The Best American Science Writing 2007 (Best American Science Writing)
by Gina Kolata, Jesse Cohen
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Read in October, 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 – so...more
While this collection may not be for the average person who has little-to-no knowledge of science – so...more
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Read in March, 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 Kola...more
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Read in February, 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-ma...more
• neurological research pertaining to:
- lie detection
- face recognition
- stereoscopic vision
- Alzheimer's disease
- depression
- financial decision-ma...more
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Read in October, 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 b...more
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 b...more
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6 comments
Read in February, 2008
With the recent profusion of Best American collections, the series is at risk of becoming diluted. To make matters worse, there are now separate collections for "Science and Nature Writing" and "Science Writing" (even though the former includes essays that are NOT nature-related, and the latter includes essays that ARE). Is there enough quality American writing to go around?
Apparently, yes. But the New Yorker is definitely carrying the load -- no less than seven pieces...more
Apparently, yes. But the New Yorker is definitely carrying the load -- no less than seven pieces...more
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Read in February, 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 p...more
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Read in March, 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...more
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Read in April, 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'...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Karen by:
Paul Collins
This was a good read. My favorites are "God or Gorilla," "Truth and Consequences," and "Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery." In all three it was the characters that pulled me in, though of course the science was interesting as well. "Cooking for Eggheads" is fun, though I don't think I'll ever be able to cook an egg without feeling ashamed by my lack of molecular gastronomical technique.
I didn't read all the articles, just because the content of some did...more
I didn't read all the articles, just because the content of some did...more
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Read in December, 2007
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.
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Read in February, 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.
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Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone with curiosity about science
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.
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Read in January, 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
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Read in February, 2008
Liked some of the articles. Heavy on New Yorker articles. Favorite was one from Wired about prosopagnosia-face blindness. Very awesome and interesting article. The rest interesting, but sort of bland.
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Love this series. This one is not my favorite of the bunch, but still interesting. I like the volumes that have a more physics/astronomy bent to them. This one is very heavy on biology/medicine.
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the piece on apgar scales and the history of standard of care and the medicalization of birth? so helpful. brilliant.
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Full of interesting essays, some more complex than others. Overall very enjoyable!
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Read in January, 2008
Read these every year. Great and interesting.
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