The Best American Science And Nature Writing 2016: A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Collection of Hard-Hitting Investigative Journalism and Beautifully Composed Essays

by Amy Stewart (Editor), Tim Folger

Best-selling author Amy Stewart edits this year’s volume of the finest science and nature writing.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Essays, Nature, Anthologies, Environment, Short Stories

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2016

About the author

Amy Stewart is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen books, including Girl Waits with Gun, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, The Drunken Botanist, and Wicked Plants.

She lives in Portland with her husband Scott Brown, a rare book dealer.

Stay connected with Amy via her newsletter , where she offers cocktail recipes, creative inspiration, book recommendations, and more!

Reviews

[Tonstant Weader · Rating 5 out of 5]

In these days of fake news and pseudoscience triumphant, it seems almost quaint to read actual science from real and accountable news sources, but it is still a worthy effort. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2016 is a collection of the best articles and essays from American newspapers, magazines and journals.

There is always variety in these anthologies, but I thought the addition of “The Modern Moose” by Amy Leach was particularly brilliant. It’s a humorous piece with an imaginative whimsy that might disqualify it in many people’s eyes. I thought it was perfect. I also appreciated the inclusion of an essay by Oliver Sacks acknowledging that he would soon by dying and looking at the periodic table as a timeline of his life.

More typical articles focused on climate change. “The Siege of Miami” by Elizabeth Kolbert was so alarming I dreamed about the eventual disappearance of Miami underwater. Several I had read during the year, including the incredibly important “The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous” by Gabrielle Glaser in The Atlantic. I have shared that original article a dozen times or more in hopes that people will stop believing AA propaganda and look to science where there is real success. The New York Times article on nail salons is included, an article that had an immediate effect in prompting changed regulations in the city.

One article was very discomfiting. “Begin Cutting” by Gaurav Raj Telhan is an essay by a former medical student describing the students’ semester long relationship with a donated cadaver used to teach medical students about the human body. My parents and my sister’s bodies have gone to this program and I have done the paperwork for myself. It was good to see how helpful and necessary it is, but still…gross!

It is impossible to read every great article on science and nature, so there is no better option than at least reading the annual anthology of some of the best. Science is under siege. The far right attacks science in the service of fossil fuel and chemical industries, enabling further environmental degradation and destruction. The far left attacks science in the service of counterfactual conspiracists who fear vaccines and peer-reviewed medicine and advancements in agriculture, but in the service of alternative medicine industries that are every bit as financially invested in discrediting science as the Koch brothers.

This year, as in every year, there is a wide selection of timely and important articles. This year, as in every year, many of them focus on the increasing urgency of climate change. Sadly, this year, as in every year, more than half of Americans will continue to deny settled science because facing reality might demand they do something about it.

Amy Stewart edited the 2016 edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2016. I was familiar with her for her historical detective novel Girl Waits With Gun so I was a bit puzzled by the choice until I learned she wrote The Drunken Botanist, a book about the plants used to make alcohol, Wicked Plants, about plants that attack, poison, and kill people, and several other science books about bugs, flowers, and the like. Her selections were wide-ranging, original and diverse, making for an excellent annual review.


★★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpres...

[Josh Caporale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this collection of essays with an interest in exploring current affairs pertaining to the scientific, the natural, the environmental, and so much more that was taking place in our world. After selecting one such essay, The Modern Moose by Amy Leach, to place on our discussion list for the sixth season of Literary Gladiators (which I will share upon its release), I decided to read the entire collection and got a lot out of the topics at hand. Despite the fact that many of them addressed the problem and discussed the process of finding the solution instead of naming the solution, this has definitely filled me in on so many familiar subjects, and those not so familiar, that have been brought up in the news in areas not necessarily associated with politics. Of course, this book does not shy away from politics and a few articles make left-leaning statements, but for the most part (and I mean 80% so), this book concentrates on the issue that it is addressing in its essay.

The strongest essays in my mind in this book included:

Tracking Ivory by Bryan Christy- This essay talks about Christy's efforts to create decoy ivory to plant within the illegally acquired ivory so that the illegal ivory could be tracked and the poachers caught and punished.

Rotten Ice by Gretel Ehrlich- A woman talks about her visits to Greenland and how their rising temperatures prove to be a great deal for the rest of the world and also its impact on climate change.

The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World with Logic by Amanda Gefter- An account about Walter Pitts and his forgotten, but nevertheless impactful research in neuroscience and its connections to our way of thinking.

A Very Naughty Little Girl by Rose George- An account about Janet Vaughan and how she spoke against and pioneered long lasting practices in medicine, primarily in the field of hematology.

Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers by Sarah Maslin Nir- This essay talks about the respiratory and other impactful diseases that have come with working in nail salons and breathing in the chemicals that can be found in polishes and other cosmetics. There has also been drastic outcomes in the health of their children.

My Periodic Table by Oliver Sacks- Sacks died in 2015, making this his last contribution to this series, but he wrote a very heartfelt piece about his love for physical science, but especially for the elements on the periodic table and how he has celebrated his birthdays with realms centered around his age (for instance, Thallium would surround his 81st birthday, while Lead make up the realm for his 82nd).

The Lost Girls by Apoorva Mandavilli- This one is out of order, but it was my favorite essay in the entire book. While information on the subject of the autistic spectrum interests me, the research that is being made and chronicled on autism, Asperger's, and other autistic spectrum conditions in females is quite mindblowing. This essay talks about different female Autists from different backgrounds and the studies that are being mind and how it is much different than with male Autists.

Other topics in this collection include the second guessing of Alcoholics Anonymous (The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous by Gabrielle Glaser), addressing Ebola in Liberia (They Helped Erase Ebola in Liberia, Now Liberia is Erasing Them by Helene Cooper), an argument about sports bras (Why Are Sports Bras So Terrible? by Rose Eveleth), among other really fascinating topics of interest that I am sure will open up the minds of readers.

One must take in account that these are essays, so there is research that is applied to these works, but there is also a bit of subjection that can be applied by those that are writing them. Every writer takes a different approach. As I said above, though, this collection did the most to concentrate on the topics at hand and it made for a collection of annual writings that I will continue to purchase and check out as they are released. In fact, I would like to start a collection of this series and incorporate previous issues (this series goes back to 2000) to get a taste of science and nature writing at large and learn about the progression of events in this realm. I own the 2006 edition, so there are 15 more issues to include!

My star rating for this book may change based on how I see the others in this series and also how my mind processes these pieces, but for now, it is four stars out of five and a solid recommendation.

You can find our discussion of The Modern Moose by Amy Leach (which is subject to spoilers) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0no9X...

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual mixed bag of two dozen science and nature essays.

***** five stars

— Telescope Wars, by Kate Worth, which first published in Scientific American. Three big telescope projects with common goals around the world suffer because they cannot work together as a collective force, which would result in a better piece than any one of them could build alone. The competition began a hundred years ago when bitterness, personality conflicts and competing technologies collided, preventing corrobroation.

This, the best of the best, appeared last because the essays publish in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Rather than organizing that way, the two dozen essays could break into three or four sections, pulling related subjects together.

**** four stars

— The Siege of Miami, by Elizabeth Kolbert, published by The New Yorker. Climate change real and writ large as glaciers melt and the seas rise. Miami already feels the impact and will continue as a leading gauge.

— Bugged, by Rinku Patel, from Popular Science. Microbes make up sixty percent of the earth’s biomass. Another interesting discussion about biomes as that becomes a topic of serious and popular inquiry.

— Tracking Ivory, by Bryan Christy, first published in National Geographic. African elephants are under siege. For their tusks, marauding poachers slaughter thirty thousand elephants a year. To learn where these tusks go, National Geographic commissioned fake tusks, put them on the market, then used embedded GPS devices to tracked the movement through the black markets. Ingenious.

— Thirty Million Gallons Under the Sea, by Antonia Juhasz, from Harper’s Magazine. The author documents many impacts from the BP disaster. Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota found BP oil in the eggs of white pelicans that were in the gulf at the time of the spill.

— The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World With Logic, by Amanda Gefter, first published in Nautilus. Walter Pitts, a young autodidact, and Warren McCulloch, a scientist, laid the foundation for cybernetics and artificial intelligence. At the University of Chicago in the early forties, the two developed a model, the first argument of the brain as an information processor. “For the first time in history, we know how we know,” said McCulloch.

McCulloch invited Pitts, in his teens, to join his Hinsdale household, a bustling, free-spirited bohemia where literary types dropped by. (The story describes the suburb as “rural Hinsdale,” although it straddles Cook and duPage counties seventeen miles from Chicago Union Station. I take Metra to the 1899 Hinsdale station when meeting my sister.)

