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Overview
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2002, edited by Natalie Angier, is another "eclectic, provocative collection" (Entertainment Weekly). Malcolm Gladwell, Joy Williams, Barbara Ehrenreich, Burkhard Bilger, Dennis Overbye, and many more of the best and brightest writers on science and nature explore such topics as the rise and fall of Islamic science, disappearing cancers, and the meaning of mountain lions in the back yard.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Eloquent, accessible and often illuminating anthology" Publishers Weekly"An elite grouping of very readable and informative articles on some of today's most challenging and colorful scientific issues." Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Science writers weigh in on a number of hot-button issues in this eloquent, accessible and often illuminating anthology. Culled from periodicals like the New Yorker, Discover, Harper's, Scientific American and the Atlantic Monthly, these 27 articles tackle everything from conservation and cancer to artificial intelligence and the origins of life. "Welcome to Cancerland," Barbara Ehrenreich's blistering review of our commercial breast cancer culture-which, she argues, celebrates "survivorhood by downplaying mortality" and infantilizes the afflicted in order to promote obedience-is the boldest and most controversial of these offerings. A close second is Frederick C. Crews's "Saving Us from Darwin," a lengthy but erudite consideration of the evolution vs. creationism debate. Several of the remaining entries offer eye-opening perspectives on humankind's impact on wildlife and the environment. In "Wall Street Losses, Wall Street Gains," Anne Matthews describes how songbirds, fixated and confused by the twinkling lights atop New York's tallest skyscrapers, circle the buildings until they fall to their death from exhaustion; H. Bruce Franklin ("The Most Important Fish in the Sea") focuses on the familiar topic of overfishing, which has led to an increased number of "dead zones" in the Atlantic; and Gordon Grice's "Is That a Mountain Lion in Your Backyard?" ponders the return of displaced mountain lions in the Western states. In her introduction to this collection, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Angier writes, "[S]cience writing has matured and is seated comfortably at the literary dining table." These fine works more than prove her point. (Oct. 15) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.Kirkus Reviews
Splendid anthology of the year’s finest science and nature articles, curated and introduced by the New York Times Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer.Although varied in theme and subject, the pieces work well as a set, offering many innovative ideas, theories, critiques, and observations to pay overall tribute to human curiosity. These 27 articles display creativity and even playfulness as the authors break down complex scientific subjects for the average reader. Roy F. Baumeister takes a fresh look at some old myths about human aggression; Frederick J. Crews explores the strange world of the anti-Darwinists and the battle over Creationism; Joy Williams submits a memoir of her life as the land-owning neighbor of a lagoon; and Gordon Grice shares a close encounter with the re-emergent mountain lion, an inspiring but deadly creature whose numbers are now increasing where agriculture and residential sprawl meet former wilderness. Barbara Ehrenreich contributes a thoughtful essay about her breast cancer diagnosis and arrival at the gates of the sometimes tacky subculture she calls "Cancerland" (also included in Gould’s The Best American Essays 2002, see below); Malcolm Gladwell grades the life and work of SAT-buster Stanley H. Kaplan; and Gary Greenberg, following the saga of a terminally ill little boy whose role as an organ donor gives his short life meaning, examines prevalent legal, social, and medical notions about "brain death." Two timely favorites here will be "Why McDonald’s Fries Taste So Good," by Eric Schlosser (from his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation), and Dennis Overbye’s "How Islam Won, and Lost, the Lead in Science," a historical overview that will fascinate readersnewly curious about the Arab world. Controversial topics include the rights of the dying, the singular gift (or burden) of motherhood, and the grim reality of shock therapy, explored with often provocative results. But the collection’s real noteworthiness comes from its authors’ consistently bright insights and buoyant prose.
An elite grouping of very readable and informative articles on some of today’s most challenging and colorful scientific issues.