The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014

by Tim Folger

Overview

“Undeniably exquisite . . . The essays in the collection [are] meditations that reveal not only how science actually happens but also who or what propels its immutable humanity.” — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

“A stimulating compendium.” — Kirkus Reviews

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Deborah Blum selects the year’s top science and nature writing from writers who balance research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting stories of discovery across the disciplines.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780544003422
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Series:	Best American Series
Edition description:	2014 ed.
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

TIM FOLGER is a contributing editor at Discover and writes about science for several magazines. He lives in New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tim Folger xi

Introduction Deborah Blum xv

Mixed Up Katherine Bagley. 1

The Great Forgetting Nicholas Carr. 8

The Social Life of Genes David Dobbs. 19

What Our Telescopes Couldn't See Pippa Goldschmidt. 35

A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA Amy Harmon. 38

A Life-or-Death Situation Robin Marantz Henig. 53

23 and You Virginia Hughes. 72

Why the Brain Prefers Paper Ferris Jabr. 98

O-Rings Sarah Stewart Johnson. 107

When Animals Mourn Barbara J. King. 115

Where It Begins Barbara Kingsolver. 125

Danger! This Mission to Mars Could Bore You to Death! Maggie Koerth-Baker. 131

The Lost World Elizabeth Kolbert. 135

Awakening Joshua Lang. 167

Imagining the Post-Antibiotics Future Maryn McKenna. 188

The Return of Measles Seth Mnookin. 199

Ants Go Marching Justin Nobel. 202

TV as Birth Control Fred Pearce. 213

The Madness of the Planets Corey S. Powell. 222

Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene Roy Scranton. 231

Under Water Kate Sheppard. 238

Twelve Ways of Viewing Alaska's Wild, White Sheep Bill Sherwonit. 251

The Separating Sickness Rebecca Solnit. 266

Trapline David Treuer. 277

The Rebirth of Gorongosa E. O. Wilson. 291

Bringing Them Back to Life Carl Zimmer. 296

Contributors' Notes 309

Other Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2013 315

Editorial Reviews

09/22/2014
This thought provoking, perspective shifting edition of a consistently strong series draws from well-known publications like Scientific American and The Atlantic, but Blum (The Poisoner's Handbook) has also reached out to newer online publications like Matter and Nautilus, bringing the best from those venues to a new audience. Making connections between seemingly unrelated topics can help expand thinking, as seen in the effects of automated navigation on both airplane pilot error and Inuit hunting accidents that Nicholas Carr explores in "The Great Forgetting." Sarah Stewart Johnson makes a similar connection between the loss of a 1912 Antarctic expedition and the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in "O-Rings." Blum features "stories of choices and of consequences," highlighting the Anthropocene-era world's rapid changes in response to human behavior. Essays like Virginia Hughes's "23 and You" investigates the effects of availability of individual genetic information on human interactions, while pieces like Maryn McKenna's "Imagining the Post-Antibiotics Future" and Kate Sheppard's "Under Water" remind us of unpleasant futures which we have in large part created ourselves. But Barbara Kingsolver's "Where it Begins," a lyrical musing on connectedness, or Wilson's optimistic, bug-loving "The Rebirth of Gorongosa," reveal that among the strange, shocking, or depressing, there is still unadulterated joy to be found. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly