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The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007
"Science is about not knowing and wanting badly to know. Science is about flawed and complicated human beings trying to use whatever tools they've got, along with their minds, to see something strange and new. In that sense, writing about science is just another way of writing about the human condition." -- from the introduction by Richard Preston
The twenty-eight pieces in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007 span a wide range of topics, from the farthest reaches of space to the everyday world around us to the secrets hiddin in our own bodies. Michael Lemonick travels to an extinct volcano in Hawaii, where telescopes at the summit are providing researchers with a glimpse of the most distant galaxy ever seen -- and profound new insights into the creation of the universe. Neil deGrasse Tyson takes a sharp, witty look at Americans' delirium over space travel. And with surgical precision Michael Perry describes how a medical autopsy is performed. Dead men can tell tales.
Here we also see examinations of the sometimes harmful impact of science on the natural world. Susan Casey gives an alarming portrait of plastic waste pollution in the world's oceans, including a dead zone in the mid-Pacific that's twice the size of Texas. Michael Shnayerson heads to West Virginia, where the Appalachians are being blasted at the rate of several ridgetops a week, all in the pursuit of ever-elusive coal. And Paul Bennett goes deep beneath Rome's streets, where cutting-edge excavation techniques are revealing newfound treasures in one of the world's oldest cities.
A profile of a late, distinguished British ornithologist by John Seabrook reveals that the man's personal collection of bird skins, now in the British Natural History Museum, was largely stolen or bought and intentionally mislabeled. Richard Conniff visits a former Brooklyn social worker turned primatologist who has become a fierce advocate of the lemur. And Patricia Gadsby takes us into the kitchens of Europe's finest chefs to explain how the new field of molecular gastronomy is revolutionizing fine cuisine.
The twenty-eight pieces in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007 span a wide range of topics, from the farthest reaches of space to the everyday world around us to the secrets hiddin in our own bodies. Michael Lemonick travels to an extinct volcano in Hawaii, where telescopes at the summit are providing researchers with a glimpse of the most distant galaxy ever seen -- and profound new insights into the creation of the universe. Neil deGrasse Tyson takes a sharp, witty look at Americans' delirium over space travel. And with surgical precision Michael Perry describes how a medical autopsy is performed. Dead men can tell tales.
Here we also see examinations of the sometimes harmful impact of science on the natural world. Susan Casey gives an alarming portrait of plastic waste pollution in the world's oceans, including a dead zone in the mid-Pacific that's twice the size of Texas. Michael Shnayerson heads to West Virginia, where the Appalachians are being blasted at the rate of several ridgetops a week, all in the pursuit of ever-elusive coal. And Paul Bennett goes deep beneath Rome's streets, where cutting-edge excavation techniques are revealing newfound treasures in one of the world's oldest cities.
A profile of a late, distinguished British ornithologist by John Seabrook reveals that the man's personal collection of bird skins, now in the British Natural History Museum, was largely stolen or bought and intentionally mislabeled. Richard Conniff visits a former Brooklyn social worker turned primatologist who has become a fierce advocate of the lemur. And Patricia Gadsby takes us into the kitchens of Europe's finest chefs to explain how the new field of molecular gastronomy is revolutionizing fine cuisine.
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2007
19 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
Richard Preston
21 books1,423 followersRichard Preston is a journalist and nonfiction writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 2, 2009
Nobody is hornier than a female macaque or bonobo (which mounts the males because the males are too exhausted to continue the fornication.)
See, that's what I love about this series. Who wouldn't want to know something like that? (But in defense of the wretched male bonobo, I wonder why it never occurred to any of these bigshot primatologists that maybe the poor guy was worn-out after a long day foraging for food and kowtowing to the dominant matriarch; maybe he had a lot of of other shit on his mind and just wasn't in the mood to fool around, you know?)
A word of warning about The Best American...2007: if you're the sort of person who spends a lot of time worrying about 'existential threats' to the human race, you might want to steer clear of this edition, which does get rather breezily apocalyptic in places. Whether we are to be done in by the millions of tons of discarded plastic swirling indestructibly around our ecosystems and messing with our genetic structure, or incinerated by a nuclear device rigged up from stolen Russian components, The Best...2007 leaves it an open question. I was reminded of that Borges story where the condemned man tries to imagine every concievable death in the hope that, since reality never accords with one's expectations, he can thereby defer his execution. I'm betting that when the apocalypse finally arrives, it'll spring from some completely banal yet unpredictable cause, and we'll all be slapping our foreheads and saying, 'Well, fuck me.'
Interdisciplinary to a fault, The Best...2007 is sometimes a victim of its own eclecticism. Speaking as a curious layman - and therefore in the dead center, presumably, of the publisher's target market - I found two or three of the essays totally freaking awesome, four or five mildly interesting and the rest hardly worthy of ten minutes' attention in the doctor's office. Which reminds me of the most terrifying piece in the book: Michael Perry's gruesome description of an autopsy performed on a forty-something man. I've really gotta find the time for that check-up...
See, that's what I love about this series. Who wouldn't want to know something like that? (But in defense of the wretched male bonobo, I wonder why it never occurred to any of these bigshot primatologists that maybe the poor guy was worn-out after a long day foraging for food and kowtowing to the dominant matriarch; maybe he had a lot of of other shit on his mind and just wasn't in the mood to fool around, you know?)
A word of warning about The Best American...2007: if you're the sort of person who spends a lot of time worrying about 'existential threats' to the human race, you might want to steer clear of this edition, which does get rather breezily apocalyptic in places. Whether we are to be done in by the millions of tons of discarded plastic swirling indestructibly around our ecosystems and messing with our genetic structure, or incinerated by a nuclear device rigged up from stolen Russian components, The Best...2007 leaves it an open question. I was reminded of that Borges story where the condemned man tries to imagine every concievable death in the hope that, since reality never accords with one's expectations, he can thereby defer his execution. I'm betting that when the apocalypse finally arrives, it'll spring from some completely banal yet unpredictable cause, and we'll all be slapping our foreheads and saying, 'Well, fuck me.'
Interdisciplinary to a fault, The Best...2007 is sometimes a victim of its own eclecticism. Speaking as a curious layman - and therefore in the dead center, presumably, of the publisher's target market - I found two or three of the essays totally freaking awesome, four or five mildly interesting and the rest hardly worthy of ten minutes' attention in the doctor's office. Which reminds me of the most terrifying piece in the book: Michael Perry's gruesome description of an autopsy performed on a forty-something man. I've really gotta find the time for that check-up...
February 9, 2012
I like to read all of the collections -- including "Best American Fiction" -- because it exposes the reader to new topics and new authors that you can explore later. There are always a few clunkers in the collection but you can breeze through those. And the collection provides a snapshot in time, showing what was current or worrisome at some point in the past.
I picked up this collection because it was the most-recent on my public library's shelves. It has a good range of topics, from astronomy to zoology. One of the best articles is the final one, "DNA is Not Destiny," though I think that it could have had a more apt title. We've long known that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, DNA is not a blueprint. So, though two twins grew up in the same environment, one might have diabetes or cancer and the other escapes the disease. Ethan Watters discusses all of the factors in the DNA "switches", called epigenomes, that activate other DNA and send two otherwise similar people down different pathes. And the factors are known to include diet, environment ... and even the environment of ancestors.
Other very worthwhile essays include:
"Cooking for Eggheads" on the science of cooking or molecular gastronomy
"The Flu Hunter" on how influenza is passed back-and-forth to animals -- and why we should be more worried about ducks than swine or chickens
"The Effeminate Sheep", which includes an argument that Darwin was wrong about sexual selection, since all social animals use sex for cooperative reasons as much as for reproductive ones
I picked up this collection because it was the most-recent on my public library's shelves. It has a good range of topics, from astronomy to zoology. One of the best articles is the final one, "DNA is Not Destiny," though I think that it could have had a more apt title. We've long known that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, DNA is not a blueprint. So, though two twins grew up in the same environment, one might have diabetes or cancer and the other escapes the disease. Ethan Watters discusses all of the factors in the DNA "switches", called epigenomes, that activate other DNA and send two otherwise similar people down different pathes. And the factors are known to include diet, environment ... and even the environment of ancestors.
