The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2005

by Jonathan Weiner (Editor), Tim Folger (Series Editor)

The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2005 includes:

Natalie Angier • Jared Diamond • Timothy Ferris • Malcolm Gladwell • Jerome Groopman • Bill McKibben • Sherwin P. Nuland • Jeffrey M. O'Brien • Oliver Sacks • Michael J. Sandel • William Speed Weed • and more

Jonathan Weiner, guest editor, has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and many other honors. He lives in New York City and teaches science writing at the Columbia School of Journalism.

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

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2005

About the author

Jonathan Weiner is one of the most distinguished popular-science writers in the country. His books have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A former editor at The Sciences and a writer for The New Yorker, he is the author of The Beak of the Finch, Time, Love, Memory, His Brother's Keeper among many others.

He currently lives in New York with his wife, Deborah Heiligman who is the children's book author, and their two sons. There he teaches science writing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up from the spontaneously-developed free-book shelf social exchange system that popped up in the lobby of my East Village building about 5 years ago. I've been carrying it around since, and it seemed like 2010 was as good a time as any to get caught up on the latest and greatest developments that science had to offer in 2005.

It was a delightful read. This is the first time I've read one of these "The Best American... [of some year:]" books, but now I'm a convert. Especially for the science genre, since A) I'm a nerd, but B) I'm a nerd who rarely gets to engage with science and almost never reads full length non-fiction books related to science. Thus long-form science journalism has always been something I've enjoyed, and it's convenient to have a whole series of sure-fire winners collected into one place for me.

Granted, almost every article collected into this book came from The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and other publications with the words "New York" in them,* which suggests I should be doing a better job of reading these articles when they're initially published. But lets be honest, I'm not looking for them, and who has time for that anyway?


* Slight exaggeration. But only slight.

[Maddie]

I didn’t read all of the articles in this collection. Most of the ones from New York Review of Books bored me and I skipped them. Overall, it was fascinating to see what were the big scientific issues at the time (stem cell research, the rise of “robots”) and what hasn’t changed at all in the last 15+ years (the non-regulation of vitamins and supplements, unchecked scientific claims on every product imaginable). Favorites were probably “My God Problem,” “To Hell and Back,” “Miracle in a Bottle,” and “100 Science Claims...”

[Sarah Rigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a few quibbles about the selection process, but overall, I was really impressed. One of the best pieces was "The Curious History of the First Pocket Calculator." It has great ingredients, from Nazi death camps to the tiny nation of Lichtenstein to very steampunk-ish technology.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind.

This year's volume includes articles by: Natalie Angier; Jared Diamond; Timothy Ferris; Malcolm Gladwell; Jerome Groopman; Bill McKibbin; Sherwin B. Nuland; Jeffrey M. O'Brien; Oliver Sacks; Michael J. Sandel; William Speed Weed; and others.

Jared Diamond and Bill McKibbin are old friends, and in fact are the authors that enticed me into reading this book. It was well worth the read. Entertaining & educational. Of course I'm partial to science writing, so it wasn't hard to win me over. And I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite from this compilation -- they were all excellent. You can be sure I'll be reading other years in the future.

[John McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading about Rohrshach tests, embryonic and adult stem cells, ubiquitous scientific claims made mostly by advertisers, and which parts of the brain are stimulated by moral and ethical decisions. And that just scratches the surface of this book. It's one of those reading experiences where I begin to think that, if I spent the rest of my reading life reading nothing but these anthologies, my time would not be wasted.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a slog in the middle (too much policy and politics for me personally), but ended strong with a couple cool articles on (1) the Curta calculator (google it!), (2) Scientific fallacies in advertising, and (3) a powerful and provocative article on the neural basis of morality and decision-making.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science in the Bush era. Most memorable to me were two essays by Malcolm Gladwell (one about personality tests and how our society processes grief has changed over time), an essay about Easter Island (a group of ancient people actually destroyed their entire island. Think The Lorax, only not Dr. Seuss but for real), and the story about the little boy on drugs because he was short.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is consistently great (and better than the competing "Best American Science Writing"). The time lag is a downside, but good science writing never becomes obsolete. I would read them all if I had the time.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best piece in this collection was about Easter Island by Jared Diamond. Also a great story about deep sea cave diving.

[Leah]

Apparently I'm a little behind with my reading