The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 Quotes

“In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn observed that scientists spend long periods taking small steps. They pose and solve puzzles while collectively interpreting all data within a fixed worldview or theoretical framework, which Kuhn called a paradigm. Sooner or later, though, facts crop up that clash with the reigning paradigm. Crisis ensues. The scientists wring their hands, reexamine their assumptions, and eventually make a revolutionary shift to a new paradigm, a radically different and truer understanding of nature. Then incremental progress resumes.”
― Carl Zimmer, The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023

“As a teacher, I have tried to make explicit some of the rules I learned about what makes for good writing about science and nature. Shun jargon, embrace metaphor. Strive for zero uses of the passive voice. Make sure your paragraphs fit in a particular order. Bring people to life with visual details and judiciously selected quotes. Remember that the reader can read your story, not your mind.”
― Carl Zimmer, The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023