Other very worthwhile essays include:
"Cooking for Eggheads" on the science of cooking or molecular gastronomy
"The Flu Hunter" on how influenza is passed back-and-forth to animals -- and why we should be more worried about ducks than swine or chickens
"The Effeminate Sheep", which includes an argument that Darwin was wrong about sexual selection, since all social animals use sex for cooperative reasons as much as for reproductive ones
January 28, 2008
read these because i'm teaching "writing for the sciences" this semester and need stuff to pad out my syllabus. both volumes (science writing, and science and nature writing) are excellent compilations of average-joe articles, many of which take the term "science writing" very loosely. fascinating, even touching, at times. loved them both.
March 2, 2023
In the process of re-reading some of my print library. This one is a mixed bag of essays (although most still have relevance today in 2023). A couple are deadly-dull, and some are outstanding. The only one I really remembered from the past was the essay about the West Virginia coal mining, where mountain tops were being flattened to get at coal resources - in the process, endangering nearby communities with toxic sludge containing chemicals used to clean/purify coal. Along with companies forcing out people who lived in the most desirable (coal-ready) areas. It is now about a decade and a half later - would be interested in updates. Time to Google...
March 7, 2025
I like to read collections such as this while traveling. Yes, this is dated a bit, but I still enjoyed many of the selections:
Gleick, James. "Cyber-Neologiferation" about entries into the OED, but not exclusively new words from computer science (despite the title).
Seabrook, John. "Ruffled Feathers." The most provocative for me. This essay is about the scientific fraud (and possibly murder) that Richard Meinertzhagen committed. Someone needs to make a film about this man.
Sherwonit, Bill. "In the Company of Bears" about hiking and doing research in Alaska among bears. I felt as though I was present.
There are other gems in this collection, but these three were the most memorable for me.
Gleick, James. "Cyber-Neologiferation" about entries into the OED, but not exclusively new words from computer science (despite the title).
Seabrook, John. "Ruffled Feathers." The most provocative for me. This essay is about the scientific fraud (and possibly murder) that Richard Meinertzhagen committed. Someone needs to make a film about this man.
Sherwonit, Bill. "In the Company of Bears" about hiking and doing research in Alaska among bears. I felt as though I was present.
There are other gems in this collection, but these three were the most memorable for me.
January 11, 2023
A mixed bag of straight science, nature essays, medicine...and some articles that aren't really science at all. Work on the latest Oxford English dictionary? What subject is that? Linguistics? That's a science? A fun read, but not science. Neil DeGrasse Tyson's piece concerning the funding of space programs is also a great thinkpiece, but soft on the science.
Still, many thoughtful and well-written articles. I recommend the book, no matter what. There are many ways we can view science and nature. They don't have to be rigorous and dry. Accurate and thoughtful is fine.
Still, many thoughtful and well-written articles. I recommend the book, no matter what. There are many ways we can view science and nature. They don't have to be rigorous and dry. Accurate and thoughtful is fine.
January 14, 2023
its always worth reading if you find the yourself wondering what is going on in the world of science and can't focus on it or out side of your field everyday. I have enjoyed the view of knowledge of many things in such an easy format.
November 25, 2017
Great articles collected in one convenient volume! A.
September 25, 2020
This series always has some unusual science articles. I always learn something interesting or have food for thought with this series. Great book.
April 21, 2021
Fantastic read of some very insightful scientific articles.
c-on-deck-audio-and-ebooks
October 24, 2022Is the Michael Perry from the blurb my favorite, Michael Perry?!