This year’s guest editor favored pieces with strong narrative. I, however, favor pieces with strong science writing, even if the narrative falls short. What strong science articles failed to make the cut this year because the guest editor felt that the narrative was not strong enough? Let’s return to publishing the best science and nature writing.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully curated collection of science writing by Amy Stewart, who chose pieces not just for the science but for the narrative as well. Wonderful reporting about ice in Greenland, the dubious evidence or lack thereof for bed-rest in pregnancy, why sports bras don't fit, the health hazards women working as manicurists face in the workplace, the issues surrounding the push to bring electricity to all of India, the disservice done to women and girls with autism by the research/medical community, and a 15,000 page mathematical proof (you read that right). And yes, I cried when I read Oliver Sacks's piece.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing on my collection of " The Best American " series, this, the Science collection, is a very strong collection. While not every story is a keeper or of particular interest to this reader, there are several standout articles that deliver the gold one hopes for in this type of reading, that is information so interesting that one wants to talk about it with others or even to explore the subject matter first.

The opening story is from Orion Magazine which explains about a Texas project where donated bodies are allowed to decompose in a natural wild environment. The purpose is to let researchers learn better how to track missing persons in the harsh climes of the Southwest. The changes in the environment around a body, and certainly the behaviors of scavenger animals, as well as the timetable of decomposition, are all valuable. I had read a previous version of the story in an earlier anthology. This version of the article, titled, " Back to the Land " was considerably shorter but still insightful.

" Tracking Ivory " from National Geographic is a an interesting story about attempts in the constant battle against ivory poachers in the Central African countries of Uganda, Sudan and such. Complicated by warring factions the scientists implant GPS trackers inside fake ivory that is put into the illegal trade. The hope is to learn the pathways that the ivory moves on in an attempt to catch and curtail the poachers.

For The New York Times Helene Cooper wrote " They Helped Erase Ebola in Liberia. Now Liberia is Erasing Them. ". Lengthy title or not this article surprises us when we learn that those people who put themselves at great risk to try to help the victims and or curtail the spread of the disease are now being shut out of society, ostracized as soiled or dangerous people. The government has been no help as to publicize their travail is to talk about an epidemic they would best like to forget.

From Harper's we read " Rotten Ice " another of the constant stream of articles about the changing climates in the arctic, this centering on the rapidly slushing ice in much of Greenland.

And from the correctly titled magazine " Racked " an article titles " Why are Sports Bra's so Terrible explored that topic in a lengthy article. I have no comment on this.

From " Nautilus " we read " The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World With Logic," the story of scientist Walter Pitts. Born in 1923 into a bedraggled, bullied, backward, existence he found solace in the library and, eventually, became one of the great minds of twentieth century science. It also illustrates the harmful controversies and jealousies in that community which led to his reaching the highest heights and ended with him a broken man, dying along in a shabby apartment in 1969.

A stunning portrait by Rose George " A Very Naughty Little Girl " tells of a woman scientist and educator who has been primarily forgotten if she ever got time acclaim she deserved. Janet Maria Vaughn was a Doctor and Researcher in the first half of the last century. She was discriminated against constantly, at University, in hospitals, even down to the mice she was not allowed for research, she had to use pigeons. Still, this woman, revolutionized blood transfusions, and importantly the process of blood donation, learning about blood types, and blood storage. Her efforts saved countless lives in London in World War Two. She was one of a handful of people in that time frame that can be called an incredible difference maker, an absolutely heroic woman.

Have you ever heard of Naltrexone? I had not, and, as Gabrielle Glaser explains in an article from The Atlantic, this is a major problem. In an article with the provocative title " The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous " we read about how the scientific community is becoming increasingly vocal in its belief that the non scientific methods prescribed by AA need to be refuted as the one size fits all answer for all people struggling with alcohol. The article is lengthy with much information but I cannot recommend it strongly enough. AA works for some people, I have friends for whom it has. But, for a great deal of people it does not, my brother was an alcoholic, twelve step programs never worked. Doctors have for years known that for some people the use of a drug such as Naltrexone, taken prior to an evening of drinking, can change the chemistry, the desires in the brain, and allow a person to have a drink without a need to drink until they pass out. The problems are manifold. Deprivation effect can make the desire stronger than it needs to be, the constant drumbeat of if you slip and have one drink you will proceed to the bottom of your,life with no ability to stop becomes a self fulfilling prophecy for some. And while Doctors and Psychologists agree that AA does work for a subset of people, the folks at AA and it's proponents have no use for any other theory that does not include total abstinence. And, this is where their anti science methodology gains the intensity of a religious theory, and, because, of that facts don't matter anymore. If you know anyone struggling with alcohol I can only urge you to read this article, explore all the options available, 12 steps programs certainly, but also the many different medical approaches some Doctors are willing to pursue. If alcoholism is a disease then we need to take the moralistic viewpoints of shame and weakness out of the equation as we search for methods that will help different groups.

Also from Harper's " Thirty Million Gallons Under the Sea " is an article in which the writer travels on a research submarine as it explores the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico in the area of the BP oil spill.

And, again, from Harper's, the author Alexandra Kleeman writes " The Bed-Rest Hoax " in which she explores the growing medical information that shows that bed rest, for pregnant women, for inform patients, and others, proves to be a harmful treatment. It is, another one of these pieces of information, which are easy to agree with in the cumulative, but, that in the singular, your singular, when you have a medical issue and your Doctor recommends bed rest, it is harder to follow thru on. How can bed rest be a bad thing. The article shows that it is, and I must be, is a cause for concern with me and my own limited mobility from my own medical condition.

Elizabeth Kolbert might well be the best writer today on scientific and environmental issues. She continues that in an article from The New Yorker titled " The Siege of Miami. " Exploring the current and coming effects of global warming and rising oceans on the city of Miami we see politicians postulating belief in American ingenuity to solve the problem. What this means is that, barring, any great new intervention methodologies, Miami, and coastal cities all over the world are in serious trouble. This is a telling article.

In another article that speaks of the constant battle between environmental and economic policy, " What's Left Behind " is about the open pit mines of Butte, Montana. With a monstrous lake of wastewater left behind one might find no better example of the divisions that come when the bill comes due for business conducted with an eye to short term gain only.

" The Will to Change " from National Geographic explores the exploding solar energy movement in Germany. Wondering why this has not been replicated elsewhere the obvious difference is that the German people have fully bought into the project. Tying that to the efforts in the seventies and eighties of the anti nuclear movement Germany is far beyond their European neighbors in both acceptance and desire to fulfill solar goals.

" The Lost Girls " appeared in Spectrum. This explores the problems of diagnosing autism in girls and women. While it is a condition more prevalent in males it does exist in women. The problem is not only the reduced awareness of the condition, but also the fact that the symptoms present differently, and thus might not be diagnosed correctly. Quite interesting.

Respected author Charles Mann ( of 1491 ) wrote " Solar, Eclipsed, " from Wired magazine. This explores the energy needs of India, its future as the biggest economy in the world, efforts at private means of expanding small scale solar needs but the reality that solar just simply cannot fill their entire, or even their majority needs. President Modi was a big environmentalist, almost anti coal, before being elected, but now, the realities have overtaken him and he has started softening his position on coal.

" Return of the Wild " explores the first wolves that have been tracked into Northern California. Strong efforts are being made to encourage this infiltration but, then again, there is always a conflict with ranchers. Thus far the numbers are so few as to have no effect but inevitably, if the wolves prosper, the conflict will arise again.

Sarah Maslin Nir has won rear acclimation for her New York Times article " Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers. " It is well deserved. The article shows the wide ranging ill effects on the predominantly minority, often immigrant population, that work in nail salons. The chemicals cause skin irritations, respiratory difficulties, and worst of all, for women of child bearing age, birth defects and miscarriages. One will not be surprised to find out that the cosmetics lobby disputes any findings such as these, and spends millions of dollars lobbying against any changes. The fact that the afflicted individuals are usually low income, often non English speaking, women of color, certainly does not increase the power of their argument for change to come. It is an important story.

" Attack of the Killer Beetles " explains how varieties of bark beetles are decimating forests across the west. Increasing temperatures, changing weather patterns, they mean that as bad as this is, the problem is likely to get much worse as the insects move into the Canadian forests, the Midwest, and into the Northeast. A secondary exploration follows a scientist as she disputes the efforts of the Forest Service to thin the trees in an effort to stop the beetles. She feels that this is a convenient cover for the forest industry to exploit much of what otherwise would be off limits forest land. The beetles, it seems, show that they do a better job in culling the forest by attacking the weak trees, an examination the timber companies do not do.

" Bugged " from Popular Science explores the biology of the human gut. The consistent use of antibacterial products might well be harming the biome of human, making us weaker, and less resistant to illness.

Scientific American featured an article called " The Telescope Wars " which shows how competition and jealousy have caused three large telescopes to be seeking tens of millions of dollars in funding, two of them within the same geographical space because the scientists at various universities cannot work together.

Oliver Sacks wrote an essay while he was living under his terminal diagnosis titled " My Periodic Table." Like much of what he wrote it is exquisite. This, a treatise on his feelings about the end of his life and a renewed interest in the elements of the periodic table, is special.

" Begin Cutting " from the Virginia Quarterly Review has a Doctor looking back at his first year of medical school. He writes about his relationship with the corpse his team was assigned in their anatomy class and his interest in piecing the woman's life together after the fact, something that, even years later, he is not able, for confidentiality reasons, able to do.

Kathryn Schulz wrote " The Really Big One " for The New Yorker, an article about the potential for a devastating super earthquake in the Pacific Northwest. She won a Pulitzer Prize and it was the magazine article of the year. Describing the science used to discover the long term earthquake patterns of the Northwest ( with no recorded history in the written record ) and then explaining how, with this knowledge just being new in the last decade, the building codes are no where up to speed and evacuation under threat of a tsunami for example is all but impossible. If this science proves correct, this will be the greatest natural disaster our country has ever seen. A stunning, potentially life changing story.

[Cerisa Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the articles chosen by the guest editor were incredibly depressing (ivory trade, melting glaciers, toxic waste, oil spills, politicians choosing wealth over our planet, etc.). However, since this selection reflects the reality of our world today, these same articles are essential reading for anyone hoping to be truly informed citizens of planet Earth. Additionally, these truly depressing “our planet is in trouble” articles are mixed in with thought provoking pieces on various topics including sports bras, the history of blood transfusions, the ways in which American gender norms impact girls with autism, and the failure of Alcoholics Anonymous. While other reviewers have suggested that these articles should have been broken up into several separate sections (on politics, climate change, space, etc.), I disagree. The current structure (largely organized by author’s last name) ensures that you cannot easily read only the articles on your preferred topics. Instead, you find those articles while reading the book cover-to-cover, and thus leave with a wealth of information on topics you never knew you’d find so fascinating.

[Stephen Dorneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Year after year this Best American series continues to rock whether the essays are about climate change's effect on native Greenlanders, mathematical theorems, or squabbling astronomers. Can't recommend this 2016 edition highly enough.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I get this every year for Christmas from Santa. It's my must-read

[Myra Scholze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supurb mix of science and nature writing ranging from climate change and mathematics to reflective and prose. I loved the wide array of content and the accessibility of each piece.

[Thuận Sarzynski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of journalistic writing about science and nature!
I loved the last one about the competition of astronomer teams to get the biggest telescope :)

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of essays, only one or two that I felt weren't worth including. There is a practical or social justice angle to many of them.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection, may become a collector of the series.

As a voracious reader of science articles, I was surprised by how many of these articles I had not yet read. Just False Gospel of AA / Perfect Nails, Poisoned Workers / Siege of Miami / The Really Big One

Which meant 16 fresh new science articles plus re-reading some great pieces.

My Top 5 Pieces:

The Really Big One
Tracking Ivory
False Gospel of AA
Why Are Sports Bras So Terrible?
The Man Who Tried to Redeem The World With Logic

I also have a newfound appreciation for the writing in Harper's and National Geographic. I rarely stumble across them and they each contributed several gems to this collection.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

These annual compilations are always valuable to me, both as a reader and a science writing teacher at Carnegie Mellon. In this year's publication, edited by the nonfiction writer/novelist Amy Stewart, there are several standout articles, but I'll just mention four favorites.

* The Siege of Miami, a New Yorker article by the brilliant Elizabeth Kolbert, gives a close-up view of the way rising sea levels are not only flooding Miami Beach, but are making it harder for rainwater to drain off South Florida's surface. Meanwhile, the governor of Florida banned employees from talking about climate change.

* A Very Naughty Little Girl, by Rose George, takes a look at the life of Dame Janet Maria Vaughan, an independent blueblood who played a major role in the creation of the blood transfusion industry and fought against misogynistic prejudice the whole way.

* Gabrielle Glazer's The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous was a controversial Atlantic article that argued that there is little scientific evidence that abstinence is necessary for people to stop abusing alcohol.

* Amanda Gefter's The Man Who Tried to Redeem the World with Logic tells a cautionary tale of a brilliant young researcher in the pioneering days of computing who ended up sick, broke and nearly forgotten.

Those four articles alone are worth the price of the purchase.

[Lukasz Pruski · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Arctic is shouldering the wounds of the world, wounds that aren't healing. Long ago we exceeded the carrying capacity of the planet, with its seven billion humans all longing for some semblance of First World comforts. The burgeoning population is incompatible with the natural economy of biological and ecological systems."

A major disappointment! I liked and recommended here two earlier installments of the series, The Best American Science Writing 2006 and The Best American Science Writing 2005 , but the publisher decided to "improve" the series and added 'nature' to 'science' in the title. Alas, the title is quite misleading. Not much science remains in the book that supposedly features the best American essays in the field written in 2016. In fact, the book does not contain a single essay from the basic science area. Do the publishers really think that science is too hard for people to read about? More whining later, now about some good stuff.

The main theme of the collection is, of course, the destruction of our environment, the climate change, and the fate of the planet whose inhabitants happily ignore the crisis that may now be unavoidable. Rotten Ice is probably the most interesting essay in the set: we learn how the climate change affects Greenland and the lives of its people. Their livelihood depends on the thickness of ice. An essay about an environmental manager of a coalfield in India is pretty grim: we are told that

"India's carbon output [...] is growing faster than any other country's."

On the other hand, a piece about Germany's successes in converting to energy from renewable sources is somewhat optimistic, despite the obvious obstacles and growing pains.

One of the environmental essays is sort of close to science: we learn about bark beetles that have killed billions of trees, but the author presents a hypothesis that the beetles and the trees have mutually adapted to the climate change. The passages about symbiosis between beetles and fungus sound actually like science. On the other hand, in an essay that begins very promisingly with the story of how individual wolves migrated from Oregon to Northern California where their offspring can now be found, the tone suddenly changes and we have to read about celebrities and their dogs. I really am unable to understand why writing about nature and science has to be polluted by names like Christina Aguillera or Renee Zellweger.

I was happy to find a piece about mathematics (even if math is obviously not a science): an essay about rewriting the so-called "enormous theorem" in the finite simple group theory. For a text about math it is relatively accessible. Some readers may be interested in an article ridiculing the "non-scientific gospel" of the 12-steps philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous and criticizing the abstinence-only approach. Others may be amused by a piece that calls prescribing bed rest for pregnant women a hoax. An article about burning the bodies of victims of Ebola pandemic in Liberia is interesting at the beginning before it degenerates into pornography of death.

The very first piece, Back to the Land is truly bad: it hits the reader with histrionic, pompous, stilted writing. The Modern Moose is unfortunately similar: the author tries to convey lyricism and ends up with silly and pretentious stuff. In contrast with these two failures we find a deeply moving piece by Oliver Sacks, who was close to death at the time of this writing. My Periodic Table illustrates the obvious truth that some people can write well while others - like the authors of the two previously mentioned pieces and also this reviewer - can't.

Two stars.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best science and nature anthologies ever but it was a difficult read, not for the vocabulary but for the content. Many of the articles tell a story of dire situations, which are eye-opening but also depressing when read one after another.

Gretel Ehrlich's article, Rotten Ice, describes the rapid melting of glaciers in the Greenland with dire consequences for world coastlines. Elizabeth Kolbert's article, The Siege of Miami, illustrates how rising coastlines and climate change is already devastating large parts of Miami Beach. Apoorva Mandavilli's article, The Lost Girls, explains how thousands of young girls suffer from autism but most physicians can't recognize the symptoms in their behavior. Sarah Maslin NBir's article, Perfect nails, Poisoned Workers explores the prevalence of respiratory and skin ailments among nail salon workers. Maddie Oatman's article, Attack of the Killer Beetles explores how insects that are devastating forests in the West are worse than the ash borer beetle in the Midwest. And to top them all Kathryn Schulz's article, The Really Big One, which won a Pulitzer Prize for science journalism, explains a fault line known as the Cascadian subduction zone is overdue for an enormous earthquake that is likely to devastate 140,000 square miles of land in Oregon and northern California, becoming the worst natural disaster in North America.

