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The Best American Science Writing 2007
Provocative and engaging, this collection brings together the premiere science writing of the year. Featuring the imprimatur of bestselling author and New York Times reporter Gina Kolata, one of the nation's foremost voices in science and medicine, and with contributions from Atul Gawande, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Oliver Sacks, among others, The Best American Science Writing 2007 is a compelling anthology of our most advanced, and most relevant, scientific inquiries.
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2007
12 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
About the author
Gina Kolata
32 books103 followersKolata graduated from the University of Maryland and studied molecular biology at the graduate level at MIT for a year and a half. Then she returned to the University of Maryland and obtained a master’s degree in applied mathematics. Kolata has taught writing as a visiting professor at Princeton University and frequently gives lectures across the country. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 18, 2009
Excellente. Fascinating science articles and essays on a wide variety of topics from a wide variety of publications. Loved it! I found, though, that I'm done reading global warming articles. I realized that I enjoy science reading because I like learning something new, or novel, or that shifts a paradigm. The global warming articles in this collection did none of that for me. I also skipped the article about functional MRI studies on how the human brain works when it thinks about money and investments. I think I'd read it previously, and it just made me feel icky. My one criticism is of myself - the articles were already outdated since the 2007 edition covers writing from 2006, etc. Must order and read as soon as each year is published!
Favorite articles...Manifold Destiny, about a genius mathmatician who refuses the Fields Medal and the highly competitive field of mathmatics.
Face Blind, about the condition of face blindness, where a person can't tell people apart by their faces, or recognize themselves in a mirror.
Stereo Sue, about stereoscopic vision, what it's like not to have it (most of us do) and what it's like to gain it as an adult.
A Depression Switch?, about new types of depression research that suggest it may really have more to do with the brain's physical hard wiring that with it's chemical make-up, and the amazing results of a procedure usually used for patients with Parkinson's Disease for 12 people with seemingly intractable depression.
Being There, about the debate in Emergency Rooms across the county regarding whether to allow family members to be present during resuscitation efforts. Also touches on the power shifting occurring in hospitals in that the physicians no longer hold all decision making power.
God or Gorilla, written by a descendent of Charles Darwin, about a court case regarding teaching creationism alongside evolution in a Pennsylvania school.
Truth and Consequences, about the dilemma a group of researchers faced regarding whether to turn in their professor for falsifying data, and the stunning results of their decision.
Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery, about an evangelical christian micropaleontologist, what she discovered and how it might change the entire field of paleontology, and her rejection of creationists' demands for her to support their position.
Favorite articles...Manifold Destiny, about a genius mathmatician who refuses the Fields Medal and the highly competitive field of mathmatics.
Face Blind, about the condition of face blindness, where a person can't tell people apart by their faces, or recognize themselves in a mirror.
Stereo Sue, about stereoscopic vision, what it's like not to have it (most of us do) and what it's like to gain it as an adult.
A Depression Switch?, about new types of depression research that suggest it may really have more to do with the brain's physical hard wiring that with it's chemical make-up, and the amazing results of a procedure usually used for patients with Parkinson's Disease for 12 people with seemingly intractable depression.
Being There, about the debate in Emergency Rooms across the county regarding whether to allow family members to be present during resuscitation efforts. Also touches on the power shifting occurring in hospitals in that the physicians no longer hold all decision making power.
God or Gorilla, written by a descendent of Charles Darwin, about a court case regarding teaching creationism alongside evolution in a Pennsylvania school.
Truth and Consequences, about the dilemma a group of researchers faced regarding whether to turn in their professor for falsifying data, and the stunning results of their decision.
Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery, about an evangelical christian micropaleontologist, what she discovered and how it might change the entire field of paleontology, and her rejection of creationists' demands for her to support their position.
August 11, 2008
Do not be put off by the title of this book. It is very readable and interesting to non-scientists. It includes the best science articles from not only science-related publications, but also general interest magazines such as "The New Yorker". The variety of information on the brain alone is worth the cost of the book. There are also several very informative articles about climate change and what we do and don't really know about it. All in all it is a great summer or anytime read. I would recommend it to all.
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July 8, 2020It was interesting to look back at a simpler time in the scientific world, when we weren’t so worried about anti-vaxers or alternative facts. Instead we were laughing at creationists and feeling only vaguely worried about global warming. Each of these essays is interesting and thought-provoking in its own right, including a lovely piece by Oliver Sacks about binocular vision, a New Yorker piece on the politics of high mathematics, and the story of a 97 year old doctor who undergoes a surgery he developed despite the protests of doctors afraid they will be blamed for killing him.
I hope to do a little research to find out “where are they now?” as many of these stories sound so promising but seem to have changed very little.
I hope to do a little research to find out “where are they now?” as many of these stories sound so promising but seem to have changed very little.
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July 19, 2018This isn't my favorite edition of this anthology, but while I could have done with less medical articles (personal preference), there were quite a few unique and engaging pieces in this collection. My favorites and the ones I found most thought-provoking:
"Manifold Destiny," by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber, originally published in THE NEW YORKER, about the unintended controversy surrounding the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture, and the consequences of this for the field of mathematics.
"Truth and Consequences," by Jennifer Couzin, originally published in SCIENCE, about a group of graduate students who discover potential data falsification in their professor (and lab adviser)'s work.
"Butterfly Lessons," by Elizabeth Kolbert, originally published in THE NEW YORKER, about the myriad of variables that go into predicting the consequences of climate change on different species of plants and animals.
"In Ancient Fossils, Seeds of a New Debate on Warming," by William J. Broad, originally published in THE NEW YORK TIMES, reviewing (in too short of space!) the scientific debate over the relevance that fluctuating carbon dioxide rates throughout our planet's long history has for the study of global warming.
"Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery," by Barry Yeoman, originally published in DISCOVER, about a paleontologist's unexpected findings of tissue in dinosaur bones--and the controversy that popped up around this quiet and unassuming evangelical Christian scientist.
"Manifold Destiny," by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber, originally published in THE NEW YORKER, about the unintended controversy surrounding the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture, and the consequences of this for the field of mathematics.
"Truth and Consequences," by Jennifer Couzin, originally published in SCIENCE, about a group of graduate students who discover potential data falsification in their professor (and lab adviser)'s work.
"Butterfly Lessons," by Elizabeth Kolbert, originally published in THE NEW YORKER, about the myriad of variables that go into predicting the consequences of climate change on different species of plants and animals.
"In Ancient Fossils, Seeds of a New Debate on Warming," by William J. Broad, originally published in THE NEW YORK TIMES, reviewing (in too short of space!) the scientific debate over the relevance that fluctuating carbon dioxide rates throughout our planet's long history has for the study of global warming.
"Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery," by Barry Yeoman, originally published in DISCOVER, about a paleontologist's unexpected findings of tissue in dinosaur bones--and the controversy that popped up around this quiet and unassuming evangelical Christian scientist.
October 15, 2007
This is a strong collection. Perhaps reflecting editor Gina Kolata's preferences, it leans heavily towards brain science, medical and environmental topics, and has fewer pieces on the hard sciences or technology.
My only other small criticism is that I think she chose a couple of the pieces because they were written by her New York Times pals rather than because they merited it, particularly a rather dull story by Lawrence Altman about how doctors peformed an aortic aneurysm repair invented by famed heart surgeon Michael DeBakey on the aging DeBakey himself.
But there are some gems in here as well. Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber do a brilliant job of researching the personalities and overweening ambition of some of the world's top mathematicians, which came to the fore after a reclusive Russian apparently solved an old topological problem called Poincare's conjecture. Think high-level math can't make for a gripping tale? Try this one. Atul Gawande, a surgeon and gifted writer, does a wonderful job explaining how pregnancy and delivery work, and how one woman pioneered important changes in improving healthy births; Robin Marantz Henig provides a wonderful tour through the world of lie detection machines and the attempts by some entrepreneuers to use brain scanning technologies to revolutionize the field; and Stacey Burling of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a wonderful personal tale and research overview on Alzheimer's.
The selections are overloaded with articles from the New York Times and the New Yorker, but that probably says as much about the shrinking venues for good longer science writing as it does about Kolata's New York bias.
My only other small criticism is that I think she chose a couple of the pieces because they were written by her New York Times pals rather than because they merited it, particularly a rather dull story by Lawrence Altman about how doctors peformed an aortic aneurysm repair invented by famed heart surgeon Michael DeBakey on the aging DeBakey himself.