July 20, 2009
28 articles from 20 publications, top contributor being Smithsonian Magazine with 4 articles.
I'm writing this review eight months after actually reading the book, but I wanted to do what I've done with the other anthologies: list the articles that---even after all this time---I remember clearly because they were so interesting.
In Rome's Basement by Paul Bennett
A look at urban spelunkers exploring the depths under Rome.
Plastic Ocean by Susan Casey
Disturbing look at what happens to plastic in the ocean---and what happens to the ocean because of the plastic.
Cooking For Eggheads by Patricia Gadsby
A chemical and molecular take on cooking food.
Cyber-Neologoliferation by James Gleick
The people and process behind updating the Oxford English Dictionary
How To Get a Nuclear Bomb by William Langewiesche
Explores the reality of trying to acquire this dangerous weapon.
The Effeminate Sheep by Jonah Lehrer
Certainly a different look at what constitutes "normal" in the animal world, and how that reflects on humans.
Neanderthal Man by Steve Olson
Always fascinated with anything Neanderthal.
Health Secrets From the Morgue by Michael Perry
How the dead can give advice to the living.
The Flu Hunter by Michael Rosenwald
How sick birds make for sicker human beings.
The Rape of Appalachia by Michael Shnayerson
Coal mining is a dirty business, in every possible way.
I'm writing this review eight months after actually reading the book, but I wanted to do what I've done with the other anthologies: list the articles that---even after all this time---I remember clearly because they were so interesting.
In Rome's Basement by Paul Bennett
A look at urban spelunkers exploring the depths under Rome.
Plastic Ocean by Susan Casey
Disturbing look at what happens to plastic in the ocean---and what happens to the ocean because of the plastic.
Cooking For Eggheads by Patricia Gadsby
A chemical and molecular take on cooking food.
Cyber-Neologoliferation by James Gleick
The people and process behind updating the Oxford English Dictionary
How To Get a Nuclear Bomb by William Langewiesche
Explores the reality of trying to acquire this dangerous weapon.
The Effeminate Sheep by Jonah Lehrer
Certainly a different look at what constitutes "normal" in the animal world, and how that reflects on humans.
Neanderthal Man by Steve Olson
Always fascinated with anything Neanderthal.
Health Secrets From the Morgue by Michael Perry
How the dead can give advice to the living.
The Flu Hunter by Michael Rosenwald
How sick birds make for sicker human beings.
The Rape of Appalachia by Michael Shnayerson
Coal mining is a dirty business, in every possible way.
November 23, 2008
So many great stories. Some highlights:
"The Rape of Appalachia" - mind-opening article about the atrocities being done by the strip-mining corporations in our own East-coast back yard.
"In the Company of Bears" - a heart-felt and deeply personal account on one man's journey to get closer to nature - the wild nature outside and his own wild nature within.
"Plastic Ocean" - another moving article about the effect of our boundless production of plastic goods on our environment (both the oceans as well as our own biology). I've read many such pieces, but this was one of the most moving and far-reaching accounts of the various detrimental ways that plastics affect our environment in ways that nothing else ever has before. "Except for the small amount that's been incinerated - and it's a very small amount - every bit of plastic ever made still exists."
"How to Get a Nuclear Bomb" - a fascinating if somewhat meandering and over-romanticized account of the realities of nuclear material security around the world, concentrating on the former USSR.
"Delusions of Space Enthusiasts" - a well-argued tale of space exploration so far and what it took to get us here. An informative and "realistic" view the author takes of the current overly-optimistic private space industry mini-boom.
"Cooking for Eggheads" - fascinating foray into the chemical underpinnings of various aspects of cooking.
Need I go on?
"The Rape of Appalachia" - mind-opening article about the atrocities being done by the strip-mining corporations in our own East-coast back yard.
"In the Company of Bears" - a heart-felt and deeply personal account on one man's journey to get closer to nature - the wild nature outside and his own wild nature within.
