range of topics. If you enjoy the world of science-- if you read Discover, Scientific American, New Scientist, Science News, Nature-- then you'll love this book.
Actually, I could just as easily mention magazines like The New Yorker, Atlantic, Smithsonian.... because the writing is certainly good enough to make into their pages.. and has.

Some of the articles are just fun to read. Some have been wonderfully helpful in filling in some ideas I've been working on. For example, the article on child rearing, which reports an anthropological approach which studied humans and other primates gave me ideas that plug in beautifully with the ideas on the prefrontal lobes, affect regulation and parent child interaction that Allan Schore writes about. It actually ties that together with Thom Hartmann's hunter farmer model of ADHD. But that's just one article. I've been amazed how, as I'd start out each article with the intent to browse, I'd shift gears to reading each and every one in depth.

Turning someone on to this book will be a real gift. it's a gem.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real pleasure, November 5, 2003

By 

J. Israel "jaisrael" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002 (The Best American Series) (Paperback)

This is a truly wonderful anthology. Thought-provoking, humorous, almost every chapter taught me something new and fascinating.