But there are some gems in here as well. Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber do a brilliant job of researching the personalities and overweening ambition of some of the world's top mathematicians, which came to the fore after a reclusive Russian apparently solved an old topological problem called Poincare's conjecture. Think high-level math can't make for a gripping tale? Try this one. Atul Gawande, a surgeon and gifted writer, does a wonderful job explaining how pregnancy and delivery work, and how one woman pioneered important changes in improving healthy births; Robin Marantz Henig provides a wonderful tour through the world of lie detection machines and the attempts by some entrepreneuers to use brain scanning technologies to revolutionize the field; and Stacey Burling of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a wonderful personal tale and research overview on Alzheimer's.
The selections are overloaded with articles from the New York Times and the New Yorker, but that probably says as much about the shrinking venues for good longer science writing as it does about Kolata's New York bias.
February 15, 2008
I thought this year's volume was quite a bit better than usual - hence the fourth star. The selection is distinctly skewed in favor of various neurological topics, with relatively fewer environmental and ecological pieces, but the high quality of the results vindicates the chosen emphasis, in my view. Among the topics covered:
• neurological research pertaining to:
- lie detection
- face recognition
- stereoscopic vision
- Alzheimer's disease
- depression
- financial decision-making
• new surgical methods for the treatment of brain aneurysms
• medical ethics (3 articles by Jerome Groopman, Atul Gawande, and Lawrence Altman)
• climate change (2 articles by Elizabeth Kolbert and William Broad)
• the fallout from the falsification of data
• the Dover, Pa 'intelligent design' trial
• string theory
• genetic computing algorithms
• molecular gastronomy
• Hollywood's 'science guru'
• the unseemly squabbling for credit that lay behind the recent resolution of one of mathematics' deepest questions, the Poincare conjecture.
My top three choices: Robin Marantz Henig’s excellent piece “Looking for the Lie”, Matthew Chapman’s “God or Gorilla”, and the fascinating piece by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber on the solution of the Poincare conjecture (“Manifold Destiny”).
One might wish that the editor of this year’s collection, Gina Kolata, had cast a wider net in soliciting articles – the great majority of contributions are from The New Yorker or The New York Times. But this is a minor criticism of an excellent, and stimulating, anthology.
• neurological research pertaining to:
- lie detection
- face recognition
- stereoscopic vision
- Alzheimer's disease
- depression
- financial decision-making
• new surgical methods for the treatment of brain aneurysms
• medical ethics (3 articles by Jerome Groopman, Atul Gawande, and Lawrence Altman)
• climate change (2 articles by Elizabeth Kolbert and William Broad)
• the fallout from the falsification of data
• the Dover, Pa 'intelligent design' trial
• string theory
• genetic computing algorithms
• molecular gastronomy
• Hollywood's 'science guru'
• the unseemly squabbling for credit that lay behind the recent resolution of one of mathematics' deepest questions, the Poincare conjecture.
My top three choices: Robin Marantz Henig’s excellent piece “Looking for the Lie”, Matthew Chapman’s “God or Gorilla”, and the fascinating piece by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber on the solution of the Poincare conjecture (“Manifold Destiny”).
One might wish that the editor of this year’s collection, Gina Kolata, had cast a wider net in soliciting articles – the great majority of contributions are from The New Yorker or The New York Times. But this is a minor criticism of an excellent, and stimulating, anthology.
February 18, 2024
About half the articles were interesting to me. But always worth borrowing the book from the library, to read the ones that are good. My favorite was Atul Gawande's article about childbirth in the US, and the apparent overuse of Cesarean sections. A must read if you want to understand better why they have become more common, some say too common.
May 19, 2021
About what you would expect from a book called The Best American Science Writing 2007. It's a little outdated and it's a bunch of interesting science articles. It wasn't exactly on the TBR list but this is what happens when you are travelling and this is what your host has on the back of their shelf. I would probably read the 2021 version.
November 2, 2007
BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE WRITING 2007 EDITED BY GINA KOLATA: Since this is the “best American science writing” of the year, you know it’s going to be good. What’s amazing is the variety of subject matter that just the term “science” covers. The result is a collection of incredible articles covering the latest discoveries and breakthroughs in the many different fields of science.