Not all of the articles were this dire. Some were just plain discouraging. Gabrielle Glaser's article, The False Gospel of Alcoholic Anonymous, is an in-depth analysis of the flaws with the Alcoholic Anonymous program with negative consequences for efforts to help people control alcohol use. Alexandra Kleeman's article, The Bed-Rest Hoax, illustrates how many people in the past and still many in the present, especially pregnant women, suffer from prescriptions to stay motionless in bed.

And some articles were truly inspiring. Rose George's article, A Very Naughty Little Girl, was a brief biography of Janet Vaughan, who became a physician in England in the 1920's and organized blood banks for people living in poverty in the 1930's and the very first blood bank in London during World War 2. Amanda Gefter's article, The Man Who Tried to redeem the World with Logic, was another great one - the story of Walter Pitts, who taught himself philosophy and mathematics at a PhD level but wrecked his mind and body by trying to create a mathematical model of how the brain uses logic.

Just about every article in this anthology tells a powerful story. A wide variety of physical and natural sciences are represented. I look forward to each new year's version of this anthology.

[Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

For several years I have enjoyed annually picking up a copy of these essays and seeing what people have to say about a variety of topics in the science and nature field. The essays are always short enough to fit into time slots that are not conducive to extended reading. As always, the essays in this edition ranged from being very interesting to those not so much. I most enjoy those that tell me something that I didn't already know about a topic that I know something about or cause me to look at a topic from a different perspective. Bits and pieces of interesting information I gleaned from this edition included: Alcoholics Anonymous is only about 5-10% successful; that there is usually no scientific rationale for bed rest during pregnancy; that C-sectioning is costing newborns some valuable microbial flora; that a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami is overdue for the Washington & Oregon area (much more likely than California!); that the wonderful physician author Oliver Sacks was just as interesting writing about his looming death as he was about writing stories of the mind; that the Arctic is full of "rotten ice" because of global warming; etc. On the other hand, this edition is also full of stories about ecological disasters and "green" movements that didn't present much inspiration for me. Some interesting but not particularly engrossing topics included toxic nail polish, sports bra design, body decomposing farms, blood donations, etc. All of the latter promised more than they delivered. All in all, this edition was worth my time, but only a few of the essays are the type I would mark for future review.

[E.p. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Best American Science and Nature Writing every year. Amy Stewart selected an excellent collection of incredibly inspiring and relevant topics in Science. This is no easy feat considering the very dark atmosphere in science lately around politics. I really appreciated the positive and uplifting vibe from this compilation. I enjoyed it so much that I bought a copy for each of my lab members, hoping to share some inspiration.

Some of the works that resinated with me:

Tracking Ivory: Terrorist organizations may not be the only corrupt entities slaughtering animals for ivory to support illicit activities. To track the who, what, where, and how, radio transmitters are placed in faux ivory and added to the smuggling trade.

Rotten Ice: the effects of climate change on heritage for icelandic subsistence hunters.

Why are sports bras so terrible: as a runner, I appreciate this piece. I'm sad to hear that athlesuire and being cute is out demanding basic function.

A Very Naughty Little Girl: Dame Janet Maria Vaughan, I am so inspired by you. Holy smokes, how one woman's vision, dedication, and humble service continues to save millions of lives is completely remarkable. I've been in science classes my whole damn life and I've never once heard her name mentioned. I was inspired to the point of tears by this story. Excellent writing.

The False Gospel of AA: Logic over policy and grandfathered programs

The Really Big One: the San Juan De Fuca fault and the aftermath from the anticipated quake. As an Oregonian, this gives me nightmares.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always look forward to reading this annual anthology, and the 2016 collection was great as usual.

My anecdote: Our family vacation this year was to Oregon, and I picked up this book in Portland's famous Powell's book store. Leaving Portland, my family headed down to southern Oregon, and then back up the coast. All along the coast, I saw tidal wave zone warnings--they caught my eye but I thought little of them. I loved the trip!

But then, I got home and read his book. Including the article about how Oregon and the rest of the Pacific Northwest is long overdue for a massive earthquake that is going to destroy the coast and pretty much kill everyone. And now I am never going to Oregon again. And also telling everyone that Oregon is going to be destroyed in a massive earthquake. Any. Day. Now.

In addition to the great article about how Oregon is about to be destroyed, there are lots of other interesting articles in the anthology. I particularly enjoyed one about the telescope wars (how three competing entities evolved to essentially be working on the same telescope for decades, but cannot seem to collaborate), the effects of the BP oil spill, and how bed rest may actually be a bad thing. Then, of course, was the article about the health hazards of working in nail salons, which made me feel terrible about my occasional pedicures--but apparently not bad enough to stop getting them.

Highly recommended, as always.

[Elena Santangelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably give this a little under 3 stars. Maybe 2.8. Some of the articles were very good. Several were about "science facts" that we take for granted when not enough real research was done (for instance--doctors prescribing bedrest, especially for pregnant women, when the latest studies show that bedrest really isn't good for most people).

But quite a lot of the articles are more about people's emotional reactions to something involving nature or science. They aren't articles with any real information about science or nature, which is what I was looking for. Or they were science articles, but overlong, making their point more than 2 or 3 or even 4 times--the content was good, but the writing wasn't.

Can't recommend.

[M Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great essays, particularly the ones about the microbiome (probiotic wallpaint!), Janet Vaughn's pioneering work preserving donated blood for WWII, women on the autism spectrum, and the hazards of working in nail salons. However, I found the collection a bit of a bait-and-switch. These essays are much more about people, with very little scientific detail in them. I found myself yearning for some hypothesis testing rather than just quirky profiling. Sadly, the most scientific pieces were the most depressing, with half the essays about climate change and others about politics preventing good science.

[Brian Stuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I simply love these anthologies each year of the best science and nature writing from all the best publications. 2016's collection proved to be as interesting as previous years. I was fascinated to read Rose Eveleth's article from "Racked" on "Why Are Sports Bras So Terrible." Gabrielle Glaser's expose on the 12-Step myth of AA in "The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous," from The Atlantic was as fascinating as Kathryn Schulz's article "The Really Big One" was terrifying (from The New Yorker).

If you enjoy learning the cutting-edge discoveries of our time, or to read about natural experiences you probably never will see, pick up any of these collections.

[Maphead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as I hoped, a very good anthology of 2016's best science and nature writing. What I liked the most about it was the stuff I didn't expect to like. I thought I'd hate the piece on the health risks faced by nail salon employees but much to my surprise I loved it. Same also for the one on the difficulties in diagnosing autistic females.
Plus, there's a short but well-written article by the late Oliver Sacks.
Only article I didn't like was the one on the American moose.

[Peter Aronson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of interesting articles, but still light on the hard sciences. and a bit light on actual science for that matter (all the articles are written at a pretty general level). This is really "Some Selected American Science and Nature Writing 2016", since there's too much good science published in America in a year for a single moderate length collection to even begin to publish the best, and best according to whom anyway?

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great variety in this collection! The only one I dudn’t like at all was “What’s Left Behind”, about the toxic Berkley Pit in MT. The piece was just poorly done and I was surprised it would be included as it so much weaker than the other pieces.
I especislly liked the piece on particular challenges females with autism face vs males, and the piece on Janet Vaughan and her role in getting blood transfusions as a standard part of the medical field.

[Lud · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual with compilations, a mixed bag, but Amy Stewart did a great job editing. My favorite piece was "Rotten Ice" and the most thought-provoking in an uncomfortable way was "The False Gospel of Alcoholics Anonymous." In these days when scientific facts are ignored and nature is considered expendable -- support excellent writing in these areas!

[Camille · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was the background info for a discussion group at my local Oster Lifelong Learning Institute. While many of the articles were well written, I have to question why the editor chose them. Some were sneakily misleading and it's questionable if they and few others deserve to be among The Best.

[Greg Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading each year's release of this for a few years and it's grown into a great reading tradition. My favorite from this year's was "The Lost Girls" by Apoorva Mandavilli, but each piece contained enjoyable writing and was super informative and filled with fun facts. Already anxious for next year's!

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read one or two of these before, and so far I'm not disappointed. My favorite articles schooled me on: the illegal ivory trade, the fate of those who burned Ebola victim's bodies in Liberia, the melting of the Greenland ice, what doesn't work about AA, rising sea levels in Miami, Oliver Sach's Periodic Table birthdays, and the gigantic earthquake that will hit the Pacific Northwest.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent offering by this series...all of these are thought provoking and insightful. Some will make you angry. Some will make you sad and some will give you a new perspective on what you thought you knew or believed in. Well worth the read.

[Kaia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this series and have read several of the volumes over the years, but this is the first time that I have read and appreciated every single essay. Normally I end up skimming (or even skipping) at least 2 or 3 of the choices, but not with this one.