"Plastic Ocean" - another moving article about the effect of our boundless production of plastic goods on our environment (both the oceans as well as our own biology). I've read many such pieces, but this was one of the most moving and far-reaching accounts of the various detrimental ways that plastics affect our environment in ways that nothing else ever has before. "Except for the small amount that's been incinerated - and it's a very small amount - every bit of plastic ever made still exists."
"How to Get a Nuclear Bomb" - a fascinating if somewhat meandering and over-romanticized account of the realities of nuclear material security around the world, concentrating on the former USSR.
"Delusions of Space Enthusiasts" - a well-argued tale of space exploration so far and what it took to get us here. An informative and "realistic" view the author takes of the current overly-optimistic private space industry mini-boom.
"Cooking for Eggheads" - fascinating foray into the chemical underpinnings of various aspects of cooking.
Need I go on?
April 12, 2011
This series is like owning annual subscriptions to National Geographic, Scientific American, Discover, Smithsonian, Seed, and Atlantic Monthly, but without the ads and for only $14. There isn't a single place where you can find interesting, intelligent writing about a more diverse range of scientific topics than the Best American Science and Nature Writing series. This is the second volume I've read, and both of them have been 90% chock-full of cool science journalism -- the remaining 10% are just stories that don't personally interest me, but that might interest someone else. My favorites in this volume included pieces about what mountaintop mining is doing to the Appalachian U.S., the health and environmental dangers of plastic, lemurs, and how environmental factors like what you eat can actually change the expression of certain genes not just during your own lifetime, but during the lifetime of your children and grandchildren (that one was very weird, and very cool). Best of all, all the stories are accessible to a reader with even just a basic science education, and it never feels like you're reading a textbook.
February 25, 2008
An amazing variety of ideas related to science and nature all in one book.
The one page essay about a fisher was one of my favorites. To the point.
The Final Frontier by John Horgan makes you think about science.
The article, Plastic Ocean, by Susan Casey is eye opening. as is The Rape of Appalachia by Michael Shnayerson.
A few dull articles, like the one about the guy who practiced bad archeology to help Hitler out...not a guy I want to hear about indepth. On the other hand, the article, Ruffled Feathers, by John Seabrook is very interesting in it's account of good and bad science in the realm of ornithology.
There are lots more interesting essays that I haven't mentioned.
P.S. If you have a weak stomach don't read Health Secrets from the Morgue by Michael Perry.
The one page essay about a fisher was one of my favorites. To the point.
The Final Frontier by John Horgan makes you think about science.
The article, Plastic Ocean, by Susan Casey is eye opening. as is The Rape of Appalachia by Michael Shnayerson.
A few dull articles, like the one about the guy who practiced bad archeology to help Hitler out...not a guy I want to hear about indepth. On the other hand, the article, Ruffled Feathers, by John Seabrook is very interesting in it's account of good and bad science in the realm of ornithology.
There are lots more interesting essays that I haven't mentioned.
P.S. If you have a weak stomach don't read Health Secrets from the Morgue by Michael Perry.
June 29, 2016
This is always fun for me to read, and I want to read every year's Best American Science and Nature Writing volume. This volume, though, was too niche-oriented for my taste. Of course, that was the goal of this volume's editor: to examine people and topics in situations where people are passionate about their topics. The editor satisfied that goal, then. I prefer, I think, more when this series takes a big-picture approach to science in a year's span. Some of the better pieces were, for example, the very serious "The Nature of Violence;" the informative "The Olfactory Lives of Primates"; and the piece about ground being broken in epigenetics titled "DNA Is Not Destiny."
November 13, 2009
Enjoy stores about: diving beneath Rome, an ocean of plastic, lemur obsessions, rabbits on Mars, fishing for fishers, dinosaur blood cells, the science behind the hardboiled egg, life behind the OED, the (possible) death of science, nuclear bombs 101, the queer king of the jungle, the exploration of violence in nature, germs in your belly, anthropological DNA, what your corpse says about you, Nazi lies and anthropology, Video Game Theatre, "be very quiet - I'm hunting the flu virus," monkeys love perfume... and so much more!