While this collection may not be for the average person who has little-to-no knowledge of science – some background is necessary – the beauty of a collection of articles, like a collection of short stories, is if you don’t like the particular article or find it too complicated, you can simply skip to the next. The first article, “The Theory of Everything” by Tyler Cabot covers the completion next year of a vastly superior particle accelerator in Switzerland. With the results from this giant machine, physics and science may be advanced greatly, with astonishing discoveries made. Cabot talks about this new device, as well as providing a summary of the important theories in science right now proposing possible answers to the famous Unification Theory: the theory linking relativity and quantum mechanics, or in Douglas Adams’s words: “Life, the Universe, and Everything.”
Robin Marantz Henig provides the latest ideas and technology on telling whether someone is lying or not in “Looking for the Lie.” Joshua Davis discusses the unique condition of prosopagnosia, or “face blindness.” A lot of people don’t even realize they have it; some develop it after a severe head wound or a stroke. It is a condition where the person simply does not recognize faces at all, as if they are blank pages that mean nothing to that person. The people suffering from this condition often have to use clues like clothes and the sound of a voice to recognize a person. But now with online groups linking these people together, breakthroughs are being made, as science goes one step closer to finding out the root cranial cause of this condition.
In “A Depression Switch,” David Dobbs talks about a new technique for helping patients who suffer from a form of depression so severe that no medication will help, and they are left with no choice but to remain in a padded cell. The procedure involves implanting tiny electrodes to a specific point in the brain, known as Area 25, attached to a small pacemaker that emits a minute four-volt charge. Miraculously, patients feel the depression go away, and whatever was missing in their lives returns instantly. It really seems to act like a switch and be as simple as that. With almost twenty patients, the new procedure is very much still in its infant stages, but could one day be a successful cure to this form of severe depression.
Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Kolbert, Sylvia Nasar and Atul Gawande are just a few of the authors whose articles are featured in this collection, running the gamut from space and the universe, to mathematics, to neuroscience, to global warming and environmental awareness, to what science aids on blockbuster movies like The Hulk actually do. The Best American Science Writing 2007 will teach you things you never even knew were being studied, as well as give you hope that there are still many people out there working to make this place a better world.
While this collection may not be for the average person who has little-to-no knowledge of science – some background is necessary – the beauty of a collection of articles, like a collection of short stories, is if you don’t like the particular article or find it too complicated, you can simply skip to the next. The first article, “The Theory of Everything” by Tyler Cabot covers the completion next year of a vastly superior particle accelerator in Switzerland. With the results from this giant machine, physics and science may be advanced greatly, with astonishing discoveries made. Cabot talks about this new device, as well as providing a summary of the important theories in science right now proposing possible answers to the famous Unification Theory: the theory linking relativity and quantum mechanics, or in Douglas Adams’s words: “Life, the Universe, and Everything.”
Robin Marantz Henig provides the latest ideas and technology on telling whether someone is lying or not in “Looking for the Lie.” Joshua Davis discusses the unique condition of prosopagnosia, or “face blindness.” A lot of people don’t even realize they have it; some develop it after a severe head wound or a stroke. It is a condition where the person simply does not recognize faces at all, as if they are blank pages that mean nothing to that person. The people suffering from this condition often have to use clues like clothes and the sound of a voice to recognize a person. But now with online groups linking these people together, breakthroughs are being made, as science goes one step closer to finding out the root cranial cause of this condition.
In “A Depression Switch,” David Dobbs talks about a new technique for helping patients who suffer from a form of depression so severe that no medication will help, and they are left with no choice but to remain in a padded cell. The procedure involves implanting tiny electrodes to a specific point in the brain, known as Area 25, attached to a small pacemaker that emits a minute four-volt charge. Miraculously, patients feel the depression go away, and whatever was missing in their lives returns instantly. It really seems to act like a switch and be as simple as that. With almost twenty patients, the new procedure is very much still in its infant stages, but could one day be a successful cure to this form of severe depression.
Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Kolbert, Sylvia Nasar and Atul Gawande are just a few of the authors whose articles are featured in this collection, running the gamut from space and the universe, to mathematics, to neuroscience, to global warming and environmental awareness, to what science aids on blockbuster movies like The Hulk actually do. The Best American Science Writing 2007 will teach you things you never even knew were being studied, as well as give you hope that there are still many people out there working to make this place a better world.
March 8, 2008
What makes for good science writing? This is a question that editors of the Best American Science Writing tackle every year. In 2006 Atul Gawande, surgeon and writer, asserted that the best science writing achieves the 'coolness' factor, that prose which makes technical and complex topics exciting and accessible to a broad audience. Writing styles that speak to the work-a-day person, word craft that seamlessly translates unfamiliar concepts to even the most casual reader. This year Gina Kolata, science journalist for The New York Times, and author of several books, believes that some of the best science writing is that which captures "the excitement of a moment" (viii). She has selected a variety of essays and articles that immediately engage and convey new ideas that help us reshape of understanding of the world.
It is amazing to read and learn about all the new discoveries and incremental progress made toward solving an intractable mathematical conjecture or testing the efficacy of a new drug, but this is overwhelming for many of us who are not in the field and may be unfamiliar with the historical development, politics, and the jargon involved. Most of us need a narrative hook or a 'grease spot,' as Kolata relates, which is a term from the advertising industry; she explains, that this "is the place near the start of an article that made me just slide right in" (ix). Readers of the the 2007 edition will not be disappointed. Portals of entry are abundant. You will find a variety of styles, topics, and voices, but one feature is consistent throughout--compelling detail that rivets one's attention. So switch off the phone, close the laptop, and enjoy a sampling of some of America's most gifted writers. Contributors include The New Yorker's John Cassidy, Science magazine's Jennifer Couzin, and Matthew Chapman, great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin.
It is amazing to read and learn about all the new discoveries and incremental progress made toward solving an intractable mathematical conjecture or testing the efficacy of a new drug, but this is overwhelming for many of us who are not in the field and may be unfamiliar with the historical development, politics, and the jargon involved. Most of us need a narrative hook or a 'grease spot,' as Kolata relates, which is a term from the advertising industry; she explains, that this "is the place near the start of an article that made me just slide right in" (ix). Readers of the the 2007 edition will not be disappointed. Portals of entry are abundant. You will find a variety of styles, topics, and voices, but one feature is consistent throughout--compelling detail that rivets one's attention. So switch off the phone, close the laptop, and enjoy a sampling of some of America's most gifted writers. Contributors include The New Yorker's John Cassidy, Science magazine's Jennifer Couzin, and Matthew Chapman, great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin.
February 20, 2008
You can't beat good science writing, and in case you fell behind on your Times, Times Magazine, and New Yorker reading--almost every piece in this volume originally appeared in one of those--this is a good way to catch up. It's a pretty good survey of the most important scientific and medical fronteirs: genomics, neuroscience, and particle physics; but it also, as was the editor's stated intention, humanizes science by focusing on the personalities involved. We get quirky mathematicians, loner paleontologists, and patients whose lives and identities hinge on radical technologies and discoveries. This, of course, is how popular science writing is often done, and a reader wanting a deeper core knowledge of the science itself will find it fluffy and patronizing. But in hearing the passions, personal quests, and sense of wonder that motivate the work, we are reminded that the scientific eye will only survey the area we collectively want it to and will pay for it to. It is not doing everything all at once, as it sometimes seems when obscure studies come out of the woodwork. Rather, it is, wondrous though it be, as limited and earth-bound as any of our endeavors.
April 1, 2008
I enjoy these "Best Writing" collections a lot. One of the highlights of this year's edition was a piece written by Atul Gawande about the Apgar score, which was wonderful. Gawande is a very interesting person and a great writer. I really enjoyed his book "Complications", and look forward to reading more from him in the future. He writes about medicine and health care with wonderful honesty and humanity. There was also a piece by Oliver Sacks, who is amazing; I have loved all of his books. Also, I enjoyed the essay by Lawrence K. Altman about the famous heart surgeon Michael DeBakey, who underwent surgery at the age of 97 to repair a dissecting aortic aneurysm. Most interestingly, DeBakey himself pioneered the procedure many years earlier. The ethics of performing this surgery on a 97-year-old man are quite sketchy, but after a lengthy debate between DeBakey's family members and his colleagues in the field of cardiac surgery, the decision was made to proceed. Amazingly, he survived and remains in remarkably good health to this day.
December 16, 2010
This book is a collection of previously published non-fiction science stories, including the story of Dr. Michael DeBakey's aortic aneurysm that he suffered when he was 97 years old and its subsequent repair. This particular story covered some of the technical issues that were of interest because I was reading this book just as news of Richard Holbrook's death was published. Dr. DeBakey's story also touched on issues of ethics - he had previously given direction not to perform the surgery that was ultimately performed, interestingly, developed by him.
Another interesting story was that of Gregory Perelman and his solution of the Poincare conjecture. The story provided a history of both Perelman as well as many of the other important mathematicians who also worked on the solution and its validation. It isn't so much the solution, which remains incomprehensible to me, but rather the inside picture provided as to how work of this type is conducted.
Another interesting story was that of Gregory Perelman and his solution of the Poincare conjecture. The story provided a history of both Perelman as well as many of the other important mathematicians who also worked on the solution and its validation. It isn't so much the solution, which remains incomprehensible to me, but rather the inside picture provided as to how work of this type is conducted.
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August 4, 2009Some really good science articles...although I only got it for two medical articles by Dr. Jerome Groopman and Dr. Atul Gawande. Finally learned something about String Theory and the relation to Quantum Mechanics. Some of the articles are drawn out and not so interesting but overall I have enjoyed the majority of the articles so far.
After finishing the book my verdict is that I came for the medical articles and stayed for the rest. Turns out the articles involving other scientific principles were much more interesting...probably because it was something new and fresh or something I wanted to learn about but never got around to it. Either way overall this was a great read because it incorporated "the best" science articles over the year from many major publications (magazines more so than journal publications...because let's face it journals aren't usually a fun read).
After finishing the book my verdict is that I came for the medical articles and stayed for the rest. Turns out the articles involving other scientific principles were much more interesting...probably because it was something new and fresh or something I wanted to learn about but never got around to it. Either way overall this was a great read because it incorporated "the best" science articles over the year from many major publications (magazines more so than journal publications...because let's face it journals aren't usually a fun read).
March 13, 2013
If one wants to read up on the latest scientific discoveries (and be able to understand them), nothing is better than reading a collection of the latest science essays, all superbly written by eloquent writers. These essays inform and intrigue at the same time. Time to get the 2008 book!
Personal favourites:
Stacey Burling on Alzheimer's - Probing a Mind for a Cure
Jennifer Couzin on falsifying data - Truth and Consequences
Lawrence K. Altman on 98-year-old Michael DeBakey, who survived an operation of his own invention - The Man on the Table was 97, But he Devised the Surgery
Barry Yeoman on discovery of 65 million-year-old soft tissue on T. Rex and the debates it sparked between science and religion - Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery
Personal favourites:
Stacey Burling on Alzheimer's - Probing a Mind for a Cure
Jennifer Couzin on falsifying data - Truth and Consequences
Lawrence K. Altman on 98-year-old Michael DeBakey, who survived an operation of his own invention - The Man on the Table was 97, But he Devised the Surgery
Barry Yeoman on discovery of 65 million-year-old soft tissue on T. Rex and the debates it sparked between science and religion - Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery
April 14, 2008
Pretty hit or miss articles...I really enjoyed the articles on "the theory of everything", the guy who solved the Poincare conjecture, the intelligent design debate, the movement of species following global warming, the debate over the cause of global warming, finding organic tissue in dinosaur bones, and "molecular gastronomy"; but the other articles were, I guess, not my kind of science. I don't care much about medical discoveries or how the brain works, tsk tsk, and that's what the rest of them seemed to be about. I managed to work my way through a few of them, but some had to be abandoned by the wayside...the psychology of economics, the aneurysm surgery, the invention machine, bleah.
August 2, 2008
I enjoyed this collection much better than last year's. I did skip Kolbert's and Broad's respective pieces - I need a long break from the global warming debates unless they're strikingly different. I also passed over Gawande's "The Score" having read "Better", in which it appears, and having just re-read this very essay (given to me by my obgyn)right before I got to it in the series. I did happily re-read the piece on Face Blindness. Fascinating. The biggest standout for me, however, was Matthew Chapman's "God or Gorilla." I laughed out loud throughout the essay. Chapman, kind of like David Sedaris, is a master observer who repaints scenes and analyzes 'characters' with stinging wit.
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December 3, 2011Not to be missed.
The New Yorker article about the semi-scandal surrounding the Poincare Conjecture solution is worth the check-out alone. Quite exciting and nice glimpse on the reality of academia w/r/t mathematics.
This edition is not short on fluff, but this is fine with me. Also especially fun to read is the article about the Hollywood scientist.
Some of the old territory in physics is blasted through in the standard pop-science way - always the GUT and string theory and really?!.
The New Yorker article about the semi-scandal surrounding the Poincare Conjecture solution is worth the check-out alone. Quite exciting and nice glimpse on the reality of academia w/r/t mathematics.
This edition is not short on fluff, but this is fine with me. Also especially fun to read is the article about the Hollywood scientist.
Some of the old territory in physics is blasted through in the standard pop-science way - always the GUT and string theory and really?!.
April 22, 2014
Definitely going to reread this one! It is so cool to see a conglomeration of all of the great things going on in science during 2007 and the journalists really do a nice job of giving sufficient background information and a history of how the scientists got to the point that they're at in their research. The selection of the pieces in this anthology is very diverse, ranging from dinosaurs to brain science with climate change developments as icing and molecular gastronomy for sprinkles so you'll come out at the end knowing more about just about everything.
May 19, 2008
This one isn't quite as good as some others in the series, but a number of the articles are well written and about fascinaing subjects, everything from dinosaur tissue preserved for millions of years to cutting edge technology. It was a bit too heavily weighted with medical centered stories. Particularly interesting was the article about the invention machine, which generates investions using a sort of natural selection type of program.
June 9, 2008
Not as boring as it sounds, kind of an overview of current events in science but each with an interesting hook such as medical ethics. A few pieces were about neuroscience, evolution, genetics, and even economics and cooking. This book is a fascinating read and you don't need to have a science background to understand the articles. I learned something from every story and the writing is really good.
June 18, 2010
I do love reading good science writing, and the articles in this collection all qualify. Some made me say "whoa," some made me laugh, and some simply left me with the satisfied feeling of understanding the world a little bit better. My one complaint is that I felt there was a disproportionate number of articles about brains (neuroscience, psychology, etc.). I brains are fascinating, but there is so much else going on in science, so more breadth might have been nice.
December 2, 2007
In this book, I learned that the inventor of the polygraph (lie detector) was the same person who created Wonder Woman - that's why she has the Lasso of Truth. This is an eclectic collection of what really is great writing about some of the most interesting science advancements and questions of the year.
January 18, 2008
I pick up the Best American Science and Best American Science and Nature writing each year. I was a bit disappointed this year - not because of the caliber of writing, but because I had already read a significant proportion of the articles. As always, a great way to get a sampling of some of the best science (and writing) going on in the world each year.
February 19, 2008
The science writing portion of this series is always fun. This particular installment included some great stuff, including an invention machine! But it was a bit heavy on cringe-inducing hospital fare--you know, childbirth, aneurysms, and the like. If you aren't as much of a hypochondriac as I am, it probably isn't so bad.
December 23, 2008
I always enjoy the Best American Science and the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. This one is, so far, slightly less impressive, though not in subject matter but in the weird pattern of lame endings to the essays. The second essay, however, on the controversy in the mathematics world about who really proved Fermat's Last Theorem, rocked my socks.
October 8, 2009
Fascinating articles about the research and discoveries in many fields of science. My favorites include "Looking for the Lie" which is about the implications of being able to tell if someone is lying; "Face Blind," which is about people who cannot remember faces, even their own; and "Cooking for Eggheads" which reveals the science behind practice.
January 1, 2008
great! a collection of what i would read if i were willing to pay for subscriptions to harper's, the new yorker, the times, wired, etc. and carefully check each week for the articles that were among the most interesting to me
May 23, 2008
This book is a collection of scientific articles in 2007. The articles are very interesting and worth reading. This would be a great book for article review for teachers how have their student read and review articles.
May 28, 2008
the first few essays were a little dense & kind of what you'd expect of 'science writing,' but there were many really engaging, accessible, interesting articles on a good range of topics in this collection.
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