The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2026: The Premier Annual Collection of Exceptional Science and Nature Nonfiction

by Randall Munroe (Editor)

A collection of twenty pieces that represent the best science and nature writing published the previous year and explores our ever-changing world.


On his selections for this year’s The Best American Science and Nature Writing, Randall Munroe writes, “Rather than simply telling people facts, I leaned toward articles that explained why we knew those facts, and why we cared, sharing portraits of people trying earnestly to understand the world around them.” The essays in this collection are deeply informative and ultimately uplifting explorations into our ever-changing world—and our ever-changing place in it. From water shortages in Pakistan, to a medical device reversing the effects of vertigo, to the politics of the 2025 Los Angeles fires clean-ups, these stories span mental health, conservation, politics, climate, and more, celebrating our unending quest to better understand the world around us.

THE BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE AND NATURE WRITING 2026 Sabrina Imbler • Rivka Galchen •
Rachel Aviv • Nathaniel Rich • Tatiana Schlossberg • Trevor Quirk • Roy Richard Grinker

Genres: Nonfiction

303 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 20, 2026

About the author

Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist, is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and the author of xkcd: volume 0. The International Astronomical Union recently named an asteroid after him; asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause a mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like Earth. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Anastey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this advance review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is hands down the best non-fiction book I've read in ages. Every single one was really interesting, and incredibly well written. The topics varied wildly, and I learned so many things I didn't know. It was one of those books that is perfect pick up for 15 minutes here and there.

I think my favorite out of the whole bunch was the one about some types of schizophrenia possibly being an autoimmune disease. It made a ton of sense as someone who is living with lupus. Flares can have a devastating affect on your mental health, so why wouldn't it extend to things like schizophrenia and bi-polar as well? The other ones like learning how dams change our landscape, and how our current communication system is affected by hurricanes and natural disaster was so important to read about too.

Overall this was a fantastic book of essays, and one I will go back and read again.

[Keyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reading a Best American Annual Collection, and I enjoyed it! This was a neat and convenient way of compiling the best articles written in this field published over the year, and the editor did a solid job in selecting pieces that covered a wide range. Really feels like a snapshot of the year.

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Suz Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology always does a great job of showing recent challenges and accomplishments affecting the world. I appreciated the variety in chosen pieces. While every story made a worthwhile read, my favorites were as follows:

“Inside the Fight Against a Los Angeles Inferno” by M.R. O’Connor gives the reader an up close and personal view of the people who fought a lethal wildfire in Southern California.

“Key Changes” by Sabrina Imbler explores songs both from nature and humans. A favorite karaoke ballad changed after hormone use and sobriety despite their empathy with the lead singer’s addiction struggles.

“The Shape of Color” by Kory Stamper explains the three dimensions of color: hue, value, and chroma/saturation) and how they figure into color space.

“The Unnatural History of Bird Flu” by Brandon Keim provides a fascinating and terrifying deep dive into the origins of H5N1 avian influenza.

“The Fish That Climbed a Mountain” by Alex Brown looks at how stocking small quantities of sterile trout, an invasive species, in the lakes of North Cascades National Park, allow fishermen their sport while trying to protect the native frogs and salamanders.

“Water Pressure” by Rafia Zakaria shows what happens when Karachi, Pakistan experiences water and electricity scarcity due to global warming. Despite its tiny carbon footprint, Pakistan is the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“Swamp People” by Ashley Stimpson follows the author visits various swamps such as The Great Black Swamp, the Okefenokee, and Big. Cypress to celebrate a milestone birthday. She discuss the importance of wetlands and the fight to preserve them.

“The Pelvic Floor is a Problem” by Casey Johnston looks at how pelvic floor dysfunction can manifest, how it’s treated, and her own experiences with it several months after childbirth.

“How a Ritzy LA Enclave Learned a Bitter Lesson About the Limits of Its Wealth” by Nathaniel Rich shows the community outrage at the disposal of toxic ash from the LA fires in a Calabasas, California landfill near where celebrities such as the Kardashians live.

In this heartbreaking essay, “A Battle with My Blood,” by Tatiana Schlossberg shares her experience of being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia with a rare mutation in the hospital after the birth of her second child.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to Mariner Books, an imprint HarperCollins Publishers, for providing an Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Anna · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

I love the Best American series of books. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2026 is a very good collection of essays and works that span a range of topics. I appreciate that the authors are writing for an audience of non-scientists and lay folks. Many provide the context and background necessary and then bring up the energy and enthusiasm to share something new and/or unexpected. I learned a lot in this collection and many of the stories felt very timely and especially current (e.g. effects of climate change, government policies and impacts on science/research). As with any collection, there were a couple that weren't quite my thing, but there's certainly something for everyone in the 2026 edition. 4.25/5


Many thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the e-arc.

[Kaitlyn Cotton · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

This is my second year of reading the BASNW collection, and I continue to love it. There’s such a wide variety of topics (climate change, health/medicine, mathematics, cell biology, nature-related politics, etc). so there’s something for everyone to learn from and enjoy.

Not all appealed to me (I am a hardcore microbiology girl at heart!) but I can appreciate the attempt to cover all the major topics in science & nature today. My favorites have to be “No-Pain Gains,” “Key Changes,” “Early Warnings,” and “The Unnatural History of Bird Flu.”

Thank you to Mariner Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really miss the old days of BASNW, when there’d be a lot more variety of topics, viewpoints, and sources—it would give us a wide variety of styles and voices. It feels like the last few years have largely been about climate/environment but the same kinds of stories all the time. Not just that, but they all sound the same. (Schlossberg might be the exception in this one).
I will say that this one is better than the last few years, but not as varied as I would’ve liked. I keep reading these, hoping something changes but it’s the same general topics, same magazine sources, etc.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of articles are written by professional journalists and have been published in other outlets prior to this book being released. Of the Best American series, the Science and Nature collection consistently has the best content.

In this particular collection, the most interesting story was by Rachel Aviv as she describes her childhood with her mother’s mental decline into what was diagnosed and treated as schizophrenia. Her mother was in and out of mental hospitals until she was finally diagnosed with lymphoma and given rituximab as part of her treatment. Her schizophrenia symptoms disappeared even though she was no longer taking antipsychotics. Her mother was then diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disorder that in rare cases can induce inflammation in the brain, causing symptoms that are indistinguishable from those of schizophrenia. After undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, including rituximab, her mother no longer had psychotic episodes.

[bookme4life]

- "Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven't Always Called It Autism" by Roy Richard Grinker
- "First Shape Found That Can't Pass Through Itself"" by Erica Klarreich
- "I Never Understood Our Data-Saturated Love Until a Hurricane Shut It Down" by Trevor Quirk

[Cade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually in an anthology of any kind, it’s hit or miss. But every article in this was a straight banger.