March 23, 2012
Faves:
Susan Casey, "Plastic Ocean"
Patricia Gadsby, "Cooking for Eggheads"
James Gleick, "Cyber-Neologoliferation"
William Langewiesche, "How to Get a Nuclear Bomb"
Jeffrey A. Lockwood, "The Nature of Violence"
Michael Perry, "Health Secrets from the Morgue"
Jonathan Rauch, "Sex, Lies and Video Games"
Robert M. Sapolsky, "The Olfactory Lives of Primates"
Meredith F. Small, "First Soldier of the Gene Wars"
Susan Casey, "Plastic Ocean"
Patricia Gadsby, "Cooking for Eggheads"
James Gleick, "Cyber-Neologoliferation"
William Langewiesche, "How to Get a Nuclear Bomb"
Jeffrey A. Lockwood, "The Nature of Violence"
Michael Perry, "Health Secrets from the Morgue"
Jonathan Rauch, "Sex, Lies and Video Games"
Robert M. Sapolsky, "The Olfactory Lives of Primates"
Meredith F. Small, "First Soldier of the Gene Wars"
June 30, 2008
An excellent collection of some great articles. I like it because I don't have to spend my time reading all those weekly periodicals, but I still get some great articles. And it gives you all sorts of interesting tidbits to think about. I'm a big fan and look forward to reading this year's edition.
November 20, 2008
If you're fascinated by the wonders and curiosities of science and nature, then this book is for you. This annual anthology is full of short stories on a wide variety of topics. They are well-written and a pleasure to read. I always learn something from these books--and they leave me wanting to learn more.
May 21, 2009
A couple of articles in this are really excellent--compelling reading and important information. (Those are Susan Casey's "Plastic Ocean" and Michael Shnayerson's "Rape of Appalachia," both also online.) Many other articles are fascinating and enlightening. Most are at least interesting.
Totally worthwhile.
Totally worthwhile.
January 26, 2008
Like the Best Travel Writing series, I read these every year. There's always a one or more 'gems' and the majority of the selections are well written and informative. "The Rape of Appalacia", "Dinosaur Shocker!", and "How to Get a Nuclear Bomb" were very good.
February 1, 2008
I love this series of books. This one was particularly good. If you pick it up and have only time to read one piece, read the last one about epigenetics. I guarantee you will learn something you never knew before, and it's kind of hopeful and scary at the same time.
May 20, 2008
A great collection of interesting articles, ranging from archeology to genetics. I've become a fan of the annual "best" series published by Houghton Mifflin. I think I'll try best travel writing next.
June 29, 2008
The editor has compiled a number of interesting articles for this years collection. I found the section on epigenetics to be particularly useful, as I believe this new field will radically alter the nature/nurture debate. All the articles were interesting, really.
November 29, 2008
Some very very good articles and some very good articles. Really enjoyed the essay's "Dinosaur Shocker", "Notes on the Space We Take" and "DNA Is Not Destiny". Also found the articles "Plastic Ocean" and "The Rape of Appalachia" as disturbing as they were informative.
July 4, 2011
I love this series! There are so many great pieces in this volume, as every year; ornithological dishonesty, strategies to tackle climate change, genome wrangling, stupid creationists... Something for everyone :)
August 2, 2012
Biology sure is getting exciting these days! Also learned about advances in food science, artificial intelligence, ornithological fraud, how we are poisoning ourselves with plastics, and lots of other stuff. Good to keep up to date.
February 1, 2010
As always with these collections, there are some excellent articles and one or two that I skip over.
SO. MANY. TYPOS. drive me crazy. but not worth demoting from 5 stars.
SO. MANY. TYPOS. drive me crazy. but not worth demoting from 5 stars.
February 1, 2008
a great read annually. Sometimes depressing, always interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews