The Best American Science and Nature Writing

Brief Description: 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. Brief Description: Vols. for - edited by Elizabeth Kolbert. Table of Contents: Contents Foreword xi Introduction by Jonathan Weiner xv Natalie Angier. My God Problem -- and Theirs 1 from The American Scholar Connie Bruck. Hollywood Science 8 from The New Yorker Frederick Crews. Out, Damned Blot! 29 from The New York Review of Books Jared Diamond. Twilight at Easter 41 from The New York Review of Books Jenny Everett. My Little Brother on Drugs 53 from Popular Science Timothy Ferris. Stumbling into Space 64 from The New York Review of Books Malcolm Gladwell. Getting Over It 77 from The New Yorker Malcolm Gladwell. Personality Plus 87 from The New Yorker Jerome Groopman. The Grief Industry 100 from The New Yorker John Horgan. Keeping the Faith in My Doubt 111 from The New York Times Jennifer Kahn. The Homeless Hacker v. The New York Times 115 from Wired Robert Kunzig. 20,000 Microbes Under the Sea 125 from Discover William Langewiesche. A Two-Planet Species? 141 from The Atlantic Monthly Bill McKibben. Crossing the Red Line 143 from The New York Review of Books James McManus. Please Stand By While the Age of Miracles Is Briefly Suspended 157 from Esquire Sherwin B. Nuland. Getting in Nature's Way 174 from The New York Review of Books Sherwin B. Nuland. The Man or the Moment? 186 from The American Scholar Jeffrey M. O'Brien. To Hell and Back 193 from Wired Ian Parker. The X Prize 202 from The New Yorker Oliver Sacks. In the River of Consciousness 216 from The New York Review of Books Michael Specter. Miracle in a Bottle 228 from The New Yorker Cliff Stoll. The Curious History of the First Pocket Calculator 250 from Scientific American Ellen Ullman. Dining with Robots 261 from The American Scholar William Speed Weed. 106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney 271 from Popular Science Carl Zimmer. Whose Life Would You Save? 282 from Discover Contributors' Notes 295 Other Notable Science and Nature Writing of 2004 301Publisher Marketing: 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. Review Citations:

Booklist 10/15/2005 pg. 13 (EAN 9780618273430, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 08/29/2005 pg. 48 (EAN 9780618273430, Paperback)

Ingram Advance 10/01/2005 pg. 170 (EAN 9780618273430, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 08/29/2005 pg. 48 (EAN 9780618273416, Hardcover)

Booklist 10/15/2005 pg. 13 (EAN 9780618273416, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Weiner, Jonathan 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. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, Time, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Scientific American, Smithsonian, and many other newspapers and magazines, and he is a former editor at The Sciences. His books include The Beak of the Finch; Time, Love, Memory; and His Brother's Keeper. He lives in New York, where he teaches science writing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Contributor Bio:  Folger, Tim TIM FOLGER is a contributing editor at "Discover" and writes about science for several magazines.